Deliverability — BlacklistGuard Docs

Deliverability

Getting to the inbox comes down to a few things you control: proving who you are, keeping your list clean, watching your reputation, and pacing your sending. Here's how each works on BlacklistGuard.

Authentication

Mailbox providers trust mail that's authenticated. Every sending domain you add publishes three records — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — that prove BlacklistGuard is allowed to send for you and that your messages weren't tampered with. The Verify SPF, DKIM & DMARC guide walks through each record; Set up a sending domain covers adding and verifying the domain itself.

ℹYou can't send as your brand until at least the domain's ownership record is verified. SPF and DKIM aren't strictly required to start, but you should publish them before sending at any volume.

DMARC policy

DMARC tells receivers what to do when a message fails authentication, and gives you reports on who's sending as your domain. Roll it out in stages:

p=none — monitor only. Collect reports without affecting delivery. Start here.
p=quarantine — send failing mail to spam once your reports look clean.
p=reject — reject failing mail outright. The end goal for full protection.

You can have BlacklistGuard receive and parse your DMARC aggregate reports for you — enable DMARC report ingestion on the sending domain (see Sending domains).

Bounce classification

When a message can't be delivered, it bounces. Bounces are classified as:

Hard bounces — permanent failures (the address doesn't exist). These addresses are automatically suppressed so you don't keep mailing them.
Soft bounces — temporary failures (mailbox full, server busy). These are retried.

Spam complaints (when a recipient hits "report spam") are what feedback loops report back to you — set those up so you can suppress complainers. Review delivery and bounces under Bounces & complaints in the console, or pull them via the reporting API. Keeping hard bounces and complaints low is the single biggest factor in staying out of the spam folder.

Reputation monitoring

Your sender reputation determines whether providers accept your mail. BlacklistGuard gives you several ways to watch it:

Deliverability dashboard — IP and domain reputation, delivery rates, and a breakdown by recipient provider (Gmail, Outlook, …).
Google Postmaster Tools — connect your Google account to pull Gmail's view of your domain reputation, spam rate, and authentication success.
Blacklist checker & monitors — check your IPs and domains against DNS blacklists on demand, or schedule recurring monitors that alert you if you get listed. See the blacklist API.

Sending throttles & pacing

Sending too much, too fast — especially from a new IP or domain — is the fastest way to hurt your reputation. BlacklistGuard lets you configure sending throttles: per-IP and per-domain limits on how many messages go out per hour and per day. Combined with routing rules, you control exactly how mail is paced.

ℹWhen you start sending from a new dedicated IP, ramp your volume up gradually over the first few weeks rather than sending at full volume on day one. Set conservative throttles and raise them as your reputation builds.