Increase your domain reputation in 4 easy steps!

How we went from bad to high reputation in Google Postmaster.

I’ve seen domains in the tank time and time again.

Terrible sending reputations with a domain reputation of BAD in Google Postmaster tools.

A lot of publishers will just kill the domain and start with a new one.

What if I told you, you don’t have to?

Having a bad reputation isn’t the end of your story.

You can kill your reputation twice as fast as you can fix it.

In the screenshot above you can see how this site’s domain reputation fell from High to Bad in just 18 days.

It took 38 days just to get it out of bad to a low-domain rep.

Then another 16 days to get to Medium followed by another 14 days to get to back to high.

It took less than 3 weeks to tank the domain and over 2 months to get it fixed.

But this clearly shows that it’s possible to improve a bad domain rep back up to high.

High engagement and low complaints are the keys to a high domain reputation.

In order to maintain a good sending reputation you better have implemented a base sending segment which I have discussed time and time again, and detailed in a previous newsletter here.

This segment will ensure you are sending to only engaged subscribers giving the ISPs the signals they are looking for.

You should be shooting for:

• Click-Through Rates of 5%+

• Complaint Rates under 0.1%

The proof is in the pudding!

If you just implement this single strategy (The Base Sending Segment) you will be on your way to a high domain reputation like my friend Tyler O’Shea from The Underdog Newsletter.

Here is what he said when I asked what specifically he did, and if he minded if I shared his success…

By the way, if you love sports I highly recommend his newsletter.

You can subscribe to The Underdog Newsletter by clicking here!

Now that I have shown you it can be done, here are steps to follow if your domain reputation is in the tank.

STEP 1: Stop the bleeding!

If you notice your domain reputation has taken a hit, it’s time to tighten up who you are sending to.

Only send to subscribers who have engaged with your newsletter recently, and don’t include any new subscribers until you have stabilized your complaint rates.

Create a Tightened Sending Segment of:

This segment will pause your new subscriber activation, so you may want to pause any Ads temporarily until you get through this step.

There is no reason to spend a bunch of money on new subscriber acquisition if you can’t deliver your email to their inbox.

STEP 2: Be consistent and don’t get antsy.

Hold the line.

Remember… It’s going to take you way longer to dig yourself out of the hole.

If you're not seeing progress, just take a deep breath.

I promise you what you are doing is working and you will eventually see the light.

Remember it took 38 days for this domain to get out of BAD sender reputation in Google.

After a month most people throw in the towel.

Simply stay the course.

Once your complaint rates are consistently (for 7-10 days) under 0.1% and click-through rates at 5%+ you can move to Step 3.

STEP 3: Start increasing new subscriber acquisition.

Now that you have your newsletter engagement metrics where they need to be it’s time to start introducing new subscribers back into the newsletter.

The ISPs will be happy that your engagement metrics are back on track and that you have seemed to eliminate any of the fat from your list.

But, they will also want to see new subscribers who want to receive your newsletter are also getting added to your list.

Create a Tightened Sending Segment with Newly Added of:

It’s time to turn your Ads back on (or push harder on your organic methods) to generate new subs.

I’d recommend cutting your acquisition in half to what you were doing prior to your domain reputation taking a hit and you can slowly increase over time as things keep improving.

STEP 4: Monitor your domain reputation daily.

Keep an eye on your domain reputation and see if it’s holding steady or improving.

If it drops another level, you need to tighten up your sending segment even more.

You should make it a habit to be checking your domain rep daily even if your reputation is always high.

It just takes one bad source of new subscriber traffic to blow up your reputation.

That’s all folks.

If you follow those steps above you should be back on track ready to hit the inbox.

NOTE: The details above are for a daily newsletter. If you send only once a week or less frequently you will have to adjust your segments as needed.

Please remember…

Stay the course and you will get out of the 💩 you’re in.

Let’s get high,
Chris Miquel

Follow me on Twitter: @miqchris

and on LinkedIn: chrismiquel