A domain reputation tester is a tool that allows you to check your email sending domain’s reputation. A good reputation is essential for successful email marketing and lead generation. A strong domain reputation means that your emails will land in the recipients’ inboxes, while a bad one will end up in the spam folders. The way that domains and IP addresses are assessed by receivers is different from one to another and many email senders have a hard time understanding the reasoning behind their reputation.
There are a few online domain reputation checker tools available. Some of them are offered by providers that specialize in IP address and domain reputation. For example, Barracuda offers a simple reputation tool that is based on the information in their proprietary reputation databases. Similarly, Google Postmaster Tools focuses on your domain’s reputation with Gmail and can be used as a proxy for your overall reputation. Other tools like MainTester and Ipvoid offer more detailed reports based on various blacklisting engines. For instance, Talos Intelligence by Cisco correlates your web reputation with messages sent over different IPs and can help you identify major problems that might impact your deliverability.
Domain Reputation Monitoring: Staying Ahead of the Curve
Domain and IP reputation is especially important for email marketers who run large-scale cold email outreach campaigns. For example, if you have just set up a new email server for your ESP or ISP it may take weeks until it builds up an established reputation with the ESP and its anti-spam filters. You should also be careful not to abuse your email senders’ trust by sending a lot of spam. That can damage your domain and IP reputation and result in a lower email deliverability rate. Practicing best practices such as validating email lists, using double opt-in for all subscribers and optimizing subject lines can help you avoid getting your emails stuck in the spam tracks.
