Email Management: Spam Scanning Service
What is the Spam Scanning Service
We employ a Spam Scanning Service to monitor all inbound and outbound emails being sent through our email servers. The filters used for scanning email are updated daily through global NetworksWebHosting of crowd-based feedback, which determines whether or not a sender's domain is a reputable source. This technology relies heavily on a sender's "reputation," built over time through community monitoring and email sending habits and patterns. Email users can be identified as safe or unsafe based on this information, and their email will be filtered accordingly.
It takes time to restore your email reputation since it's essentially a self-healing system based on this community feedback. Over time, the Spam Scanning Service takes inputs from customers of all of the major ISPs (such as Comcast, Verizon, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), so it ultimately depends on your regular email habits and the reactions from the people who receive your messages to improve your domain's reputation.
Why Do We Use the Spam Scanning Service
As a service provider, we cannot be a 'judge and jury' on what can be considered spam and what is considered 'safe' email. We also understand that email marketing is important for getting a business or organization known to a wider audience. However, it must be done the right way. We do not directly block any email that you send and instead use the Spam Scanning Service and the knowledge of the crowd to help evaluate user reputation.
We have several marketing services that small businesses and organizations can use to get themselves 'found,' available on our Marketing Services page. If you're interested in learning more about any of these options, please let us know by contacting support, as we'd love to talk about exploring these options with you.
Protect Your Online Reputation Against Spam
The Spam Scanning Service monitors the reputation of a sender's domain, as this is such an essential asset for an online presence. It is essentially your address on the internet, and in many cases, a virtual storefront. In the same way that you wouldn't put up a sign in front of your store that might make passers-by question your business, you shouldn't use email in any way that could call into question the legitimacy of your business or organization.
With the Spam Scanning Service, user reputation is the key factor for ensuring that an email message sends successfully. Sending messages to people who never asked for them is a good way to mark them as spam. Not managing your mailing lists when a recipient asks to be removed is an excellent way to have them marked as spam. The use of certain subject lines or phrases that look 'spammy' is a bit harder to manage, but you also have to consider these options. If you experience any difficulty sending an email, you should ensure that you utilize appropriate formatting and sending habits.
To restore your email reputation to a 'safe' level, you should check to see if you are experiencing an issue with any of the items listed below:
- Lack of/improper subject line text
- Lack of/improper email signature
- Overuse of certain HTML elements
- Sending email frequently within a certain timeframe
- Sending an email to a wider than average distribution list
Want to enable or modify your Default Spam Filter? Please visit this article.