Email Deliverability Audit
Stop guessing why your emails aren't reaching inboxes. Get a complete system diagnosis and actionable fixes.
The Problem Most People Face
Maybe your open rates have dropped. Maybe you're seeing bounces spike. Maybe your ISP warns you about reputation issues. You check your ESP's dashboard, see "Sent: 10,000," assume everything's fine—and then your deliverability tanks.
The real issue is usually invisible in your interface.
Most email problems aren't about your campaigns or your content. They're about infrastructure. Authentication, sender reputation, list quality, infrastructure configuration—the things that run before your email ever hits send.
I've seen setups that looked fine in Mailchimp or Brevo but had SPF records that were broken, DKIM signatures that weren't validating, or domain reputation damage that took months to recover from.
What This Audit Includes
- Authentication Review: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration analysis. I check if your records are actually validating, not just configured.
- Infrastructure Assessment: Sender reputation, IP warmup patterns, and historical bounce/complaint data. Real numbers, not guesses.
- List Health Analysis: Bounce rates, engagement patterns, and risk areas. Where are your real problems hiding?
- Platform Configuration: How your ESP (Mailchimp, Brevo, SendGrid, etc.) is set up. Are you using authentication? Is tracking enabled correctly?
- Competitor Benchmarking: Where you stand against typical industry performance. Context matters.
- Actionable Fix Priority: Not a 50-page report. A clear roadmap of what breaks next, what to fix first, and why.
What You Actually Get
• Current state analysis with evidence (screenshots, validation results, data)
• Root cause identification for any delivery issues
• Step-by-step fix instructions for each infrastructure issue
• Implementation priority based on impact
• Timeline for expected improvements
• Follow-up testing recommendations
I've done this for teams managing 70,000+ subscriber lists, high-frequency senders, and recovery situations where previous providers left systems misconfigured.
The audit takes 1–2 weeks depending on your setup complexity. You'll know exactly what's broken, how to fix it, and when you'll see results.
When You Need This
- Deliverability has dropped with no clear reason
- You're moving to a new ESP or domain
- You're scaling volume and want to prevent reputation damage
- You inherited an email system that's not well documented
- You want to audit an agency's work before signing a contract
The cost of a failed audit is months of poor delivery and lost revenue. The cost of preventing it is one focused assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an email deliverability audit take?
A typical audit takes 1–2 weeks depending on your setup complexity and how quickly your DNS provider processes record checks. I validate every authentication record, review historical bounce and complaint data, and test against major ISPs. You get a detailed report with specific fixes and implementation priority.
What's the difference between an audit and ongoing monitoring?
An audit is a snapshot diagnosis—what's broken right now and why. Ongoing monitoring tracks your reputation over time, alerts you to problems before they hit inboxes, and validates that your fixes actually worked. The audit is the foundation; monitoring prevents future problems.
Will this audit cover CASL compliance?
Yes. If you're sending to Canadian recipients, I review your list practices, unsubscribe mechanisms, and consent structure against CASL (Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation). Proper infrastructure includes legal compliance, not just technical setup.
Can you audit multiple sending domains at once?
Yes. If you send from multiple brands or subdomains, I audit each one separately. This actually helps identify reputation damage patterns you might miss if you only look at your main domain.
What if my authentication records are failing?
The audit identifies the exact failure—syntax error, missing alignment, misconfigured DNS pointer, or outdated DKIM key. I provide step-by-step fix instructions. If you need me to implement the fixes, I can also do that as a separate service.