DEV Community: galdevops

Why Are My Website Emails Going to Spam? (And How to Fix It)

galdevops — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:31:24 +0000

Welcome! If you’re a site owner (WordPress, Shopify, Wix, etc.) and your emails seem to vanish into the void — you’re not alone.

Maybe your contact form submissions never reach you.
Maybe customers aren’t getting order confirmations.
Maybe your newsletter ends up in spam.

It’s frustrating — and surprisingly common. In most cases, the root cause is one thing: email deliverability.

This post breaks down why it happens and how to fix it in plain language — no jargon, no guesswork.

If your site also powers a web app or product that sends email (like signups, alerts, or onboarding flows), you might also enjoy my previous post:
👉 Why Your App’s Emails Go to Spam (and How to Fix It)

Let’s walk through why emails don’t show up, what you can do about it, and how to make sure your website’s messages actually land where they belong — in the inbox.

Why Does This Happen?

When your website tries to send an email — whether it's from a contact form, a notification, or even a plugin — email providers like Gmail or Outlook try to verify:

“Did this message really come from your domain?”
“Can I trust this sender?”

If the answer is “not sure” or “no”, your email may:

Go to the recipient’s spam folder
Get flagged as suspicious
Or get blocked entirely

The Most Common Reasons Website Emails Get Marked as Spam:

1. Missing SPF, DKIM, or DMARC Records

These are simple security settings (added to your domain's DNS) that tell the world:

“Hey, I authorize this server to send emails on my behalf.”

If even one of these is missing or incorrect, email providers may distrust your domain.

2. Using a Free Email (like Gmail or Yahoo) as the From Address

Sending “from” your Gmail (e.g., yourname@gmail.com) through your website is a red flag for most providers.

Best practice: Use a custom email address from your own domain (e.g., hello@yourdomain.com).

3. Your Domain Is on a Blacklist

If your domain was previously used for spam (especially if it’s an old or expired domain), it may still be listed on email blocklists.

4. Your Web Host Is Sending from a Shared Server

Many low-cost hosting providers (like shared WordPress hosts) send all websites’ emails from the same server IP. If one bad neighbor sends spam, your messages can get penalized too.

5. Email Content Looks Spammy

If your message has:

ALL CAPS
Too many links
No unsubscribe link (in newsletters)
Misleading subject lines

…it might get caught in spam filters regardless of your domain’s setup.

How to Fix It

Here are the 4 steps to improve your website’s email deliverability:

🛠️ 1. Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records

These records live in your domain's DNS settings. Most email providers (like Google Workspace, Zoho, Outlook, Mailgun) give you the exact values to copy-paste.

If you’re using a website builder or host like:

WordPress → you may need to add records via your domain registrar (like GoDaddy or Cloudflare)
Shopify → some DNS settings are managed directly by Shopify
Squarespace or Wix → check their help docs on email authentication

2. Test Your Domain’s Email Health

Not sure if your DNS is set up right? Want to know if your domain is blacklisted?

That’s exactly why I built MXAuditor.com — a free tool that quickly checks:

✅ Do your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records exist and validate correctly?
🚫 Are you on any major blacklists?
🚨 Are there DNS misconfigurations that could break email delivery?

No signup. No fluff. Just clear results in a few seconds.

I made it for creators like you — who just want to know if your domain is healthy enough to send email.

3. Send Emails Through a Trusted Provider

Don’t rely on your website alone to send email (especially from WordPress or contact forms). Instead, use an email service like:

Google Workspace (Gmail for business)
Mailgun
Postmark
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Resend

These services handle the technical parts for you — and make sure your emails arrive.

4. Use a Plugin or App That Handles Deliverability Well

For WordPress users:
Use plugins like WP Mail SMTP or FluentSMTP to properly connect your email service to your website.

For Shopify/Squarespace:
Make sure you're using the platform’s built-in email system (or an integrated provider), and that your DNS records are set up if you use a custom domain.

Not Sure Where to Start?

If this all sounds too technical — that’s okay.
You can simply run your domain through MXAuditor, and it’ll guide you through what’s missing (and how to fix it).

In Summary

Your website might look amazing.
Your store might be open for business.
But if your emails don’t make it to your users — you’re losing trust, leads, and sales.

Take 5 minutes to test your domain, and fix the basics — so you don’t lose business to a spam folder.

Want help or feedback?
I’m always happy to chat about email issues — drop a message or reply in the comments 👇

Why Your App’s Emails Go to Spam (and How to Fix It)

galdevops — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 05:44:23 +0000

If you’ve built an app that sends signup confirmations, password resets, or transactional notifications — and users tell you “it landed in my spam” — you’re not alone.

Even with great code and legit intentions, your app’s emails can silently fail. Let’s break down why this happens — and how to fix it with some simple (but often overlooked) steps.

This post is for indie hackers, SaaS founders, and devs shipping products that send email.

Problem: Your Emails Aren’t Trusted

Mail services like Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo are on high alert. They don’t just ask “Is this email spam?” — they ask “Can I trust this sender at all?”

To answer that, they look at:

Who sent it (domain reputation)
Whether the domain allows that sender (SPF/DKIM)
Whether someone is spoofing you (DMARC)
Whether you're on any spam blacklists

If these aren’t correctly set, even legit apps get treated like spam.

Fix: Authenticate Your Domain

Think of email authentication as giving your domain an ID badge — proving to receiving mail servers that your app is allowed to send on your behalf.

There are three records that matter:

1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

“Which servers are allowed to send email from my domain?”

You publish a DNS TXT record listing the IPs or services (e.g. SendGrid, Postmark, Amazon SES) you use to send mail.

Example SPF record:

v=spf1 include:sendgrid.net ~all

This tells mail servers, “Only SendGrid can send for me. Anyone else? Treat as suspicious.”

2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

“Can we verify the email content hasn’t been altered, and it’s really from this domain?”

DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to your emails. Mail servers check your public key (in your DNS records) to verify the signature.

✅ If it matches, it’s authentic.
🚨 If it fails, the email may be forged or tampered.

3. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

“What should happen if SPF or DKIM fails?”

With DMARC, you set a policy:

none: just monitor and report
quarantine: send failed mail to spam
reject: block failed mail completely

Example DMARC record:

v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@yourdomain.com

You also get reports that show who’s sending mail from your domain — helping you catch abuse.

🛠️ “Is this domain ready to send email?” - Test It All

By now you might be wondering:
“Okay, but how do I know if my domain has these things set up correctly?”

That was the exact problem I kept running into while building my own projects. My team would launch something, email about it — and then... users wouldn’t see them. Debugging meant jumping between five tools, parsing DNS errors, and reading outdated docs.

So I built a free tool to help developers, founders, and technical folks like us quickly answer the question:

“Is this domain ready to send email?”

You just plug in a domain. In a few seconds, you get a clear overview:

✅ SPF: present, valid?
✅ DKIM: detected, correctly signed?
✅ DMARC: set, policy in place?
🚫 DNS issues: misconfigurations or missing records?
🚫 Blacklists: is this domain showing up anywhere?

No signups, no noise — just a quick, honest check so you can move forward (or fix what's broken). Feel free to try it out at MXAuditor.com — I’d love to hear if it helps your flow.

Bonus Tips

Use a reputable email provider (Postmark, SendGrid, SES, Mailgun, etc.)
Warm up your domain (don’t blast 1,000 emails on day one)
Use a custom return-path domain when possible
Avoid spammy phrases (especially in subject lines)
Authenticate your email links (HTTPS, branded if possible)

TL;DR

If you’re building apps that send email — you need to care about email authentication.

✅ SPF: “Only these senders are allowed”
✅ DKIM: “Yes, this email came from me and wasn’t changed”
✅ DMARC: “If SPF/DKIM fail, here’s what to do”

Use MXAuditor to check if your domain is set up correctly — so your app emails land in inboxes, not the void.

Buying an Old Domain? 10 Free Checks You Shouldn’t Skip

galdevops — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 07:19:37 +0000

Buying an old (expired/aged) domain might sound like a great shortcut — built-in SEO juice, existing traffic, maybe even a cool name. But it can come with hidden issues that harm your site’s rank, security, and trust — or make it impossible to send emails properly.

Here’s the checklist I personally follow every time I consider picking up a second-hand domain. Hope it saves you some headaches.

🔍 SEO Aspects to Check

1. Check Domain Authority (DA) or Page Authority (PA)

High authority can be good — but don’t stop there. Context matters:

A low DA with a clean history and niche focus might actually be a strong starting point.
High DA can be artificially inflated by spammy backlinks (see next check).

Use free tools like:

2. Scan for Spammy or Toxic Backlinks

Backlinks are like a domain’s credit history. Too many “bad loans” from shady websites = bad SEO.

Use:

Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker

Look out for:

Links from adult/gambling/pharma/hacked sites
Overuse of exact-match anchor text ("buy cheap meds")
Irrelevant forum/blog comment spam

3. Check If It’s Indexed on Google

Google:

site:yourdomain.com

If nothing shows up, it could mean:

The domain was deindexed for spam or policy violations
It never hosted real content
It was blocked via robots.txt or meta tags

No results aren’t always a dealbreaker — but they’re definitely a flag.

4. Search for Negative Mentions

Use:

“yourdomain.com” (with quotes) on Google, Reddit, forums, review sites

You're looking for:

Scam complaints
Bad brand associations
Past controversy

Negative PR has a long memory — and it might surface again.

5. Check for Duplicate Content Legacy

Was this domain ever used for stolen, spun, or AI-generated content?

Check with:

Even if you rebuild from scratch, you may still suffer residual SEO penalties.

6. (Optional) View Historical Organic Traffic

If you have access to paid tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush):

Check if the domain had organic traffic in the past
Look for traffic drops (penalties, abandonment)
Identify once-popular pages that earned backlinks

It’s like reviewing a resume — not critical, but helpful.

7. (Optional) Manual Actions in Google Search Console

If the seller provides temporary read-only access to GSC, check:

Manual penalties
Crawling/indexing errors
Unnatural link notifications

This is rare, but valuable if you can get it.

🔐 Domain Health & Reputation

8. Check DNS Records

Before anything else, inspect the DNS setup:

Are A, MX, TXT, CNAME, or SPF records still present?
Is DKIM or DMARC configured?
Who are the current Name Servers?

Use tools like MXToolbox — or use a free domain health scanner that checks DNS records in one go (I built it after getting burned by a bad domain).

📌 Why it matters: You’re seeing signs of how the domain was used — whether for email, hosting, or left dormant.

9. Scan for Blacklists

Domains used for spam may still be listed on DNSBLs — hurting your email deliverability.

Same here, you can use blacklist checkers like MXToolbox — or run a domain reputation checker I built to audit email health.

Look for blocklists like Spamhaus, Barracuda, SURBL.

Even a single listing can cause mail to land in spam, or get blocked altogether.

10. Check the Internet Archive

Wayback Machine is a goldmine of domain history. It shows you snapshots of how a domain looked in the past, going back years. Explore and ask:

What did the site & it's content look like, spammy, or legit?
Was it parked (empty or ads)?
Any indication it was ever hacked?
Any hints that it was used for spam or scams?

🚩 Red Flags:

Crypto/adult/pharma content
Malware redirect behavior
Parked/empty pages
SEO tricks like keyword stuffing or cloaked redirects

✅ Good Signs:

Legitimate business or blog presence
Real content with updates over time
Contact/about/team pages that show human ownership

Gaps in the timeline (no snapshots for 2+ years) aren’t always bad — but worth noting.

11. Does It Send Email Well?

After you purchase, you’ll want to send emails. But many old domains can’t — due to DNS issues, blacklists, or bad configuration.

Check:

SPF, DKIM, DMARC pass?
Is the domain blacklisted?
Do mail servers trust it?

You can run all these checks manually — or use a free tool that bundles them together and flags potential issues in seconds.

12. Check WHOIS History

Use WHOIS tools to answer:

Has the domain changed owners frequently?
Was it ever listed on domain marketplaces?
Are there suspicious or privacy-protected owners?

Past ownership can reveal domain flipping, overuse, or suspicious intent.

🚨 Red Flags: When to Think Twice

Scam content or malware
Tons of spammy backlinks
Blacklisted for email
Google deindexed it
Duplicate content past
Shady WHOIS records

✅ Green Flags: When It’s Worth It

Clean backlink profile
Indexed by Google
Legit business/blog past
No major blacklists
DNS/email setup makes sense
Organic traffic history (bonus)

🧠 TL;DR — Before You Buy, Run These Checks

Old domains can give you a head start — or drag you into legacy problems you didn’t create. Always run a quick audit before buying:

🔎 SEO History

Is it indexed in Google?
Was it penalized or full of spammy backlinks?
Did it have legitimate traffic or content?

🧬 Domain Health

Does it have clean DNS and email history?
Is it listed on blacklists?
What shows up in the Wayback Machine?

🧠 Reputation & Legitimacy

Any scam reports or negative mentions?
Real history (not just a parked page)?
WHOIS ownership timeline checks out?

Even if you're buying for the name, you're inheriting the past. This checklist takes just a few minutes and can save you hours (or weeks) of frustration fixing invisible issues.

💡 Bonus: I built a free tool that automates some of these checks (SPF, DMARC, DNS health, blacklist scans) — after getting burned by a “clean-looking” domain that turned out to be silently blacklisted. It’s free and requires no signup. Try it here.

✍️ About Me

Self-taught web developer. Backend dev by day. Mom of two stars 🌟. Certified in DevOps. Building tools that solve real-world problems — and learning in public as I go.

Let me know what you'd add to this checklist — or share any horror stories from old domain purchases!