Avoid being considered a spammer

Our customers regularly ask us how we can ensure that emails are correctly interpreted by anti-spam software. In this article, we’ll outline a number of rules you should follow to avoid being considered a spammer, particularly when setting up your email campaigns. These rules are divided into two categories: those applicable to the mail itself and those linked to the mail server. In this list, recommendations specific to emailing and newsletters will be followed by an asterisk (*).

1) Regarding mail:
– Write as simply as possible, without too many unusual characters. In particular, avoid replacing letters with visual equivalents such as “!” for “i” or “/” for “v”.
– Use a specific email address for your mailings, and if possible use a domain other than your usual one *.
– The email address used to send emails must be able to receive replies, and the domain name must belong to you. Above all, don’t usurp someone else’s identity.
– It’s imperative that you use a qualified base of recipients for your e-mailings (this is the most important thing). If, by chance, one of the e-mail addresses on your list corresponds to a spamtrap, you’ll immediately find yourself blacklisted. *
– Use correct HTML coding, especially in newsletters (don’t copy and paste from Word) *.
– Avoid the presence of large sums of money in the content of the e-mail, or large figures that can be likened to large sums of money.
– Avoid including long URLs or overly complicated URLs containing special characters or too many successive consonants, for example.
– Avoid e-mail signatures with thumbnails,
– Avoid too many capital letters in the subject line (don’t capitalize the whole subject line),
– Do not use non-symmetrical links (Anchor != URL) such as the name of the link which does not correspond to its pointer (for example in html codes of this type: <a href=http://www.toto.com>http://www.tata.com</a> ).

2) Concerning the Mail Server :
– The mail server must be fully named(FQDN). It should not be called “mail” but “mail.domaine.tld”.
– Make sure your IP address points to your mail server in the Reverse DNS sense. (To check this, simply “ping -a” your IP address).
– Correspondence between reverse IP and server FQDN name is the ideal configuration.
– Configure the IPs authorized to send emails on the domain used for shipping in the SPF fields.
– Avoid using an Internet connection such as ‘adsl particulier’ (free, sfr, orange,… ) for your mail server. All these addresses are known as DUL and are systematically blacklisted.
– Don’t use the same public IP to send mailings as your mail server (to avoid having your mailbox blocked by an irresponsible emailing) *.
– Respect RFC 2369, which standardizes header fields to facilitate newsletter management. In particular, add the “List-Unsubscribe:” and “List-Owner:” fields to your newsletters. *

If you can’t comply with all these rules, especially when it comes to configuring your mail server, you can also use an outgoing SMTP relay to send your e-mails. For your information, ALTOSPAM offers this type of service as an option: ALTOSPAM MailOut, which also ensures that you are not a virus vector by checking all messages sent by three anti-virus programs.