Help, google thinks that my emails are comming from Mr Smammy McSpamsandwich!

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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Dave
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It seems recently, more and more of my emails are being directed into people's junk folders, or even worse, rejected all together!

I don't know why, I have not changed anything recently, and some of these emails are to clients I have been emailing without a problem in the past.

Msn/hotmail/outlook or whatever it's called these days puts my emails in junk, while Gmail bounces them back altogether. This is making things very awkward to say the least, I am often having to revert to my personal gmail account, not very professional!

I have checked my domain/ip, and it doesn't come up as being blacklisted, so I assume it's just down to the content of my emails. I don't know why it has only recently become a problem, I guess email providers have tighened their belts lately.


This is a very typical email, and an example of one that was bounced back today.


Hi xxxxxx,
Hope you guys are well.
I have a first draft ready for your guest book, please lake a look here.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rlvqdsadgdx23s7/xxxxxxxx (link broken for posting here)

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want to change.
I will need some text from you for page one, to welcome people to sign your guest book. I have filled it with something very rough just to get something in the space, but it will be much better to use your words.

Also, for the pages without images, these can be left completely blank, or they can be lined. What would you prefer?

Look forward to hearing back from you.
Regards
David Walker
www.davidwalker-photography.co.uk
Click to expand...

I put that through an online email span checker, and it came back with....

MQS Score: 72 of 100
SPAM: Your message does not have a Text Only version (-17)
SPAM: HTML-only message, but there is no HTML tag (-11)

Now I don't know what that means, but it was in a red box so I assume it's bad. What can I do to make my emails less spammy so that they actually get through to their recipients?
 
Had a similar problem with a client using Outlook. My emails were coming from my BT Internet address not a google one.

This problem was also spasmodic. Some got through and others didn't. I suspect it may have been something in the subject header. Anyway the solution was for the IT department to add my address to "allow" list which got things sorted.
 
spam scoring often works on keywords and phrases. links wont really help either, theres something to be said for having a client logon area on a website.

i wouldnt rely on getting recipient to add to a whitelist, a lot wont. its actually pretty bad practice (if the sender does end up knocking out a load of malicious spam it'll come straight through your filters).

it would help to know what the rejection messages were. it may be that a specific SMTP server that you use is blacklisted/on a bad rep list.
 
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Asking to be put onto a white list is not feasible. I can't respond to every enquiry via a personal email account, asking them to white list my business email address in order to start dialogue with them. I'll never hear from them again!

It definatley needs to be a pro-active approach from me to stop it being an issue in the first place. Being blocked/junked by gmail and hotmail is disasterous, that account for 90% of the emails I need to send to!

Will get a rejection message up now, just need to do it from my phone.
 
Rejection email from Google....


This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

david.walker83@gmail.com
SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data:
host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [2a00:1450:400c:c03::1a]:
550-5.7.1 [2a02:2498:295:1::1 12] Our system has detected that this message
550-5.7.1 is likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent to
550-5.7.1 Gmail, this message has been blocked. Please visit
550-5.7.1 http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=188131 for
550 5.7.1 more information. fm9si6763388wjc.194 - gsmtp

------ This is a copy of the message, including all the headers. ------

Return-path: <info@davidwalker-photography.co.uk>
Received: from genkt-051-156.t-mobile.co.uk ([149.254.51.156]:34401 helo=[10.95.85.33])
by cp.talkaudiohosting.co.uk with esmtpa (Exim 4.80)
(envelope-from <info@davidwalker-photography.co.uk>)
id 1WekvJ-0002yq-6a
for david.walker83@gmail.com; Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:44:44 +0100
To: "=?utf-8?B?ZGF2aWQgd2Fsa2Vy?=" <david.walker83@gmail.com>
From: "=?utf-8?B?aW5mb0BkYXZpZHdhbGtlci1waG90b2dyYXBoeS5jby51aw==?=" <info@davidwalker-photography.co.uk>
Subject: =?utf-8?B?RndkOiBHdWVzdCBib29r?=
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:44:33 +0100
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_0_1398689073133"

------=_Part_0_1398689073133
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline
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 to expand...
 
bass_junkie83 said:
I put that through an online email span checker, and it came back with....

MQS Score: 72 of 100
SPAM: Your message does not have a Text Only version (-17)
SPAM: HTML-only message, but there is no HTML tag (-11)

Now I don't know what that means, but it was in a red box so I assume it's bad. What can I do to make my emails less spammy so that they actually get through to their recipients?
Click to expand...

All I've done is enter "MQS score" into Google and within 20 seconds I appear to know more about this spam scoring tool than you do. Why didn't you look this up first? - of course some muggins will probably it up for you IYCBA..

High score = Good

So 72/100 is a pretty good score according to the Contactology knowledge base (try reading http://help.contactology.com/entries/22453448-Message-Quality-Score-MQS-). It's even telling you why you lost the missing 28 points.


But I suspect it's something you've not included in your post and not included in the message quality score, you only list an info@ email address on your contact page, are you also using this for sending emails? Or you're using a really cheap email provider that's associated with lots of spam accounts. BTW, the copy could be more professional.
 
It is probably your SMTP server that you are using.

What SMTP server are you using? Is it from your ISP or your hosting company?

It looks like the email isn't from info@..... But it is impersonating that email address.

Use your hosting SMTP server, not your ISP.

I see talk audio, what is the link?
 
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You are listed on a number of spam data bases: Linkage

Also on trying to visit the people who supposedly "host" you resulted in them redirecting me to another page to "update my flash"

I would be looking for a more reputable and reliable host if I were you
 
Thanks guys. It's reaching a point where a lot of this is starting to go over my head, but I shall do some reading up and see what I can work out.
 
Change hosting is the best bet. Talkaudio will be cheap (if not free) but it obviously has issues. You can switch your email provider and get a different SMTP server, but it will be similar costs to the hosting.

TSOHost starts at £15 a year and will help you migrate your site. This will get rid of all your problems.
 
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