Why are my business emails going to spam? How to fix it step by step

You send a quote, a newsletter or an invoice, and the customer says, “I never got it.” Then they find it in spam. This guide explains why that happens and how to fix it, in the order that solves most problems fastest. You do not need to be technical; for the DNS step, your domain provider’s help pages or support team can do the typing for you.

The three usual causes

1. Your domain is not authenticated. Inboxes cannot confirm the email really comes from you.
2. People mark your emails as spam. Even a few complaints per thousand emails hurt.
3. Your list has problems. Old addresses, bought lists or people who never signed up.

Google and Yahoo both publish rules for senders. Since February 2024 they apply to everyone who emails personal Gmail and Yahoo accounts, and Google says it is increasing enforcement from November 2025.

Step 1: Check whether it is really spam filtering

Send a test email from your business address to a personal Gmail account you own. If it lands in spam:

• Open it, click the three dots and choose Show original. Look for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Each should say PASS.
• If any say FAIL or are missing, start with Step 2.
• If all pass, skip to Step 3.

Step 2: Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC

These are three small text records added to your domain’s DNS settings, where your domain is registered or hosted.

Record	What it does in plain words	Who needs it
SPF	Lists the services allowed to send email for your domain	Google: every sender needs SPF or DKIM
DKIM	Adds a digital signature that proves the email was not changed	Bulk senders need both SPF and DKIM
DMARC	Tells inboxes what to do when SPF or DKIM fails, and sends you reports	Required for bulk senders; a policy of “none” is enough to start

How to do it:

1. List every service that sends email for your domain: your mailbox provider, your newsletter tool, your invoicing app, your website’s contact form.
2. Find each service’s DNS instructions. Search their help centre for “SPF” and “DKIM”. Each gives you the exact text to copy.
3. Add one SPF record that includes all your services. Having two separate SPF records is a common mistake.
4. Add a DKIM record for each service. Google asks for a key of at least 1,024 bits; 2,048 is recommended.
5. Add a DMARC record. A simple starting record is v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected], which only monitors and sends you reports.
6. Wait a few hours, then repeat the test from Step 1.

For marketing email, the domain in your “From” address must match the domain that passes SPF or DKIM. Your email platform’s domain authentication setup handles this.

Step 3: Get your spam complaint rate down

Google asks all senders to keep the spam rate shown in its free Postmaster Tools below 0.1%, and never to reach 0.3%. That means fewer than one complaint for every 1,000 emails.

To bring complaints down:

• Only email people who asked. Google’s guidelines say not to send to people who did not sign up, and not to buy email addresses.
• Make unsubscribing easy. Put a clear unsubscribe link in every marketing email. Bulk senders must also support one-click unsubscribe, which most email platforms add for you.
• Remove people quickly. Yahoo asks senders to honour unsubscribes within 2 days; Google recommends 48 hours.
• Remind people who you are. Use the same recognisable “From” name and address every time. Google recommends one address per type of email, such as one for invoices and one for newsletters.

Step 4: Clean your list

• Remove hard bounces (addresses that do not exist) straight away.
• Stop emailing people who have not opened anything in months. Google suggests considering unsubscribing recipients who do not open your messages. Send one “do you still want these?” email first.
• Confirm new sign-ups. A double opt-in email, where people click to confirm, keeps fake and mistyped addresses off your list.

Step 5: Send steadily, especially from a new domain

Google advises starting with a low volume to engaged people and increasing slowly, and avoiding sudden spikes. If you have a new domain or a new email platform:

• send to your most engaged contacts first;
• increase the volume gradually over a few weeks;
• avoid sending your whole list in one burst.

Step 6: Keep newsletters away from your everyday email

If your newsletter gets complaints, it can drag down the reputation of the domain you use for quotes and invoices. Many businesses send marketing email from a subdomain, such as news.yourbusiness.com, set up through their email platform. Note that Google counts messages from the same main domain together when deciding who is a bulk sender.

A monthly five-minute check

1. Look at your spam rate in Google Postmaster Tools (it needs some sending volume before it shows data).
2. Check bounces and unsubscribes in your email platform.
3. Send one test email to a personal Gmail address and check it lands in the inbox.

Common mistakes

• Two SPF records instead of one combined record.
• Forgetting a sending service, such as an invoicing app, in SPF.
• Hiding the unsubscribe link. People then press “Report spam” instead.
• Buying or renting a list.
• Sending a huge campaign from a brand-new domain.

If you are choosing a newsletter tool, most platforms walk you through domain authentication during setup; see our email marketing buying guide. For cold outreach, read the domain advice in our cold email software guide.