You send a quote to a customer and they never see it. A week later they tell you it was sitting in their junk folder. If that keeps happening, it’s costing you work, and it’s almost always fixable.
We sort this out for businesses every week. Here’s why it happens and what needs to be in place so your emails land in the inbox.
Why Emails End Up In Spam
Gmail, Outlook and the other big providers check every email for proof that it really came from you. Since 2024 they’ve become much stricter about it. If your domain can’t prove an email is genuine, it’s far more likely to be filtered or rejected.
That proof comes from three records in your domain’s DNS settings:
- SPF lists the servers that are allowed to send email for your domain.
- DKIM adds a digital signature to each email, so the receiving side can check it hasn’t been faked or changed.
- DMARC tells other providers what to do if an email fails those checks, and sends you reports about it.
If any of these are missing or set up wrong, your emails start to look like the scam ones.
The Website Contact Form Problem
This one catches out a lot of businesses. Your website form sends you an email, but it pretends to come from the customer’s own address. When that customer uses Gmail or a company with strict email rules, the email fails the checks and quietly disappears.
The fix is to have the form send from an address on your own domain, such as [email protected], with the customer’s address set as the reply-to. You can still hit reply and it goes to them.
If your form seems to be getting fewer enquiries than it should, our guide on why contact forms stop getting submissions is worth a read too.
Other Common Causes
- Using a free address for business. Sending quotes from a Gmail or Hotmail account looks less trustworthy and is easier to fake.
- Shared or blacklisted servers. If the server you send from has been used for spam, other providers may block it. You can check whether an address is blacklisted.
- Spammy content. Lots of links, all capitals, big attachments or words like “urgent” and “free” in the subject can all count against you.
- Sending lots at once. Newsletters sent from your normal mailbox often trigger filters. Use a dedicated mailing service for those.
- Old email settings. If you’ve moved email to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, the old records may still be pointing somewhere else.
How To Check Your Own Domain
- Send an email from your business address to a Gmail account.
- Open it, click the three dots and choose “Show original”.
- Look for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Each should say PASS.
If any of them say FAIL or don’t appear at all, that’s your answer.
Common Questions
(01)Will Fixing These Records Get Me Out Of Spam Straight Away?
Usually within a few days. Providers learn over time, so if your emails have been failing for months it can take a little while for your reputation to recover.
(02)Do I Need DMARC If I Already Have SPF?
Yes. The big providers now expect all three for business email, and DMARC is what ties the other two together.
(03)Can You Check My Email Setup?
Yes. If you host with us we check and set these records up as standard. If you don’t, get in touch and we’ll tell you what’s missing.
Emails Still Going Missing?
Business email is included with our website hosting, set up with SPF, DKIM and DMARC from day one. If your emails keep landing in junk, get in touch and we’ll find out why.
