If you’re experiencing issues with email delivery on your hosting account, this guide will help you understand the most common causes and how to resolve them.
Common Causes of Email Delivery Issues #
1. Your Email Account Has Been Flagged for Spam #
When our system detects suspicious sending patterns or content that resembles spam, your email account may be temporarily restricted. This helps maintain our servers’ reputation and ensures good deliverability for all customers.
Signs your account may be flagged:
- Emails bouncing back with spam-related error messages
- Sudden inability to send emails after sending large volumes
- Recipients reporting emails going to spam folders
2. Signs of Account Compromise #
If your email account has been compromised, hackers may use it to send spam, which triggers our security measures.
Warning signs of compromise:
- Emails in your sent folder that you didn’t send
- Unusual login locations or times in email logs
- Friends/contacts receiving spam from your email address
- Sudden increase in bounce-back messages
3. Exceeding Mass Email Limits #
Our shared hosting servers have specific limits designed to ensure optimal performance and deliverability for all customers.
Email Sending Limits on Shared Servers #
Maximum emails per batch: 100 emails
Our shared servers are optimized for regular business communication and transactional emails, not for mass email campaigns. While we support legitimate bulk sending, it must be done responsibly.
Best Practices for Bulk Email Sending #
- Space out your sending: Don’t send 100 emails within 5 minutes. Instead, spread them over 30-60 minutes.
- Use smaller batches: Send 20-50 emails at a time with 10-15 minute intervals between batches.
- Monitor your sending patterns: Keep track of how many emails you’re sending and when.
- Use transactional emails appropriately: Order confirmations, password resets, and notifications are acceptable.
Understanding Email Quality Metrics #
To maintain good email deliverability, you need to monitor two critical metrics:
Bounce Rate (Must be under 1%) #
What is a bounce? A bounce occurs when an email cannot be delivered to the recipient’s mailbox and is returned to the sender.
Types of bounces:
- Hard Bounces: Permanent failures (invalid email addresses, domain doesn’t exist)
- Soft Bounces: Temporary failures (mailbox full, server temporarily unavailable)
How to calculate bounce rate: (Number of bounced emails ÷ Total emails sent) × 100
Example: If you send 1000 emails and 8 bounce back, your bounce rate is 0.8% (acceptable)
Complaint Rate (Must be under 0.30%) #
What is a complaint? A complaint happens when a recipient marks your email as spam or junk in their email client.
How complaints are tracked:
- Recipients click ‘Mark as Spam’ or ‘Junk’
- Email providers (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) report complaints through feedback loops
- These reports are sent back to our servers automatically
How to calculate complaint rate: (Number of spam complaints ÷ Total emails delivered) × 100
Example: If you send 1000 emails and receive 2 spam complaints, your complaint rate is 0.2% (acceptable)
How to Resolve Email Sending Issues #
Immediate Steps to Take #
- Check your email logs – Look for error messages in your DirectAdmin email logs
- Change your email password – Use a strong, unique password if compromise is suspected
- Review your recent sending patterns – Check if you’ve exceeded the 100 emails per batch limit
- Clean your mailing list – Remove invalid email addresses that cause bounces
Long-term Best Practices #
For Content:
- Use clear, relevant subject lines
- Include a clear unsubscribe link
- Send only to people who opted in
- Avoid spam trigger words and excessive formatting
For Technical Setup:
- Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
- Use authenticated sending domains
- Monitor your sender reputation
- Maintain consistent sending volumes
When to Contact Support #
Contact our technical support team if:
- Your account appears to be compromised
- You’re following best practices but still can’t send emails
- You need help configuring email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
- Your legitimate business emails are being blocked
- You need guidance on bulk email best practices
When contacting support, please provide:
- Your domain name and email address
- Error messages you’re receiving
- Recent sending volumes and patterns
- Examples of emails that failed to send
