Why is my email going to spam?

If you're seeing that sent or received emails, especially within the same domain are landing in a spam folder, it may be due to your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) blacklisted IP address. DreamHost's spam filters are designed to mark emails as spam when they originate from a blacklisted IP address.

The following provides steps you can take to determine if your IP address is on a blacklist.

1. Visit whatismyipaddress.com  to look up your current home IP address.
2. Use the following sites to check if your IP address is on a blacklist:
   • multirbl.valli.org
   • zy0.de
3. If your IP address is on a blacklist, contact your ISP (the company providing you with internet access) to determine any steps you can take in order to remove it.

If your IP address is not blacklisted, then please copy the headers of the message that ended up in your spam folder and paste it into a Contact Support ticket in your DreamHost panel. For more information on viewing email headers, see the following article:

• Viewing email headers

Be sure to explain the issue you're experiencing so support can further assist you.

Third-party email providers

If your domain is using a third-party email provider but using DreamHost's DNS, make sure you have configured the correct custom SPF records.

Sending email from your website

If you are sending email from your website and those messages are going to spam, make sure the email is authenticated via SMTP:

• WordPress: You can use a plugin such as 'WP Mail SMTP' to send SMTP-authenticated emails.
• PHP: If your site uses the PHP mail function, you can configure it to use SMTP via PHPMailer.
• Other CMS: If your site has a CMS other than WordPress installed, it may have built-in support for SMTP authentication. Refer to your software's support documentation for more information.

How to make your email look less like Spam

There are several things you can do when creating an email to make it appear less like Spam. The following articles give you a few ideas of what to do, or what to avoid when sending an email.

• 7 Tips To Stop Your Emails From Getting Marked As Spam
• How to keep your marketing emails out of the spam box
• A Marketer's Guide to Email Deliverability: How to Avoid Email Spam Filters