The reputation of an IP address is a crucial element in email deliverability, and it can be a major hurdle to overcome for businesses that rely on their ability to send emails to their audience. As such, it’s important to understand how your reputation score is determined, why it matters and how you can improve it.

Your IP reputation score is a measure of the trustworthiness of your Internet connection. It’s based on past behavior and associations, and can affect whether you’re able to access websites, receive emails or even find search results. For example, if your email address is associated with spamming or other malicious activities, you may experience reduced deliverability rates and a decline in your online reputation.

Understanding IP Reputation Scores and Their Importance

Depending on the severity of the issue, you may even find that your emails are marked as spam or flagged as suspicious by recipients. In such cases, it’s important to reassess your practices and seek professional assistance when needed.

To determine an IP reputation, ISPs and other email recipients use a variety of data sources to assess an email sender’s reliability. They look at engagement metrics, like opens and clicks, as well as content and if the message is relevant to the recipient. They also look for indicators of compromise, such as a high bounce rate or multiple spam reports.

It’s possible to check your reputation score using several services, such as Google Postmaster Tools, Cyren IP Reputation Check, and Talos Intelligence by Cisco. These tools provide information about your sending environment, email volume and blocklists as well as the sender’s reputation.