Guide
Warm up a new email domain
The 4-week process to make sure your emails don't land in spam.
Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
In your DNS provider (GoDaddy, Cloudflare), add the three records your email tool provides. This proves to inbox providers you own the domain. Never skip this, emails without proper DNS land in spam.
Week 1: send to 20 to 50 engaged subscribers only
Your most active people. Ask them to open and reply. Replies are the strongest 'this is a real person' signal to Gmail's algorithm.
Week 2: expand to 200 to 500
Add newer subscribers. Watch open rates in your ESP dashboard. If open rates crash below 15%, pause and shrink the list, warm up more slowly.
Week 3: 500 to 2000
Continue segmenting for engagement. If you have subscribers who haven't opened in 90 days, DON'T include them yet. Bad engagement early kills domain reputation.
Week 4: full list
By now, inbox providers know you send legitimate content. You can send to everyone. Continue watching bounce and complaint rates weekly.
Never buy or scrape lists
One purchased list = permanent damage to your domain. Even after cleaning, senders never fully recover reputation. If tempted, don't.
That’s the whole thing.
Keep going
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