If your business relies on email for marketing and communication, don’t let the Google Spam Update 2024 catch you by surprise. When you’ve invested time, effort and money into your email content, it’s only right that you want them to reach their intended destination.
Imagine this… you set off on a journey to somewhere fab, but along the way, you get a puncture, leaving you stranded in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal, hoping someone will eventually find you.
It’ll be the same for your emails if you don’t act now.
This blog won’t teach you how to change a tyre, but it will tell you all you need to know about the Google Spam Update 2024 to keep your emails moving to reach people’s inboxes rather than being left stranded in junk.
What Is The Google Spam Update 2024?
The Google Spam Update 2024 has nothing to do with processed ham and everything to do with new protective methods to keep unwanted emails out of people’s Gmail inboxes.
There aren’t many people in today’s world who don’t use email, and the latest statistics show that Gmail alone has over 1.8 billion active users worldwide. To put that into some sort of context, that’s like the entire population of the UK having 23 email accounts per person (newborns included!). The chances are high that a lot of your subscribers, clients and enquirers are going to be using Gmail.
Will It Affect Me?
Primarily aimed at businesses, individuals or bots that send out 5000+ emails per day, senders with lower volumes who have received complaints for spam or have missing domain records are also at risk of their emails being allocated to spam.
I know what you’re thinking…
“Phew! I don’t send anywhere near those numbers, I don’t have to worry.”
But unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. Even if you’re sending lower numbers, you could find yourself with deliverability issues if you don’t meet the requirements.
If you run a small, independent business, could you afford for your emails to be labelled as junk?
The changes required aren’t massive, and just a few simple tweaks to comply with the Google Spam Update 2024 could mean the difference between growth and success or struggle and failure.
3 Key Requirements Of Google’s Spam Update 2024
When you read this, chances are you’ve already got it covered, and if you haven’t, you’ll realise how simple it is to update things to ensure your emails keep reaching their intended targets.
The strict Google spam update 2024 rules are already in use (effective from February 2024), so don’t delay…
1. Authenticate Your Email Address(es)
How? Through DKIM, SPF and DMARC authentication (don’t worry what they stand for). These are a set of email authentication records used by Google and other email providers to check that your email address(es) are legit which significantly decreases the chances of your emails being classed as spam.
There are plenty of resources available online to check the status of your authentication records. If your records need updating, you can either log in to the account management section of your email service provider to do it yourself (only recommended if you feel confident and capable of doing so) or you can contact them directly for help.
2. Allow People To Unsubscribe Easily
I get that you want your subscribers to stick around, but disguising your unsubscribe link and making it a complicated process for people to leave won’t do you any favours.
The Google Spam Update 2024 demands that you include a one-click unsubscribe option.
Even though many email providers include an unsubscribe option for their users, it’s also your job to include a clear and simpler, one-click unsubscribe feature at the bottom of every email you send. This link should direct the person directly to an unsubscribe confirmation with no extra steps or verifications to allow them to leave your mailing list with ease.
If you’re offering something of worth in your emails, people are going to stick around. If not, they’re going to leave and you might as well let them without causing a fuss about it. And funnily enough, if you need some expert advice on how to write emails that get opened, here’s a blog about that very thing!
3. Make Sure People Actually Want Your Emails
Nobody likes spam. That’s a fact. It’s the ‘fatberg’ of the email word that clogs things up, disrupts the flow and causes people to back away fast.
People want to receive emails they care about, have an interest in and are of worth to them. If they’ve signed up for your mailing list, it’s because what you were offering piqued their interest, and they were keen to find out more. Not because they wanted to know about every single new product or piece of industry-related news going on.
To help tackle this, the Google spam update 2024 will enforce a clear spam threshold. From 1st Feb 2024, they state you must:
“Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher.”
To put this into perspective, for every 1000 emails sent, only 3 need to be marked as spam for you to reach the threshold and risk all your emails being automatically labelled as spam!
One More Thing…Use A Dedicated Domain
When you use an email service provider, your emails usually go out from a shared domain, which is like sharing a postal address with many others. This can be risky because if any users on that shared domain send spam, it might hurt your emails’ chances of reaching inboxes.
Moving to a dedicated domain is like getting your own unique address. It keeps your email reputation safe and improves the likelihood of your emails being delivered properly, because you’re not mixed in with anyone else’s potential email missteps.
Email providers are like gatekeepers; they’re more likely to trust and allow emails through from a dedicated domain. This trust improves your deliverability rates, meaning your messages are more likely to be seen and opened.
Plus, a dedicated domain not only looks professional but also reassures your recipients that the email is genuinely from you, reducing the likelihood they’ll mark it as spam. In the world of email marketing, better deliverability equals better chances of your message being heard.
Don’t Risk A Virtual Flat Tyre
Don’t stress about the Google Spam update 2024; it’s simpler than it first sounds. Authenticate your email address(es), ensure easy unsubscribing and send content people want. All essential deliverability practices you should follow to get the most from your email campaigns.
Remember, the Google spam update 2024 isn’t a distant threat – it’s already here, and the journey your emails take is too important to experience a virtual flat tyre.
