Are you on any blacklists?

Sender reputation can make or break your cold email outreach.

No matter how well-crafted your emails are, if your domain is on a blacklist, they may never reach your recipient’s inbox. Instead, they’ll get flagged as spam, damaging your email deliverability and sales pipeline.

To avoid this, regularly checking your domain’s blacklist status is critical - and we’ve built a tool to help you do just that.

Why are blacklists a big deal?

Email blacklists exist to protect users from spam, phishing, and malicious emails. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), email providers like Gmail and Outlook, and anti-spam organizations maintain these lists to filter out suspicious senders.

If your sending domain or IP address lands on a blacklist, it signals to email providers that your emails might be unwanted or harmful. This can result in:

• Emails being blocked or sent to spam

• Lower email deliverability rates

• Reduced engagement from prospects

• Damaged sender reputation

• Increased bounce rates

Most importantly—getting blacklisted is easier than you think. Even if you’re not spamming, certain behaviors can trigger blacklists:

• Sending too many emails too fast without warming up your domain

• Poor email list hygiene, such as sending to invalid or spam trap addresses

• High spam complaint rates when recipients mark your emails as spam

• Using low-reputation IPs or shared mail servers

• Not authenticating your emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Once blacklisted, your emails could be undeliverable for days, weeks, or longer—unless you take action.

What to do if your domain is blacklisted

If you find yourself blacklisted, don’t panic. Here’s what to do next:

1. Confirm the listing

Use our IP & Domain Blacklist Checker to see which blacklists you’re on. Some blacklists carry more weight than others—being on a major blacklist like Spamhaus is more serious than a minor one.

2. Fix the root cause

Identify why you got blacklisted and address the issue:

• Check email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to ensure your email setup is configured correctly

• Improve email list hygiene by removing invalid emails, spam traps, and disengaged recipients

• Lower spam complaints by ensuring emails are well-targeted and offer a clear opt-out option

• Monitor sending patterns to avoid sending too many emails at once, especially from a fresh domain

3. Request removal

Most blacklists allow you to submit a removal request. Some will delist you automatically if you fix the issue, while others require a manual appeal. Acting quickly minimizes the impact.

4. Monitor and prevent future blacklisting

Prevention is always better than cure. Keep your email domain in good standing by:

• Regularly checking your blacklist status with our tool

• Implementing proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

• Using warmed-up, high-reputation sending domains

• Avoiding spammy email practices

Keep your cold emails landing in inboxes

Blacklists don’t just hurt deliverability - they damage your ability to generate leads and close deals. By proactively monitoring your domain’s reputation, you can avoid deliverability issues and ensure your cold emails actually reach your prospects.

Start by checking your domain now with our free IP & Domain Blacklist Checker and stay one step ahead of email blacklists.

If you want to improve your cold email success rate even further, reply to this email, and let’s talk about how Salesforge can help you optimize your email deliverability and personalization at scale.