What is a Spam Score?

A spam score is a rating that email providers and spam filters give an email to decide whether it should be marked as spam. The lower the spam score, the greater the chance your email lands in the inbox and your deliverability stays high.

Factors that raise your spam score

Spam trigger words (“free”, “guaranteed”, “100%”, “buy now”), too many images compared with text, no plain-text version, a missing unsubscribe link, incorrect DNS configuration, a high bounce rate and earlier spam complaints from recipients.

Lowering your spam score

Write natural, personalised email copy using spintax. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC correctly. Remove inactive contacts regularly. Test before sending with mail-tester.com, which gives a score out of 10 where higher is better: aim for 9 or more.

Spam score and cold email

With cold email, a low spam score is crucial for inbox placement. Combine it with email warm-up for the best results, and never send large numbers of identical emails.

Can I test my spam score myself?

Yes. With mail-tester.com you send a test email to a test address and immediately get a detailed report back.

Does the spam score differ per email provider?

Yes. Gmail and Outlook have their own algorithms and thresholds. More at developers.google.com/search.