Use the following tips when composing your email to help prevent it from being sent to the junk pile!

Spam filtering can be extremely effective in preventing unwanted emails from appearing in our inboxes but it can sometimes have the opposite effect and produce false negatives if the content of an email is thought of as spam.

Dont's

• Avoid using all capitals in your subject and body unnecessarily
• Avoid using punctuation in the subject.
• Avoid using excessive punctuation in the body, eg. punctuation??!!
• Avoid substituting letters with numbers, eg. w3b h0sting
• Avoid having gaps between the letters in words, eg. l e t t e r s
• Avoid using many different font colours in your email.
• Avoid using large font sizes.
• Avoid using gimmicky words or phrases that are commonly found in spam emails, eg: Click Here, Buy Now, As Seen On, Money Making, Get Paid, Make Cash, Pre-Approved, Hot Deal, Satisfaction Guaranteed, Lowest Prices, Save Big etc.
• Avoid using shortened URLs (web links) in your email body, eg. bit.ly or goo.gl
• Avoid adding a large number of URLs (web links) to the email body.
• Avoid using rude language or poor spelling.

Do's

• Include a text version of your email if you are sending an email in HTML format.
• Maintain a good text to image ratio, ie. for every image include at least two lines of text.
• Ensure that your internet IP address assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider is not listed on a spam blacklist.
• Add an accurate SPF or DKIM DNS record to your domain.

Even if you do follow the above best practices, there may still be a chance that an email you have sent ends up in the recipient’s junk or spam folder. Spam filter administrators do not publicise their filtering techniques in a bid to stop spammers from circumventing spam filtering.

It is therefore advisable that if you do not receive a response within the expected time frame to follow up with the recipient via alternate means to confirm receipt of your email.