How Not to Look Spammy

We all hate spam and get way too much of it. Now that we have that out of the way it is important to realize that in our zest to minimize our spam, we are deleting legitimate e-mails. Two factors are at play – not reviewing your trash before you empty it and on the other hand, sending e-mail with indicators that trip spam filters.

You need to make certain efforts so that your e-mail will not be inadvertently incorrectly perceived as spam. Several times each day, legitimate e-mail make it into my junk/trash due to the sender doing or not doing certain things that trigger most spam filters. These are issues you need to be aware of so that your e-mail has its best chance to make it to its intended party.

Here is a simple checklist of things to consider so that your e-mails are not mistakenly viewed as spam and deleted before read:

– Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many e-mail programs auto delete subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: stuff, hello, hi, help, new or the recipient’s name or e-mail address as these will trigger spam filters.

– Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your e-mail. You know what they are – you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your e-mail right to Trash.

– Type your subject with appropriate capitalization and structure. All small case or all caps gives the impression of being spam (and lack of business technology skills).

– Make sure your name is formally displayed in the FROM: field. Example: Jane A. Doe is correct. All lower case or lack of punctuation here indicates the lack of online savvy most spammers have and that your e-mail could be spam.

– Refrain from using any formatting just for the sake of doing so. Formatting will trigger spam filters if not done properly.

– When using any sort of spam software or filtering system, before you purge your trash, it doesn’t hurt to take a quick peak to see if any e-mail are in fact from folks you know or recognize.

By keeping the above issues in mind, you have the best chance of your e-mail getting to the person on the other side.

Related posts:

1. E-mail “Whitelist” Etiquette
2. 10 E-mail Organization Tips
3. How to Identify and Handle Spam/UCE
4. Spam as Money Generator
5. Australian Held for Sending Billions of Spam Messages

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