Email spam score: how to read it and what to fix first

Before it reaches the recipient, every email goes through a filter that gives it a spamSpam is unwanted messaging: messages sent, often repeatedly, to recipients who never asked to receive... More score. Below a threshold it passes; above it, it lands in spamSpam is unwanted messaging: messages sent, often repeatedly, to recipients who never asked to receive... More or is rejected. You never see that score unless you run a test. Here is how to run one, how to read the result and where to start fixing.

How a spam score works

A spamSpam is unwanted messaging: messages sent, often repeatedly, to recipients who never asked to receive... More filter does not look for one forbidden word: it applies hundreds of rules and adds up the points. Some rules look at who is sending (is the domainIn technical terms, a domain name is the address used to visit a specific website.... More authenticated? is the IP on a blocklist?), others at how the message is built (headers, links, the ratio of text to images). No single rule decides: the total does.

In the MailSenpai email spam test the score starts at 10 and drops for each failed check. The checks fall into six parts: authentication, blocklists, sending server, headers, content, and the verdict of a real spamSpam is unwanted messaging: messages sent, often repeatedly, to recipients who never asked to receive... More filter, with the list of rules that fired and the points for each.

How to read the score

• 9 to 10, excellent. The message looks right. What remains are the factors no test can see, such as your sending history.
• 7 to 9, good. Something needs fixing, usually a header or a content detail.
• 5 to 7, needs work. At least one important piece is missing, often in authentication.
• Below 5, at risk. As it stands, the message is likely to be filtered.

If the test cannot evaluate one part, authentication for example, the score is marked as partial: the points for that part are not given away.

What to fix first

1. Authentication (SPF, DKIMDKIM is an email authentication method based on a digital signature. The acronym stands for... More, DMARCDMARC is the system created to ensure email compliance and integrity. Short for Domain-Based Message... More). It carries the most weight and it is what the large mailbox providers explicitly require from anyone sending in volume. Without a DKIMDKIM is an email authentication method based on a digital signature. The acronym stands for... More signature and DMARCDMARC is the system created to ensure email compliance and integrity. Short for Domain-Based Message... More, the rest matters little. You can verify the records with the free email DNS checker.
2. Blocklists. If the IP or a domainIn technical terms, a domain name is the address used to visit a specific website.... More in the message is listed, fix the cause and ask for removal: the blacklist check shows the detail.
3. Sending server. Reverse name of the IP, greeting and encryption. If you use a sending service it is up to them; if you send from your hosting, ask the provider.
4. Headers. Message-ID, date and, for newsletters, one-click unsubscribe.
5. Content. Shortened links, an email made of a single image, an all-caps subject, HTMLHTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It isn't a programming language but a system for... More with no plain-text version.

Then run the test again: every fix shows in the score.

What the score does not tell you

The score describes how that one message looks to a filter and to public checks. It is not a promise of inbox placement: each mailbox provider decides on its own, partly on how recipients treated your past emails.

Frequently asked questions