What Is Sender Reputation?
Sender reputation is a score that ISPs (Internet Service Providers) assign to email senders based on their sending history. It determines whether your emails land in the inbox, spam folder, or get rejected entirely.
How Reputation Is Measured
ISPs consider multiple factors including bounce rates, spam complaints, spam trap hits, engagement metrics, sending volume consistency, and authentication.
What Damages Reputation
- High bounce rates: Sending to invalid addresses signals poor list hygiene
- Spam complaints: Recipients marking your emails as spam
- Spam traps: Hitting honeypot addresses that catch spammers
- Sudden volume spikes: Dramatic increases in sending volume
- Poor engagement: Low open and click rates
Protecting Your Reputation
- Validate your email list before every campaign
- Implement double opt-in
- Make unsubscribing easy
- Send relevant, valuable content
- Maintain consistent sending patterns
Checking Your Reputation
Tools like SenderScore.org, Google Postmaster Tools, and Microsoft SNDS can help you monitor your sender reputation.
Start With Clean Lists
The foundation of good sender reputation is list quality. ValidateList helps you maintain clean lists that protect your reputation.