Email Deliverability Health Score
Calculate your email deliverability health score based on bounce rates, spam complaints, engagement metrics, and authentication setup.
Formula
Health Score = ฮฃ(Metric Score ร Weight) where weights sum to 100%
Each metric (bounce, spam, open, click, unsub, auth) is scored 0-100 based on industry benchmarks, then weighted by impact on deliverability. Spam complaints weighted highest (25%).
Worked Examples
Example 1: Healthy E-commerce Newsletter
Problem:Monthly newsletter: 1.5% bounce, 0.03% spam complaints, 28% open rate, 4.5% click rate, 0.2% unsubscribe, full authentication.
Solution:Scores: Bounce: 90 (1.5% is good) Spam: 100 (0.03% excellent) Open: 85 (28% above average) Click: 85 (4.5% strong) Unsub: 100 (0.2% low) Auth: 100 (full SPF/DKIM/DMARC) Weighted: 90ร0.2 + 100ร0.25 + 85ร0.15 + 85ร0.1 + 100ร0.1 + 100ร0.1 = 18 + 25 + 12.75 + 8.5 + 10 + 10 = 94.25 Grade: Excellent No critical issues
Result:Score: 94/100 (Excellent) | Maintain current practices
Example 2: Struggling SaaS Campaigns
Problem:Product updates: 4% bounce, 0.15% spam, 12% opens, 1% clicks, 0.8% unsub, partial auth (no DMARC).
Solution:Scores: Bounce: 50 (4% is high) Spam: 40 (0.15% above threshold) Open: 50 (12% is low) Click: 50 (1% is weak) Unsub: 60 (0.8% elevated) Auth: 60 (missing DMARC) Weighted: 50ร0.2 + 40ร0.25 + 50ร0.15 + 50ร0.1 + 60ร0.1 + 60ร0.1 = 10 + 10 + 7.5 + 5 + 6 + 6 = 54.5 Grade: Fair Critical issues: 1. Spam complaints too high 2. List needs cleaning (bounce rate) 3. Add DMARC immediately
Result:Score: 55/100 (Fair) | Fix spam complaints & auth urgently
Example 3: Cold Outreach Disaster
Problem:Sales outreach: 8% bounce, 0.5% spam, 8% opens, 0.5% clicks, 1.5% unsub, no authentication.
Solution:Scores: Bounce: 20 (8% is terrible) Spam: 10 (0.5% = blacklist risk) Open: 30 (8% very low) Click: 30 (0.5% minimal) Unsub: 30 (1.5% very high) Auth: 20 (no SPF/DKIM/DMARC) Weighted: 20ร0.2 + 10ร0.25 + 30ร0.15 + 30ร0.1 + 30ร0.1 + 20ร0.1 = 4 + 2.5 + 4.5 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 21 Grade: Critical Immediate actions needed: 1. STOP sending until fixed 2. Implement all authentication 3. Verify email list 4. Review opt-in process 5. Check blacklists
Result:Score: 21/100 (Critical) | STOP - major deliverability crisis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is email deliverability?
Deliverability is the ability to reach the inbox (not spam/junk). It depends on sender reputation, authentication, content quality, and recipient engagement. High deliverability means 95%+ inbox placement.
What is a good bounce rate?
Under 2% is good, under 1% is excellent. Hard bounces (invalid emails) damage reputation more than soft bounces (full inbox). Clean lists regularly and verify emails before sending.
What spam complaint rate is acceptable?
Under 0.1% (1 per 1,000) is the industry threshold. Above 0.1% triggers ISP warnings. Above 0.3% can get you blacklisted. Gmail's threshold is even stricter at 0.08%.
What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC?
SPF verifies sending server authorization. DKIM cryptographically signs emails. DMARC aligns both and tells receivers how to handle failures. All three are essential for deliverability and required by Google/Yahoo as of 2024.
Why are my open rates low?
Causes: poor subject lines, wrong send time, spam folder placement, inactive list, sender reputation issues, or Apple Mail Privacy Protection (inflates/hides opens). Benchmark: 15-25% is typical, 30%+ is excellent.
How do I improve sender reputation?
Maintain low bounces and complaints, get engagement (opens, clicks), authenticate properly, warm up new IPs gradually, send consistently, and remove inactive subscribers. Use tools like Google Postmaster to monitor.
What is list hygiene?
Regular cleaning of email lists: remove hard bounces immediately, sunset inactive subscribers (no engagement in 6-12 months), verify emails before adding, and use double opt-in for quality.
How do spam filters work?
Filters analyze: sender reputation, authentication, content (spam words, links, images), engagement history, and user behavior. Machine learning models score each email; low scores go to spam.
What is email warmup?
Gradually increasing send volume from a new IP/domain to build reputation. Start with 50-100 emails to engaged users, increase 20-30% daily over 2-4 weeks. Rushing causes blocks.
How do I get out of the spam folder?
Fix authentication, reduce complaints, improve engagement, clean list, check content for spam triggers, request removal from blacklists, and ask engaged subscribers to mark as 'not spam'.