How it works
How to test email deliverability: one send in, a ranked fix list out
A deliverability test answers three questions: where does my email land, why, and what do I change first. Here is the loop, step by step, exactly as it runs.
> seeding 27 mailboxes across 6 providers
Send to the seed list
You send one email from your own ESP to a list of real seed mailboxes we operate at Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, GMX, Zoho and more. Nothing to install, no DNS change, no API hookup needed for your first test. Your sending stays entirely in your platform.
> reading placement + headers at every mailbox
We read the results across providers
Within minutes the placement board fills in: inbox, Promotions, or spam at every mailbox. Alongside placement we parse your authentication results (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, alignment), check the sending IP against 130+ blacklists, and flag content and structure issues.
> ranking fixes by impact
You get a fix list ranked by impact
The report ends with concrete actions in priority order, with the exact record or setting to change. Fix them yourself in your DNS and ESP, then re-test and watch the board change. If nothing is wrong, the report says exactly that.
What a result looks like
The placement board, live
This is the report a test produces. Pick a sending scenario and watch it fill in: placement per provider, authentication, blacklists, and the fix list ranked by impact.
Inbox placement
67%
··%
· ·
Authentication
checking 130+ blacklists
Sample data. Seed results are estimates, not guarantees.
After the first test
Fix, re-test, then let monitoring hold the line
Work the fix list
Each fix names the exact record, setting, or practice to change: publish this DMARC policy, add this SPF include, request this blacklist delisting. You make the changes in your own DNS and ESP; nothing routes through us.
Re-test to confirm
Deliverability changes take hours to days to propagate through DNS and provider caches. Re-run the inbox placement test and watch the board change. Seed results are directional estimates, so the trend across tests matters more than any single cell.
Turn on monitoring
Blacklists, sender reputation, and DMARC reports are watched continuously, with scheduled placement tests charting your inbox rate per provider over time. You get an alert the day something moves.