Ensuring your cold emails actually reach the inbox is crucial for successful SEO outreach. Here are some tips to help improve your email deliverability:
1. Verify Your Email List
Before you start sending emails, make sure your email list is up to date. Use tools to check the email addresses to avoid bounces. Sending to invalid emails can damage your sender reputation, which can affect deliverability.
2. Warm Up Your Email Account
If you’re using a new email account for sending cold emails, begin by sending a few emails per day and gradually increase the volume. This helps build your sender’s reputation without triggering spam filters.
3. Personalise Your Emails
Emails that appear to have been sent to a mass audience are more likely to be flagged as spam. Personalise your emails, not just by inserting the recipient’s name but by tailoring the content to their specific needs and interests.
4. Avoid Spammy Content
Be mindful of your language. Avoid excessive use of exclamation marks, all caps, and spam-trigger words like ‘free’, ‘guarantee’, and ‘no risk’. Also, ensure your email design is clean and professional; overly flashy emails can trigger spam filters.
5. Use a Professional Email Address
Using a professional email address that matches your company domain is better than a generic Gmail or Yahoo address. This not only appears more professional but also helps in establishing trust with email providers.
6. Include an Unsubscribe Link
Always provide recipients with an easy way to opt out of your emails. Not only is this good practice, but it’s also a legal requirement in many regions. Including an unsubscribe link helps to avoid being marked as spam by recipients.
7. Monitor Your Sender Reputation
Keep an eye on your sender reputation with tools like SenderScore. If your score starts to decline, take steps to address it immediately. This might involve further cleaning up your email list or revising your email content.
8. Regularly Test and Refine
Send test emails to accounts with different email providers to check where your emails land—inbox, spam, or promotions folders. Based on this feedback, tweak your emails to improve deliverability.
