A domain name is more important than ever in today’s online world. In addition to representing the website address and being an integral part of the e-mail name, its reputation can affect whether e-mail messages will end up in the recipient’s inbox, go to SPAM, or, in the worst case, be rejected.
What is email domain reputation?
Domain reputation represents a score from 0 to 100 that indicates how reliable the domain from which email addresses are sent is. There are several parameters that email service providers use to calculate this score. Some of them are not available to the public, primarily because the providers do not want to share too much information, because in that case, cyber fraudsters could cheat the system and bypass spam filters.
Factors that are known when it comes to calculating domain reputation are:
- Number of SPAM messages (SPAM rate)
- Number of reading messages (Read rate)
- Number of clicks (Click rate)
- Deleted before reading rate
- Open rate
- Percentage of answered and forwarded email messages (Reply rate and Forward rate)
- Bounces (Email messages that were not delivered)
- Percentage of complaints that the message is SPAM (Spam complaint rate)
- Mark “ This I not spam” rate
So, based on this data, complex algorithms are used that ultimately “evaluate” the domain from which the email is sent and its overall reliability in email communication. The higher the score, the more email servers will “trust” the domain, and the probability that email messages will be rejected or end up as spam decreases.
Where is the IP address?
An IP address is a number that identifies computers on the Internet, or simply put, an IP address is an address that other computers use to find computers on the Internet. When sending email messages, email providers use the IP address associated with the domain to determine where the email came from.
Like the domain, the IP address has its own reputation, which can also affect the sending of email messages. If the IP address is on one of the blacklists, the messages will not reach the final destination until the IP address is removed from this list.
Here’s why the difference between domain reputation and IP address reputation is important:
A domain’s IP address can change, and the IP reputation is reset when this happens. On the other hand, domain reputation is tied to the domain name. So, the domain reputation will stay with the domain name, wherever the email goes.
In short, fixing the reputation of an IP address is much easier than fixing the reputation of a domain. Since domain reputation is more permanent than IP reputation, many email providers use domain reputation, although it should be noted that this is still not a universal standard.
How to check the reputation of your domain?
The thing about domain reputation is that each email service provider (ESP) calculates its own reputation. So Gmail has one domain reputation, Yahoo! has another, Microsoft has its own, etc.
This is because email providers can only measure the reputation of a domain based on the addresses and messages they receive from the domain when you use their services. In other words, one email provider cannot see the messages sent to other email providers.
However, while there is no single score that all email providers use to assess a domain’s reputation, there are some independent tools that can help you find out more. All of these tools are based on different data sources and attempt to rate shippers based on their practices and results. As individual sources. these results often don’t tell the full truth, but when used in conjunction with other data they can be very helpful in identifying reputational issues.
Domain reputation assessment tools
SenderScore.org
Like a credit assessment, this program evaluates the condition and “health” of email communication. SenderScore calculates a rating on a scale from 0 to 100 and identifies your quality as a sender of messages, but also indicates how email providers see your IP address (as good or bad). How providers “see” you depends on several factors: reporting messages as SPAM, sending messages to unknown recipients, whether you are on a blacklist, and the like.
Google Postmaster Tools
This official Google tool provides insight into how Gmail sees sent email messages. In addition, it offers data on email delivery errors, the rate at which messages are reported as SPAM, and provides information about IP address and domain reputation.
The Google Postmaster tool divides reputation into:
Bad reputation – indicates a history of sending a large amount of spam. All emails sent from this domain will be rejected or marked as SPAM.
Low reputation – also indicates a history of spamming, resulting in messages being flagged as spam.
Average/Satisfactory Reputation – Indicates that the domain is sending legitimate email, but occasionally a small amount of spam is sent. Most email messages will be delivered, except in cases of increased spam rates.
High Reputation – The best possible reputation indicates a low spam rate and adheres to basic Gmail messaging guidelines. These emails will rarely end up in the SPAM folder.
Microsoft SNDS
Like the Google Postmaster tool, Microsoft also offers a Smart Network Data Services (SDNS) service. Among the numerous information this service offers, we highlight the reputation of the IP address, the rate of reporting messages as SPAM, and others.
Data is only one part of the puzzle
It is important to emphasize that although all available tools are very helpful when it comes to evaluating domain reputation, none of them individually tell the whole story. So it can happen that you get a satisfactory score, but still have problems with delivering email messages. At the end of the day, only you have control over your actions, and the data is there to help you detect potential problems.
