Email Deliverability Services & Audit
Find the sender, email type and email provider causing the problem before changing your whole email program.
We'll reply with a written proposal: the work, what we need from you and an estimated timeline.
Delivered doesn't mean it reached the inbox, and passing security checks doesn't mean you're trusted.
Before recommending a domain setting change, list cut or warm-up plan, we look at who owns each type of email, domain matching, recipient quality, email provider evidence, volume, routing, content and how results are measured.
No one owns all of your senders
Marketing, product, support, sales, online store and outside tools can all send from your main domain, while domain settings, bounce addresses, link-tracking domains, server addresses and admins are scattered across teams.
Security checks pass, but the "from" address still doesn't match
Your email software can report an SPF or DKIM pass while the checked domain, the "from" domain, the bounce address, a forwarding route or one real type of email still fails the actual DMARC check and the email provider's rules.
One overall rate hides a problem at one provider or email type
A healthy account average can hide Gmail complaints, Outlook rejections, Yahoo delays, one damaged subdomain, one group of server addresses, one contact source or one type of campaign.
List quality problems get treated as domain setting problems
Unconfirmed sign-ups, fake sign-up attacks, old consent, slow do-not-email updates, invalid addresses, old inactive groups and repeated unwanted email carry on even after security settings are fixed.
Volume changes faster than your reputation can handle
A platform move, launch, seasonal spike, emailing inactive contacts again or a new dedicated server address can go beyond your history with each email provider and lead to slowdowns, delays, blocks or the spam folder.
The evidence is mistaken for certainty
Accepted email, test inbox panels, open rates, blocklists and platform scores each have sampling, coverage or privacy limits, and none can guarantee that an email reaches a particular person's inbox.
What our email deliverability services include.
Email deliverability is whether your emails actually reach people's inboxes. We find out why emails people want are being blocked, delayed or sent to spam, before another big change to your domain settings (DNS), your list or your sending volume makes the cause harder to find. Softscotch maps every real sender using your domain, checks the email security settings on the finished emails, narrows the problem down to the email provider (like Gmail or Outlook) and type of email affected, fixes the approved settings and restarts sending in small, careful groups. You get a short problem report, a map of your senders and the evidence, a fix plan, a controlled restart and a report broken down by email provider. Email software fees (ESP: the service that sends your emails), setting up new mailboxes, building lists, writing campaigns, legal advice, security certificates and outside testing tools are quoted separately.
The eight cards describe the deliverability work we own, from a plain problem report and fix plan to monitoring and handover. Your proposal names the domains, email types, platforms, email providers, what we are allowed to change, monitoring, problem cover and any specialists we rely on.
List of senders, starting point and handling the immediate problem
We list your domains, subdomains, email types, "from" and bounce addresses, platforms, server addresses, domain settings, volumes, email providers, critical emails, access, problems, owners and the evidence available today.
Security settings and reports
We set up and check SPF, DKIM, current DMARC matching and reports, DKIM keys, lookup limits, what forwarding means for your email, one-click unsubscribe, email format and the supporting domain settings.
Email type, domain, server address and routing design
We separate promotional, transactional, service and suitable outreach email, and choose branded domains, shared or dedicated server addresses, address groups, reverse lookup, server introduction name, encryption and routing based on risk and volume.
Permission, list and do-not-email controls
We review where contacts came from, confirmation, protection from fake sign-ups, consent and topics, bounces, complaints, unsubscribes, invalid addresses, which do-not-email rule wins, how fast changes take effect and rules for retiring inactive contacts.
Email provider diagnosis and sorting server replies
We analyze Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft and email software evidence, and sort server replies, bounces, delays, complaints, feedback tags, blocklists, recipient domains and the groups affected.
Warm-up, fixes and careful recovery
We plan groups of engaged recipients, volume for each email provider, platform moves and server address warm-up, content and link fixes, small test sends, pauses, retries, limits that trigger an undo and evidence for escalation.
Monitoring, change control and handover
We set up dashboards by email type and email provider, checks for unnoticed domain setting and platform changes, alerts, step-by-step problem guides, decision records, end dates, access, report definitions, training and owners for ongoing reviews.
Plain problem report and fix plan
We explain in plain words what is going wrong, which email providers and types of email are affected, the likely causes and the evidence behind them. Then we agree a fix plan in order of priority, showing who changes what and when.
We connect security settings, recipients' choices and email provider evidence in one system.
A domain setting pass, test inbox score or blocklist scan is never treated as the answer on its own. Each finding is linked to the affected email type, email provider, group of recipients, the change needed, a test that it works and a decision on how to undo it.
Every real sender is accounted for
We map personal, marketing, transactional, support, product, online store, monitoring and outside tool email before changing policy or deciding that an unknown source is an attacker.
Security settings are checked on real emails
Domain records, DKIM keys, hidden sender identities, "from" matching, signed headers, forwarding behavior and what email providers report are tested together, not scored one by one.
Diagnosis stays specific to each provider and email type
Server replies, complaint reporting programs, Gmail Postmaster Tools data, sender identity, server address group, campaign or email type and group of recipients narrow down which emails are affected.
Critical emails are protected from promotional risk
Transactional and service emails, the systems they rely on, their volumes, backup routes, how serious problems would be and the effect on customers are mapped before any sending is combined, moved or slowed down.
Recovery changes happen in steps and can be undone
Warm-up, list cuts, sender changes, routing, content and volume controls use groups of recipients, watching periods, warning limits, the power to pause and a written way to undo.
We state uncertainty instead of selling it away
Email providers decide where emails go, low-volume dashboards can lack data, test inboxes are only samples, and no domain setting, certificate or agency can guarantee inbox placement.
Everything needed to find the affected emails and recover safely.
These 36 parts cover handling the immediate problem, listing your senders, current security settings, how email types are set up, recipient controls, email provider diagnosis, careful recovery and safe use of automation.
Email provider evidence narrows down the cause. It doesn't create one inbox score for everyone.
Gmail Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS and JMRP, Yahoo complaint feedback, email software logs, domain setting and email header checks, test inbox panels and blocklists each see a different part of the picture. What's available, the minimum volumes, the definitions and the delays vary by email provider and change over time.
Our email deliverability audit: seven checks that find the real cause and the safest next change.
Each check links your domain and platform settings to real emails, email provider replies, recipient permission, business-critical emails and a fix decision with a named owner.
List of senders, starting point and saving the evidence
We find the type of email that is affected and save the evidence before a well-meant change wipes out the clues.
Email delivery problems often involve several platforms, domains and teams. Changing domain settings, lists or volume before saving the email headers (the hidden technical details in each email) and server replies can hide both the cause and how far the damage spread.
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, sender identity and reports check
We prove that every real type of email passes security checks, and that the checked domain matches the "from" address, on real emails under today's standards.
A green result from a domain checker can miss senders you didn't know about, SPF records with too many lookups, old permissions, poorly managed DKIM keys, "from" addresses that don't match, forwarded emails and missing reports.
Domains, server addresses, routing, connection settings and critical email check
We stop one risky type of email, or one customer on a shared platform, from quietly deciding the fate of every email you send.
A dedicated server address (IP), a new subdomain or a separate account only helps keep problems apart if you send enough steady volume and have clear owners, monitoring and the discipline to keep it healthy.
Sign-ups, consent, bounces, complaints and inactive contacts check
We stop unwanted and invalid email at the source, instead of expecting domain settings to make up for it.
Email security settings prove your domain is allowed to send, not that people want your email. List bombing (bots signing up lots of addresses), weak sign-up confirmation, old permission and slow do-not-email updates can damage both your reputation and customer trust.
Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft, server replies and blocklist check
We use each email provider's own replies and reporting tools before deciding the whole problem is the same everywhere.
Email providers share different, delayed and incomplete information. An empty dashboard can mean low volume, privacy limits or missing setup, not necessarily that everything is healthy.
Warm-up, sending speed, content, small test sends and undo check
We restore the emails people want using careful evidence, not a one-size-fits-all warm-up schedule.
Reputation depends on each email provider and on your history. A recovery plan that raises volume just because a date has passed can increase complaints, cause delays or move the problem to another group of server addresses.
Inbox evidence, monitoring, unnoticed changes, problems and handover check
We keep your email sending reliable after the immediate problem seems to be fixed.
How email providers judge your email can lag behind and change without one clear signal. Lasting recovery needs saved versions of changes, evidence by group, real customer results and owners who keep watching your senders.
From scattered checks to diagnosis by email provider and careful recovery.
A drop in open rates or a block from an email provider leads to new tools, domain setting changes and list cuts, before anyone has found the sender, type of email or email provider actually affected.
- Security settings are just a screenshotA domain checker passes, while finished emails, domain matching, all real senders and what email providers actually see go untested.
- Every email provider becomes one numberAccount-wide delivery and open rates hide differences by type of email, domain, server address, email provider, complaints, delays and do-not-email status.
- Recovery starts by buying more toolsA warm-up service, test inbox score or blocklist scan is bought before anyone understands recipient permission, who owns which emails and the risk to critical emails.
Softscotch saves the evidence, maps every real sender, checks security settings on finished emails and narrows the problem to one email provider, type of email and group of recipients before fixing anything.
- Every sender is knownDomains, email purposes, visible and technical sender identities, server address groups, platforms, email providers, volumes, critical emails, admins and recovery owners are all recorded.
- Security settings are checked from start to finishSPF, DKIM, current DMARC matching, one-click unsubscribe, connection settings and email structure are tested on finished emails and real delivery routes.
- Email provider evidence decides the scopeServer replies, complaints, Gmail Postmaster Tools data, Microsoft evidence, Yahoo feedback, platform logs and recipient reports pinpoint the affected emails.
You have a step-by-step recovery path, evidence from each email provider, do-not-email lists that agree everywhere, monitoring for changes and named owners for the next problem or change in volume.
- Volume follows email provider evidenceWarm-up, platform moves, re-emailing inactive contacts and seasonal changes use groups of people who want your email, steady sending speed, warning limits, pausing and undo.
- People's choices reach every systemConfirmations, bounces, complaints, topics, unsubscribes and do-not-contact flags are kept in agreement across every system that can send email.
- Monitoring doesn't pretend to see everythingEmail provider data, test inbox panels, opens, blocklists and prediction models keep their coverage, delays, sampling and limits on proving cause visible in every decision.
Email deliverability for your type of business.
Our careful diagnosis method stays the same. What changes by industry is the risk to critical emails, consent, volume, busy seasons, company email gateways, sensitive data and the results that follow.
Online stores and direct-to-consumer brands
Protect order, shipping and account emails from the risks of big promotional sends, while watching contact sources, sale spikes, returns and how many emails customers get from each email provider.
Software companies (SaaS)
Keep password, security, billing and product notifications separate from marketing and sales emails, and diagnose problems by customer account, event, type of email and company email gateway.
Business-to-business (B2B) and professional services
Take into account company email gateways, forwarding, lower volume to each email provider, longer sales cycles and results based on replies, without assuming that little Gmail Postmaster data means good health.
Local and multi-location
Keep booking confirmations, reminders and service emails reliable while different locations, franchise tools and seasonal promotions share one brand and customer list.
Healthcare and wellness
Put keeping admin emails flowing first, use as little sensitive data as possible and use an approved sender identity, without claiming that deliverability work meets your privacy or medical obligations.
Finance, insurance and legal
Protect security alerts, statements and time-sensitive customer emails with strong sender identity, separate sending for each email type, careful change control and coordination against fake emails pretending to be you (phishing).
Education and training
Prepare admissions, deadline, learning and student service emails for seasonal spikes, school and university email gateways, changing roles and email addresses kept for many years.
Publishers and media
Run frequent newsletters and topic subscriptions with a clear identity for each list, one-click unsubscribe, complaints tracked by group, advertiser links and monitoring of each edition.
Travel and hospitality
Protect booking and itinerary emails while seasonal promotions, properties, destinations and sudden demand create timing, volume and email provider risks.
Marketplaces and platforms
Keep buyer, seller, provider and system emails apart, and stop one customer account, contact source or type of notification from damaging email for everyone.
Industrial and manufacturing
Support distributor, specification, quote and service emails sent through company email gateways, over long decision times and to domains that receive little email from you.
Nonprofits and associations
Manage appeals, renewals, newsletters and event spikes without overriding members' choices, losing supporters' trust or disrupting everyday service emails.
We set up the sending safeguards. You stay in charge of permission and the facts about your business.
These columns separate our deliverability work from decisions that belong to others: domain settings and security, customer permission, how emails are classed, campaign production, product operations and legal interpretation.
The agreed deliverability diagnosis, the fixes and the ongoing safeguards that keep it working.
- List sending domains, email types, sender identities, platforms, server addresses, email providers and owners
- Check and set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC domain matching, DMARC reports and one-click unsubscribe
- Design approved email type, domain, server address group, routing, volume and recovery controls
- Line up how sign-ups, bounces, complaints and do-not-email lists are handled, for better delivery
- Sort email provider replies, affected groups, blocklists and problems, then carry out the approved fixes
- Set up monitoring, change alerts, step-by-step guides, change records, reporting and handover
The things that sit outside one email platform or sender account.
- Work with email software, mailbox, hosting, server address, complaint report and email provider support owners
- Work with domain settings (DNS), domain registrar, IT, infrastructure, security and certificate owners
- Work with CRM, online store, product, booking, support and transactional system owners
- Work with campaign, automation, design, link, website and audience strategy owners
- Work with the owners of data, customer identity, privacy, legal, compliance and record keeping
- Work with operations, sales, finance and customer service teams on responses and results
Your business keeps the final say on permission, sender identity and risk.
- Confirm you are legally allowed to contact people, your consent evidence, topics and regional rules
- Approve how promotional, transactional, service and other emails are classed and which come first
- Keep ownership of domains, domain settings, accounts, admins, account recovery, security and suppliers
- Confirm facts about customers, products, accounts and critical emails, and what happens if they fail
- Approve pauses, list cuts, routing, platform moves, escalations to email providers and messages to customers
- Accept remaining risk, software and infrastructure costs, legal interpretation and business results
How email deliverability works: emails land in the right place when sender identity, sending, recipients and operations agree.
The system connects your list of senders, security settings, how email types are set up, subscriptions and do-not-email lists, email provider replies, volume, content and links, the results that follow, problems and control of changes.
Email Deliverability Services
Domains, subdomains, "from" and bounce addresses, DKIM identities and keys, link-tracking domains, platforms, server addresses, email types, admins, recovery and retirement.
SPF permissions and limits, DKIM signing and key replacement, DMARC matching, summary and failure reports, policy rollout, forwarding and one-click unsubscribe settings.
Promotional, transactional, service and other email, branded domains, shared or dedicated server address groups, reverse lookup (rDNS), server introduction name (HELO), encryption (TLS), queues, retries and keeping critical email flowing.
Contact source, confirmation, purpose, topics, preferences, full opt-out, bounces, complaints, invalid records, retiring inactive contacts, update speed and which rule wins.
Final headers and body, format, size, "from" and reply identity, links, redirects, tracking, unsubscribe, attachments, whether linked pages are healthy and version.
Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft and other email provider data, acceptance, delays, bounces, complaints, feedback tags, blocklists, recipient domains and escalation.
Order of groups, sending speed for each email provider, volume, small test send, warning limits, pausing, undo, backup routes, corrections, updates to the people involved and signs it's done.
Attempted, accepted, delivered, inbox placement samples, genuine engagement, critical emails completed, business results, how fresh the data is, alerts, limits and problem response.
Access, versions, unnoticed changes to domain settings and platforms, approvals, tests, decisions, evidence, privacy, limits on AI, step-by-step guides, training, regular reviews and handover.
The connected growth engine
Owns setting up outreach domains and mailboxes, admin and account recovery settings, sender identity and getting ready before managed sending starts.
Owns how your wider audience is grouped by customer stage, product, location and engagement, beyond permission, invalid address and do-not-email controls.
Owns calendar-based campaign plans, audiences, writing, design, building, sending and learning, while relying on deliverability safeguards being in place.
Owns your wider email program, software roadmap, automated journeys, how many messages people get across channels, CRM events and program rules around your sending system.
Owns domains, domain settings, infrastructure, the authority to change security settings, critical systems, backup routes, how serious problems are rated, customer impact and keeping operations running.
Own permission, the purpose of each email and regional rules, how long data is kept, sensitive information, customer records and final acceptance of risk.
One connected scope. Email Deliverability Services is coordinated with the strategy, creative, experience, data and reporting it depends on, so responsibilities and handoffs stay visible in one written plan.
Your email deliverability timeline, and the full growth plan.
We start by saving the evidence straight away and diagnosing your senders, then make limited, careful fixes before any volume goes back up. Rebuilding your reputation and reaching the inbox can't be guaranteed by a fixed date, because email providers decide. This work sits inside the six-month Softscotch growth plan shown below.
Email deliverability, from diagnosis to steady sending
Problem and sender report
Before any big changes, save the affected emails, full headers, server replies, email provider and platform evidence, recent changes, business impact, accounts, domain settings, logs, do-not-email lists and owners.
KPI Problem reportSecurity settings checked on real emails
Check SPF sources and limits, DKIM keys and signatures, current DMARC matching and reports, forwarding routes, one-click unsubscribe settings and all real senders.
KPI Security settings mapRecipient and do-not-email plan
Review sign-ups, confirmation, protection from fake sign-ups, permission, topics, invalid addresses, bounces, complaints, unsubscribes, do-not-email delays and rules for retiring inactive contacts.
KPI Approved recipient controlsCareful recovery restart
Make approved changes to domain settings, platform, email types, do-not-email lists, links, content and volume, check the finished emails and send to a small, limited first group with the power to pause and undo.
KPI Recovery restart recordEmail provider and results report
Compare email provider data, test inbox samples, recipient reports, genuine engagement and critical or sales actions completed, with gaps in coverage, delays and privacy limits clearly shown.
KPI Recovery decision reportNext recovery decision and handover
Hand over accounts, the sender map, evidence, dashboards, step-by-step guides, email provider access, known limits, regular reviews, triggers for retiring senders and decisions on related work.
KPI Next-round handoverOur full growth plan (all services together), month by month
Foundation and review
We review your whole website, where you rank and your competitors, agree how the site should be organized, and set up hosting, analytics (visitor tracking) and your GoHighLevel lead system. The first agreed pages start going live.
KPI pages liveBuild and launch
The site is built or rebuilt. Main, service and industry pages go live with on-page SEO, website labels and technical fixes. Your Google Business Profile is improved and lead follow-up automations are switched on.
KPI pages in GoogleEarly rankings, paid ads start
More pages built from templates (programmatic pages) start going live, paid ads and email follow-ups are switched on for early leads, and Google adds your pages to its results as the first rankings usually appear.
KPI search terms rankingMomentum builds
Rankings often start climbing, visits from free search begin to rise, ad spending is tuned to the return it brings (ROAS, return on ad spend), and groups of related articles and links from other sites build your reputation with Google.
KPI visits from searchResults start to show
Main search terms can move closer to page one, the first leads from free search often arrive, AI tools may begin to mention you, and testing improvements to your pages (CRO, conversion rate optimization) helps more visitors get in touch.
KPI leads from searchGrowth builds on itself
Pages that are working are protected and improved, template pages bring in visitors searching for very specific terms, and SEO, ads, email and automation work together to bring steadier leads and sales. Timing varies by market and competition, and no ranking is guaranteed.
KPI leads and salesHow we compare with a typical deliverability service: we find the email type responsible before changing your whole program.
The difference shows in a complete list of senders, current domain matching, evidence from each email provider's replies, how fast consent and do-not-email changes take effect, step-by-step recovery, protecting critical emails and problems that are clearly closed.
- Runs a domain checker without finding every real sender and the path each finished email takes
- Treats an SPF, DKIM or DMARC pass as proof that recipients will trust the email or that it will reach the inbox
- Reports one delivery or open rate, so failures at one email provider, email type, domain or group disappear
- Changes domain settings to fix unconfirmed sign-ups, fake sign-up attacks, unwanted email and slow do-not-email updates
- Moves every sender to a dedicated server address without checking whether volume to each email provider can support it
- Uses one warm-up schedule no matter your history, recipient mix, delays, complaints or critical deadlines
- Reads a clean blocklist scan or test inbox score as proof of where every recipient's email lands
- Asks to be removed from a blocklist before fixing the sender, list, hacked account or traffic that caused the listing
- Protects marketing volume while nobody owns keeping password, receipt, booking and service emails flowing
- Lets automated scores or AI agents change sending, do-not-email lists, domain settings or routing without clear permission
- Lists every email type, sender identity, platform, server address, admin and recovery owner before changing your policy
- Tests SPF, DKIM, DMARC matching, one-click unsubscribe and connection settings on real, finished emails
- Diagnoses by email provider, recipient domain, email type, domain, server address group, contact source, campaign and time period
- Treats confirmation, consent, bounces, complaints and do-not-email updates as part of the sending system
- Chooses shared, dedicated, managed or pooled server addresses based on steady volume, risk, control and cost
- Builds warm-up and recovery from people who want your email, your real history, email provider signals, warning limits and undo
- Labels Gmail Postmaster Tools, complaint reports, test inboxes, opens, blocklists and platform scores with what they cover and how delayed they are
- Fixes the real cause and uses the official email provider and blocklist routes, without claiming special access
- Keeps business-critical emails separate and monitored, with backup routes, customer impact and problem response planned
- Limits automation to collecting evidence and suggesting limited actions, with a person approving anything important
Results from Softscotch client work.
These totals come from work for Softscotch clients across search, paid ads, websites and lead generation, as published on softscotch.com. Past results don't guarantee future results.
All six Softscotch client stories.
Every Quick Story currently published on Softscotch.com, covering education, ecommerce, healthcare and SaaS. Stock photography represents each client industry; the figures are reported historical results and do not guarantee future performance.
Education Ads + local SEO
183% more leads for an education consultancy
An education consulting business in India needed to build its digital presence and lead flow from scratch.
- Built a new WordPress website
- Used Quora ads to grow daily lead volume
- Added Local SEO and community engagement
Home solutions Shopify + SEO
Home-solutions ecommerce growth
A home-solutions business was dependent on business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces, losing sales and recovering from a Google penalty.
- Resolved the Google penalty
- Revamped the website and online store
- Improved organic visibility and Amazon campaign performance
Health consultant $20/day
Five booked calls a day for a health consultant
A Houston lactation consultant needed to recover a malware-damaged website and rebuild local patient acquisition.
- Rebuilt the hacked site and migrated it to secure hosting
- Ran targeted Facebook and Google campaigns
- Reached top-three local Google positions
Ecommerce 10 months
315% organic growth for an ecommerce site
Softscotch reports a 315% increase in ecommerce organic traffic over 10 months through focused on-page SEO.
- Optimized product and collection pages
- Improved the links between pages and the page addresses (URLs)
- Made the site easier for Google to explore and better matched to what people search for
SaaS platform Cold outreach
9% close rate for a transcription SaaS
A transcription platform needed a qualified prospect list and a reliable email-sending setup for outreach we managed.
- Built a comprehensive prospecting list
- Managed the cold outreach campaigns
- Set up reliable email-sending servers (SMTP)
Healthcare 6 months
182% organic growth for a healthcare clinic
A clinic in a competitive location needed to build organic search visibility from the ground up.
- Built the clinic's foundation for unpaid (organic) Google search
- Combined on-page and off-page SEO
- Reached top-five positions in Google Search
Teams that stopped leaving clicks on the table.
"The Softscotch team has been a solid partner as our business evolved over the last five years. Unlike most agencies, they have never charged us for work that falls outside the agreement. That is what sets them apart."
"Without their knowledge, we would be in a very different place than we are now. Whenever they find something that can be improved, they implement it quickly. I could not be happier with their performance and response time."
"Softscotch goes above and beyond the scope. The time, effort and dedication they put in is like having your own in-house marketing team. They are not just another marketing company."
"We are extremely happy with Softscotch, such an attentive team. No project is too small, and they give their 100%. We are extremely satisfied with their work."
"Softscotch is a great team to work with: transparent, reliable and genuinely invested in the growth of your company. They are good partners to have by your side."
"The Softscotch team has been a solid partner as our business evolved over the last five years. Unlike most agencies, they have never charged us for work that falls outside the agreement. That is what sets them apart."
"Without their knowledge, we would be in a very different place than we are now. Whenever they find something that can be improved, they implement it quickly. I could not be happier with their performance and response time."
"Softscotch goes above and beyond the scope. The time, effort and dedication they put in is like having your own in-house marketing team. They are not just another marketing company."
"We are extremely happy with Softscotch, such an attentive team. No project is too small, and they give their 100%. We are extremely satisfied with their work."
You'll always know exactly what we changed.
Plenty of agencies go quiet after the audit and you never quite know what you're paying for. We do the opposite. You get a live view of every change and what it moved, in plain language you can act on.
Live client dashboard
Every change, score and ranking in one place you can open any time, not a monthly PDF you wait around for.
Ready for your review
Weekly video summary
A short screen-recorded video (Loom) each week walking you through exactly what shipped and what it moved, so nothing is a mystery.
Before
After
Before/after score per page
See the exact lift on every page we touch, not a vague "it's improving" you have to take on faith.
Approved page updates are live.
Product details need a review.
Confirm the next priority pages.
Plain-English reporting
Clicks, rankings and revenue, explained in words you can act on, instead of a wall of charts about how often you were seen (impression charts.
Reports on demand
Ask for any cut of the data whenever you need it and get it, no waiting for the end of the month.
- ✓Proposed
Softscotch prepares the change.
- ✓Approved
Your team gives the go-ahead.
- ✓Published
Checked live and recorded.
Ethical, transparent, always on
One accountable team, strictly white-hat (only methods search engines and platforms allow), no shortcuts and no surprises. Support whenever you need it.
One Softscotch plan gives you access to the full service stack, coordinated around your priorities.
You do not need a separate agency or retainer for every channel. Your plan can draw from search, paid media, web, ecommerce, outreach, automation, lead generation, messaging, content, creative and operations. The agreed scope sets what is active, in what order and at what capacity.
One price for everything, not a stack of separate retainers.
You get one price for your whole marketing, not a separate retainer for every service. SEO, paid ads, your website, automations, cold email and newsletters, we run all of it as a single scope, so you get the most result for what you pay. Agencies sell each of these on its own, so the invoice climbs whether or not that line drives a single lead.
A different agency or retainer for each service. The bill stacks up fast, and keeps climbing whether or not each one moves a single lead.
Plus the one-off build, and a fresh contract, kickoff and onboarding delay for every new service you add.
We run your whole marketing as one engagement, so you get the most result for what you pay, not a pile of disconnected invoices.
- SEO: technical, on-page, content, local and AI search
- Template-built pages (programmatic SEO), links from other websites (backlinks) and authority
- CRO and landing pages
- Paid ads across Google and Meta
- Automations, cold email and newsletters
- WordPress build, setup and ongoing care
- One team, one roadmap and one point of contact
- Reporting tied to qualified leads and revenue
Priced to your site after the audit. No sticker price, and no per-service creep.
Email deliverability services FAQs: what to know before hiring a specialist.
These answers cover what is included, diagnosis, security settings, current email provider rules, sending setup, permission, warm-up, blocklists, inbox tests, guarantees, recovery time and pricing.
What is included in email deliverability services?
The work can include a check of all your senders and the current problem, a plain problem report and fix plan, setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC (email security settings that prove your emails really come from you), reading DMARC reports, domain and email type design, choosing shared or dedicated server addresses (IPs), one-click unsubscribe, protection from fake sign-ups and do-not-email controls, reading email provider and server replies, warm-up or recovery, sorting out blocklists, monitoring, problem response and handover. Your proposal names the exact domains, platforms, email types, email providers, the access we need and ongoing cover.
What is the difference between email delivery and inbox placement?
Delivery usually means the receiving email server accepted the email instead of sending back a final rejection. It doesn't prove the email reached the main inbox. Email providers can put accepted email in spam, a tab like Promotions or another folder. So we keep attempted, accepted, delayed, bounced and delivered emails separate from email provider data, sample inbox tests, recipient reports and completed actions.
How is this different from Inbox Setup, List Segmentation and Campaign Management?
Inbox Setup sets up and recovers outreach domains and mailboxes. List Segmentation handles how your wider audience is grouped by customer stage. Campaign Management handles calendar-based campaign plans, writing, design, audience and sending. Email Deliverability looks after all your active senders, security settings, reputation, email provider diagnosis, reliable do-not-email lists, volume recovery and monitoring. A proposal can link these services without blurring what each one delivers.
Do you work with both marketing and transactional email?
Yes, when access and scope fit. Before changing your setup, we sort promotional, transactional (orders, receipts, passwords), service, security and other emails. Gmail's current guidance recommends sending subscription emails and other emails separately, and today's platforms can support separate sending domains or server address groups. The right setup depends on the email's purpose, how important it is, steady volume, which email providers your recipients use, what your platform can do and who runs it day to day.
What are the current Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook sender requirements?
Rules differ by email provider and by how much you send. Gmail currently asks every sender to pass SPF or DKIM, have valid forward and reverse domain settings, use encryption (TLS), format emails correctly and keep spam complaints low. Senders of about 5,000 or more emails a day to Gmail accounts must also set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC with a matching "from" domain, and their marketing emails must offer one-click unsubscribe. Yahoo publishes similar rules for bulk senders. Outlook.com requires SPF, DKIM and DMARC for domains sending more than 5,000 emails a day, and can reject emails that don't comply. We check the latest official rules on every project.
What changed in DMARC in 2026?
In 2026, a new official standard, RFC 9989, replaced the old DMARC rules (RFCs 7489 and 9091). It sets out the current way to find your main domain and advises domain owners to make sure their emails pass with a matching domain, receive summary reports and fix real emails that fail before tightening their policy. RFC 9990 now covers summary (aggregate) reports and RFC 9991 covers failure reports. We check what receiving email providers and your platforms actually support before changing a live policy.
What access and evidence do you need for an audit?
We usually need your domain settings (DNS) and domain registrar records, email software settings, a list of senders and server addresses, sample finished emails with full headers, server replies, bounce and complaint events, do-not-email lists, campaign and transactional volumes, Gmail Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS and JMRP or Yahoo complaint feedback where available, recent changes and results for critical emails or the business. We only ask for the access we need and tell you about any evidence we can't get.
Should we use a shared or dedicated IP address?
Neither is always better. A shared server address can suit lower or irregular volume when the email platform manages it well. A dedicated server address (IP) gives you more separation and control, but you need enough steady volume to each email provider, plus monitoring and staff time, to build and keep a good reputation. Managed dedicated groups can still use shared capacity during warm-up or quiet periods. We write down the cost, risk, routing and backup plan before recommending a change.
How long does email warm-up take?
There is no standard length of time or safe daily schedule. Warm-up means slowly increasing how much you send so email providers learn to trust you. Each email provider, your domain and server address history, your recipient mix, the email's purpose, steady volume, complaints, bounces, delays and how your platform behaves all matter. AWS, for example, describes different warm-up approaches for its standard and managed dedicated server addresses. We build groups and limits for each email provider from your real system, and reduce, pause or undo when the evidence says so.
Can deliverability work fix a purchased, scraped or unwilling list?
No. No technical setting can make unwanted email wanted or allowed. We can find problems with where contacts came from, confirmation, bounces, complaints, invalid addresses and do-not-email lists, and recommend holding contacts aside, asking them to confirm again where that is appropriate, or removing them. We don't fake consent, advise ways to get around email provider filters or promise to rebuild your reputation while harmful list building and sending continue. Legal questions stay with your lawyer.
Can you remove us from a blacklist or provider block?
First we confirm the exact server address, domain, link or email provider block, and whether it affects the route your email actually takes. Then we fix the real cause, whether that's the sender, a hacked account, the list, the traffic or the settings. We use the official removal or sender support route, with evidence. Spamhaus clearly states that consultants have no special power to influence or speed up its listings, and email providers may keep filtering your email even after a public listing is removed.
What if Gmail Postmaster Tools or another dashboard shows no data?
No data doesn't mean everything is healthy. Gmail says some Postmaster Tools dashboards can leave out low-volume data to protect user privacy, and that reports aren't real time. Shared server addresses, unverified domains, missing headers and each email provider's own minimum volumes also limit what you can see. We combine email provider data with server replies, email software logs, results by recipient domain, customer reports and sample tests, and we label what we still can't see.
Are seed tests and inbox-placement tools reliable?
They are useful samples, not proof for everyone. A seed test sends your email to a panel of test inboxes. Results depend on which email providers are in the panel, location, mailbox age, past engagement, email apps and how the test is set up, and they can't copy the filtering every real recipient gets. Some platforms use sample panels to estimate overall inbox placement. We record what the panel covers and how fresh it is, and compare it with email provider data, server replies, complaints and completed actions before deciding anything.
Can open rates diagnose inbox placement?
Only as a rough guide. Open rates are estimated by your email software, not confirmed by Gmail or other email providers, and Apple Mail Privacy Protection can stop senders from seeing whether an email was opened. Image loading through provider servers and security tools also distort the numbers. We report the software's definitions and focus on email provider replies, complaints, genuine clicks, replies, logins, purchases, completed service actions and other results you've agreed matter.
Do you implement ARC, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT or BIMI?
Only when they fit. ARC can carry the results of earlier security checks through forwarding services that support it. MTA-STS and TLS-RPT set and report on encryption rules for email coming in to you, not on whether your marketing reaches the inbox. BIMI shows your logo next to your emails in some inboxes; it builds on matching security settings and each email provider's own rules, and the BIMI Group says it doesn't change delivery or guarantee the logo will show. We only set up the standards that suit your setup, and quote certificate, security and hosting work separately.
Can you guarantee inbox placement or a recovery date?
No. Email providers decide where emails go and can use signals they don't share. Recipient behavior, list building, content, links, volume, shared server addresses, forwarding, competitors and email provider rules can all change. We can commit to the agreed evidence gathering, fixes, tests, monitoring, problem response and decisions, and show what recovered for each email provider and email type, but we can't guarantee inbox placement, reputation or a fixed recovery date.
How long does an email deliverability project take?
When sample emails, full headers, server replies, domain settings, platform access, recent changes and responsible owners are available, the first useful thing you get is a problem and sender report within two business days. A map of your security settings usually follows by day five, and a limited recovery restart can follow in weeks one to two after approval. The time domain setting changes take to spread, delays in email provider data, how often you send and having enough wanted volume to see changes all affect the schedule. No recovery date or inbox result can be guaranteed.
How much do email deliverability services cost?
Our fee reflects the number of domains, email types, platforms, server address groups and email providers; how serious the problem is; domain settings and setup work; the email and event evidence needed; any platform move or warm-up; monitoring and response cover; and coordinating the people involved. Email software, server address, domain, certificate, test inbox panel, monitoring, security, legal and email provider costs stay separate unless your proposal clearly includes them.