Engagement rate close to 0? No replies? A drastic and sudden drop in all your email performance metrics?
You might be facing an email blacklist. What are the solutions to regain optimal email deliverability?
Summary- What is an email blacklist?
- Why are your emails blacklisted?
- How to check if your email is on a blacklist?
- How to remove a blacklisted email?
- How to avoid being blacklisted again?
- In short: My emails are blacklisted – help, I’m blocked
What is an email blacklist?
An email blacklist is a list of IP addresses or domains suspected of sending spam emails. These lists are used by email providers to filter out unwanted messages and protect users from spam.
🔗 Understand why your emails land in the spam folder
Why are your emails blacklisted?
Several reasons can explain why your IP is blacklisted:
- You send a high volume of unsolicited emails.
- Your recipients mark your messages as spam.
- Your domain or IP address has a poor reputation.
- Your server is misconfigured or has an SMTP issue.
- Your contact list includes too many inactive addresses.
How to check if your email is on a blacklist?
There are several tools to find out if your email is blocked:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| MXToolbox | Checks if your domain or IP appears on blacklists. |
| Blacklist Spamhaus | Verifies if your email is listed on one of the most influential blacklists. |
| Sender Score | Assesses the reputation of your sending IP address. |
How to remove a blacklisted email?
If your email is being rejected due to a blacklist, here’s how to fix it:
- Identify the relevant blacklist using a lookup tool.
- Fix the sending issues and improve your email deliverability.
- Request removal from the blacklist on the appropriate website.
- Wait for your request to be processed – this may take a few days.
How to avoid being blacklisted again?
To avoid this situation in the future, here are some best practices:
- Authenticate your emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Don't send emails to inactive contacts.
- Maintain a consistent sending frequency to avoid being flagged as spam.
- Use a professional solution like Mindbaz for optimized deliverability.
No time to read? Here’s a quick recap
In short: My emails are blacklisted – help, I’m blocked
- An email blacklist blocks messages that are considered suspicious or unwanted.
- Causes include mass sending, spam complaints, and poor IP reputation.
- Tools like MXToolbox and Spamhaus help identify if your email is blacklisted.
- To get unlisted, identify the issue, correct it, and submit a removal request.
- Following best practices (SPF, DKIM, contact list hygiene) helps avoid future blacklisting.
- A professional tool like Mindbaz improves your email deliverability and prevents these problems.