An email landing in the recipient's spam folder means two things: it was delivered (good), but the receiving system isn't confident it's really from you (bad). Deliverability is a mix of domain authentication and sending behaviour. Here's how to fix both.
Step 1 — Verify your domain is authenticated
Email providers check that mail claiming to come from your domain is genuinely authorised. Three DNS records do this:
| Record | What it proves | Where |
|---|---|---|
| SPF | Which servers may send mail for your domain | TXT record in DNS |
| DKIM | The mail is signed by your domain's key | TXT record, added via cPanel |
| DMARC | What receivers should do with failed mail | TXT record in DNS |
To check yours:
- Log into cPanel and open Email Deliverability (under Email).
- Select your domain. cPanel reports whether SPF and DKIM are active and, if DMARC is missing, offers to add a recommended record.
- Click the button to fix any missing items. The changes are DNS records, so they spread over a few hours.
Step 2 — Clean up sending behaviour
Even with perfect authentication, spam filters judge how you send. Common triggers for a small business:
- Buying an old, unverified address list and mailing it cold.
- Sending the identical promotional message to a large list at once.
- All-caps subjects, excessive exclamation marks, or words like "free", "guaranteed" and "act now".
- No unsubscribe link in bulk mail, and no plain-text version.
Step 3 — The recipient's filter
Sometimes the issue is on the reader's end. Ask the recipient to mark your mail as Not spam and add your address to their contacts. If you filter SpamAssassin settings, the "spam threshold" in cPanel (under Spam Filters) can be adjusted — but be careful: lowering the threshold also lets more junk through to inboxes.
Just set up the domain recently?
A brand-new domain sending bulk mail starts with a "cold" reputation. Send a steady, low volume from real, engaged contacts for the first few weeks before running campaigns. Consider authenticating first and warming up gradually.
Sending through a marketing platform instead?
If you send newsletters through a separate service, that service needs SPF/DKIM records for your domain added to DNS as well — otherwise their mail will be flagged. Follow their setup guide; it's the same records, just pointing at their servers. See DNS Records Explained for help reading them.