Understanding Delivery Problems: A Diagnostic Checklist

Author:

George Bilbrey

Source:

In my last article for this column, I provided a daily checklist for deliverability. By following this checklist, you may find that you've run into a deliverability problem. In today's column I'm going to help you determine why you have a delivery problem. Next month I'll show you what to do about it.
 
Let's put on our lab coats and stethoscopes and dive in.
 
Step One: Gather Data
 
Much like Dr. House, you'll need to gather a lot of data to get a good diagnosis for you problem.
 
SMTP Log Data - SMTP log file information is a record of the conversation between your mail server and the receiving mail server. Whoever is in charge of sending your email -- whether in house or outsourced -- can get you this data. The log file is frequently the most important bit of information in diagnosing a delivery problem. Many of the larger ISPs provide good diagnostic codes in their bounce messages. Usually it's a URL that links to a postmaster page much like this page [http://postmaster.aol.com/Postmaster.Errors.html] at AOL.
 
Reputation Data - Over 80% of delivery problems are due to poor reputations....
 
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