Inbox Placement Test

Do you know your email inbox placement rate? Get inbox vs. spam folder testing for help with avoiding email spam filtersA feature used by email and internet service providers to detect spam or harmful email content automatically..

Try it now with 1 free inbox placement test monthly

Test my inbox placement
Hands typing on a laptop surrounded by a green checkmark for Inbox and the Hotmail logo along with a blank box for Spam next to the Gmail logo.

What’s an inbox placement test?

Inbox placement test provides simple, 3-step inbox vs. spam folder testing. Just send your campaign to our list of generated testing email addresses and get a complete summary of where your emails land.

Pre-send email testing allows us to examine your email content and deliverability while providing you with detailed email performance diagnostics.

Don’t leave your email performance to chance. Get help with enhancing email inbox placement. Test your inbox placement and optimize your next email campaign for success.

Improve email open rates with 20+ providers

AOL
Comcast
Eclipso.de
Freenet.de (Germany)
Gmail
GMX
Google Workspace/G Suite
Hotmail
iCloud
inbox.lv
mail.com
mail.ee (Estonia)
mail.ru (Russia)
mailo.com
Outlook.com
Rambler.ru (Russia)
Seznam.cs (Czech Republic)
Yahoo
Yandex.com (Russia)
Zoho

And their corresponding spam engines

Cloudmark
Postini
United Internet
GMX
Spamhaus
  • Forefront
Exchange
Symantec
Proofpoint
Kaspersky
  • NET-C
  • Spam Guard
Spamooborona
Dr. Web
ClamAV
  • As well as proprietary spam engines
Read to improve your email open rates?

Get 1 test free monthly, plus more email deliverabilityA sender’s ability to reach the recipient’s inbox with their outgoing emails. It may also describe the ratio of emails delivered to the inbox vs. those sent to spam or blocked by the receiving server. tools with a free account!

Why conduct an inbox placement test?

If you’re unsure why you need email deliverability testingAn analysis of an email’s likelihood of reaching the inbox based on domain reputation, technical email configuration, spam triggers, file size, and other relevant factors., the answer is simple.

You can’t improve your email ROI if your customers don’t see your emails.

Inbox placement monitoring and testing help you track how your email campaign will perform before you click send. Your next test also includes these benefits:

A man sitting at his desk looking at his inbox placement test results on his laptop, which indicate that his email went to spam.

Know where your emails are going

Did your email campaign go to the inbox or the spam folder? Worse yet, are your emails going missing?

Inbox placement tests provide you with email performance diagnostics. You’ll be able to identify critical issues with the email itself and even potential issues with your email server configuration (making inbox placement and email server testingA ZeroBounce service that analyzes an email server’s configuration by performing 100+ checks regarding header information, RFC documents, DNS records, email ports, and email authentication. an ideal pairing).

There’s zero risk with pre-send email testing, and you’ll get a full breakdown of inbox vs. spam placement based on the email provider and spam engine.

A woman at her desk looks away from her laptop and into the distance.

Identify header errors

When you select an email service provider to test, we also include the header information from the email you sent.

Your email header error contains a variety of elements that can impact your inbox placement rate. These factors include the return path, the from address, email authenticationOne or more techniques or policies created to help internet service providers determine the identity of an email sender as legitimate. Examples of email authentication include SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI. checks (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and much more.

Use the email testing tools to identify header errors so that you’re using best practices for email marketing compliance. Doing this will aid you in avoiding spam filters and achieving better inbox placement.

A woman sitting at her desk looks down at her tablet.

Identify spam filter issues

Different email service providers use different spam engines. That means that your emails may go to the inbox for some email addresses but go to spam for others.

Inbox placement testing gives you a stronger idea of potential issues with your email content. By understanding email filters and how they assess email content, you can optimize your email campaigns for maximum email deliverability.

 A standing woman smiles as she touches a white tablet.

Improve email open rates and visibility

With your bespoke email performance diagnostics, you’ll find real email deliverability solutions.

By addressing problems with your email content and header information head-on, you’ll reach the inbox, maximize your company’s visibility, improve email open rates, and boost email ROI.

Ensure that your customers see your content with reliable inbox vs. spam folder testing!

How to perform an inbox placement test in 3 steps

A ZeroBounce inbox placement test that shows all mailbox providers checked.

Create your email

Build your email in Mailchimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, or any other email service provider (ESP). Using real email content is essential for accurate email deliverability testing.

An inbox placement test called ‘Test’ which shows 50% in inbox, 15% in spam, and 0% missing.

Create your test and choose mailbox providers

Choose from our list of 20+ international testing email addresses. Our test features the most common mail providers worldwide to give you a comprehensive email delivery analysis.

An inbox placement test with a list of providers, test email addresses, and spam engines.

Send your campaign

We give you your testing addresses along with a subject line that matches your test. Just click “Send” and wait for your results to populate.

A woman in a striped shirt looks down at her grey tablet.

Results

We’ll even send you an email when your inbox placement test is completed. Then, you can find a detailed breakdown of which emails went to the inbox, spam, or went missing.

Ready to improve email open rates?

Test your email content and deliverability with a free inbox placement test now!

Test my inbox placement

Get 1 test free monthly, plus more email deliverabilityA sender’s ability to reach the recipient’s inbox with their outgoing emails. It may also describe the ratio of emails delivered to the inbox vs. those sent to spam or blocked by the receiving server. tools with a free account!

What affects inbox placement?

While our inbox placement tools will help with email campaign optimizationThe act of improving critical areas of an email campaign, including identifying the ideal audience, improving email content, and email deliverability to yield improved engagement via open rates, clickthrough rates, and conversions., you need to know what affects your email’s inbox placement. Here are a few critical elements to keep in mind:

Email content and spam trigger words

When your email meets a spam engine, your content is put to the test.

Email and internet service providers need to do their job of looking out for low-quality, spammy email content. If you take a look at the average spam folder, you’ll find emails with apparent spam content. How can you tell?

  • Spam trigger words (especially those making threats or promoting urgency)
  • From name doesn’t match
  • The sender isn’t listed on the SPF record
  • Large image files
  • Suspicious attachments

While you know that your emails are legitimate, ensure that you’re not making mistakes that cause spam engines to think otherwise.

Email header errors

An email header can tell you a lot about an email’s true nature. They contain from, to, reply-to addresses, SPF, DKIM signatures, and more. ESPs use this data to ensure the legitimacy of the email.

When there are errors or things don’t match up, you look like a spammer.

Historical email performance

Your subscribers should want to read your emails. Therefore, your email open rates and clickthrough rates tell ESPs a lot about your email content.

However, if you have critically low open or click rates, high unsubscribe rates, or spam complaints, it will affect your inbox placement. ESPs take these as signs that you’re sending irrelevant emails and will automatically mark you as spam.

Email sender reputation

All of the above will impact your company’s sender reputation. Sender reputation is a score provided by ISPs that dictates your trustworthiness as a sender.

Factors that include sender reputation (and your inbox placement rate):

  • Email bounce rateThe percentage of emails that are undelivered vs. delivered to the intended recipient.
  • Spam complaint rate
  • Unsubscribe rate
  • Campaign performance
  • Email authentication records
  • Email server performance

Tactics for improving inbox placement rates

Clean your listZeroBounce Image
Real-time APIZeroBounce Image
AuthenticateZeroBounce Image
Avoid spam triggersZeroBounce Image
Spam complaint rateZeroBounce Image
Sender reputationZeroBounce Image

Clean your email list

A significant factor influencing your inbox placement and email sender reputation is your bounce rate. The primary cause of a bounced email is an invalid email address.

Use email validationA process that determines if an email address uses valid syntax, exists on a given domain, and is configured to receive incoming email messages to clean your email list and identify invalid email addresses. After you delete those expired or fake emails, upload your clean list to your ESP. You’ll be able to send your email campaigns while keeping your email bounce rate below the recommended rate of 2%.

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Try your free inbox placement test now

Enhancing email inbox placement is easy with inbox placement testing. Create your free ZeroBounce account today and get immediate access to these monthly benefits

ZeroBounce Image1 inbox placement test

ZeroBounce Image1 email server test

ZeroBounce Image100 credits (for email validation, Scoring, and Activity Data)

ZeroBounce Image1 Blacklist Monitor

Test my inbox placement

Get 1 test free monthly, plus more email deliverabilityA sender’s ability to reach the recipient’s inbox with their outgoing emails. It may also describe the ratio of emails delivered to the inbox vs. those sent to spam or blocked by the receiving server. tools with a free account!

Frequently asked questions

An inbox placement test provides an email delivery analysis of how global email service providers classify your emails. Your diagnosis will explain which email providers and their corresponding spam engines place your emails in the inbox vs. the spam folder.

You can improve your email inbox placement by improving your sender reputation. Your reputation impacts your email deliverability. Improve yours by

  • Cleaning your email list
  • Authenticating your emails
  • Maintaining a low spam complaint rate
  • A/B testing email campaigns for stronger engagement
  • Avoiding spam trigger words

Your spam score is the percentage of emails that go to spam versus the total number of emails you send. You can find out which emails go to spam by using an inbox placement test to track how different mail providers handle your emails. Once you identify how many emails go to spam, you can calculate your score.

Inbox placement rate is the percentage of emails that reach the inbox versus the total number sent. Use an inbox placement tester to determine which mail providers place your email in the inbox and calculate your inbox placement rate from there.

The following factors may cause your emails to go to the spam folder:

  • A poor email sender reputation
  • A high email bounce rate
  • A high spam complaint rate
  • Failed email authentication checks / no records present
  • Spammy content
  • Misconfigured email server settings