i have a VPS here, which houses a registration system.
the first step is of course email verification, where an activation link is sent to the users email.
in most cases it seems to be going to their (gmail) junk folder, and then we need to send copies manually. there are also other notifications that are sent from the system - around 15 thousand emails in total, over the registration period, which is about 5-6 months long.
is there any technique in assuring that these legitimate emails do not get sent to the junk folder? these are personal emails, with their email in the TO field, and also their first name mentioned in the email.
are there are settings that i should be trying? SPF? or anything else…?
Are you using SMTP? I’ve always found that authenticated SMTP mail is received more reliably than phpmail or whatever. Using one account for outgoing with the same account email address in the From line seems to help too, as well as SPF of course. Sending using a dedicated Gmail account is also worth trying, rather than the website attached mail servers. I’ve tried Amazon SES too, though their IPs get blacklisted now and again as well.
Another trick I’ve used, especially for new mail, is to send as many as I can myself to my own numerous Gmail, Live, and AOL accounts, and marked the mail ‘not spam’. Maybe it helps, it’s hard to say. Probably doesn’t hurt. Once a few users click ‘Spam’ to remove mail you’ve sent out instead of using delete all your work can be undone, so try not to ever use the same method for sending newsletters and advertising, even if it’s legitimate. Users get lazy.