October 15, 20269 min read
Cold Email Deliverability Checklist: 12 Things to Fix Before You Send
The complete pre-send checklist for cold email deliverability: authentication, warmup, list hygiene, content and sending habits — in priority order.
What is email deliverability? Email deliverability is the percentage of your emails that reach the recipient's inbox rather than the spam folder or being blocked. High deliverability requires correct authentication, a warmed-up domain, a clean list, and restrained sending habits.
Run through this checklist before any serious campaign. Items are in priority order — fix from the top down.
1. SPF record published and valid. Your DNS must authorize your sending servers. One typo here and everything else barely matters.
2. DKIM signing enabled. Every email should carry a valid DKIM signature so receivers can verify it really came from you.
3. DMARC policy published. Start at p=none to monitor, move to quarantine once you're confident. It also unlocks BIMI later.
4. Domain warmed up (3–4 weeks). New domains must ramp volume gradually with real engagement — never blast from day one.
5. List verified. Remove invalid addresses, role-based emails and spam traps. Keep bounces under 2% or providers will throttle you.
6. Custom tracking domain. Never send tracked links through a shared or ngrok-style domain — it poisons your reputation.
7. Unsubscribe link present. Required by law in most regions, and its absence is a spam signal in itself.
8. Spam-check your copy. Run subject and body through a spam checker for trigger words, caps, and link overload.
9. Plain-text friendly. Heavy HTML with little text screams bulk mail. Keep formatting simple, especially in cold outreach.
10. Daily volume caps. 30–50 emails per inbox per day is the safe zone for warmed domains. Scale with more inboxes, not more volume per inbox.
11. Placement test first. Send to Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo seeds and confirm inbox placement before the real send.
12. Monitor post-send. Watch bounces, complaints and placement trends weekly. Deliverability is maintenance, not a one-time setup.
Vexrim Outreach automates most of this list: DNS verification, warmup pool, list verification, custom tracking domains, placement tests and bounce auto-pause — all in one place.