Email sent but not recieved for certain domains with no bounce warning

[Fyrho]

For the last year or so there are certain domains that I can't send to from email addresses hosted by Go Daddy. The message will send without error but the user never receives it and there is no bounce message warning it did not go through. This seems to be for only certain domains and not others. Also, the exact same message sent from an address hosted by a different provider goes through fine.

[rd]

Unfortunately those kinds of things can be difficult to track @Fyrho? In your example I really have no idea as this kind of an issue can require a bit of forensics. What I can say is the inconsistency is because of variation of server setup. A lot of server administrators do not bother sending bounce notifications. Depending on the email server sending bounce messages for SPAM can be overwhelming. Most just fall into a blank hole.

You should arm yourself with as much information as you can. Use whatever information you have to start the forensics. I wish I could offer you a bit more of a solution but unfortunately there is no one solution for this kind of issue? If you find one come share it with all of us!

[Fyrho]

@rd I've pretty much assumed the servers are looking at my messages and assigning them a score that falls below its threshold for what qualifies as spam and discarding them. Periodically I'll get frustrated that its not working and spend some time looking on the internet for a possible solution, but at this point I've looked at everything I can think of and not gotten anywhere so that why I'm reaching out for help.

[rd · Accepted solution]

Consider that it is sometimes more than just about the email itself @Fyrho. I assume that your website has a SSL certificate and that the settings for your emil addresses are set to ports with SSL encryption on them?

When I am working with a new client what I usually request is that they send me a email. When I receive it, I reply and typically include instruction to add my address to their address book. Occasionaly I followup with a call and let them know to check to insure my mail is not in SPAM and instruct them on how to ensure that my domain email addresses are white-listed. You can also do things like:

1. ensure the sender information is accurate
2. ensure you are sending directly to a address
3. ensure you are sending to active addresses
4. don't use SPAM trigger words
5. make a strong subject line
6. if you must include links in the body of your email make them secure
7. do not include attachments if there is no need
8. don't make a large image with minimal text
9. ensure there is a Opt-Out Link
10. check you spelling and grammar

Those are my typical guidelines but really concentrate hard on your website. Be aware of your seach engine ranking. Make sure the seach engines list your website as secure. I hope that helps?

[Fyrho]

@rd I currently don't use the webhosting for any publicly accessible website so I've never purchased an SSL cert for the domain. Would getting an SSL cert solve the problem?

[rd]

I'm not saying that a SSL certificate will solve all of your issues @Fyrho but I'd certainly start there. I imagine how your domain looks to serve admis out there trying to distinguish friends from foe? I tell people that the only domains that need SSL certificates are the ones that are being used on the internet. Come back and let us know if that helped your issue.

[Fyrho]

I've looked into applying a SSL cert and its fairly straight forward to do on the web server, but I can't seem to find a way to set it up for the mail server. Can you point me in the right direction for how to do this on Godaddy?