More often than we’d like to see, mail servers run by shared hosting companies end up on email Real-Time Blocklists. These RTBLs are checked by incoming mail servers to determine if they should accept the email messages they’re receiving. If the mail server you’re using to send out is on one of these lists, the chances that mail will be accepted is lowered. It makes sense then to have your outgoing mail server not be on one of these lists!
If you’re running Dada Mail on a shared hosting account, you’re most likely also using their provided mail server, which is also shared. Any abuse on the mail server from one of their clients that lands them on an RTBL will affect everyone else using that same mail server. Oftentimes these mail servers will also be the target to spam bots that find a way to abuse the mail server to send email on their behalf .
If you’re experiencing mail delivery problems you can double check if you’re on one of these RTBLs. These tools will allow you to check on your status:
There’s not too much you can personally do to get delisted, if its the hosting account’s mail server that’s on one of these lists – you’ll need to wait for them to open up a ticket and have the sometimes slow process of delisting happen.
If your mail server is chronically listed on RTBLs, consider using a third party email sending service, which allows you to get around this problem, by using a network of mail servers that keeps a good email sending reputation. We list a few third party email sending services in this support doc. Dada Mail also has support for Amazon SES on the API level, and since v11.22.0 Dada Mail has experimental support for Mailgun on the API level. Try out those resources to gain better deliverability for your installation of Dada Mail!
In trying to overcome the email issues I have faced in the last couple of months, it turns out that third party email sending services have some of the same issues that ISP mail servers have. At the bottom levels of service (cheapest accounts for the fewest emails sent) there is still the issue of RTBL listings caused by others using the same service because their email servers are shared by multiple accounts also. You can pay extra for a dedicated IP, which may reduce the block/bounce issue somewhat, but the prices for IP’s on third party email services are much more expensive than the dedicated IP on an ISP account, in one instance the plan you must use costs 4 times as much as the basic plan vs a mere $6/mo for a dedicated IP with a ISP.