Email Delivery Problems

4 min read

Email delivery issues are frustrating because the email either disappears or lands in spam, and the sender gets no feedback.

Quick sanity check first: status.gozenhost.com - if IMAP, SMTP, or our spam filtering is having an incident, you’ll see it there. Most of the time it’s a DNS/auth issue on your end, but ruling out a platform incident takes 5 seconds.

Emails Going to Spam link

This is the most common issue. The fix is almost always DNS authentication records.

Check Your Authentication Records link

Run a check at mail-tester.com. Send a test email to the address shown and you’ll get a score out of 10.

If your score is below 7, you’re likely missing one of these:

Fix Missing Records link

SPF: Add a TXT record at your domain root. Copy the exact value from cPanel → Email → Email Deliverability → Manage and change its ending from ~all to -all, or use this form with your hosting server’s IP address:

  v=spf1 ip4:YOUR.SERVER.IP -all
  

If other services also send as your domain and aren’t in the record yet, use ~all until they are (hard fail or soft fail?).

DKIM: Enable in cPanel:

1. Go to Email → Email Deliverability
2. Find your domain
3. Click Manage or Repair if issues are shown
4. cPanel generates the DKIM record automatically

DMARC: Add a TXT record for _dmarc.yourdomain.com:

  v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]
  

Check Your IP Reputation link

If your server’s IP is on a blacklist, all emails from it go to spam:

• GoZen Blacklist Check
• Spamhaus

If your IP is listed, contact support. We can help get it delisted or move you to a clean IP.

Emails Not Arriving at All link

Sender Gets a Bounce Message link

Bounce messages tell you exactly what’s wrong. Common ones:

Sender Gets No Bounce (Email Disappears) link

1. Check the spam folder on the recipient’s side
2. Check the delivery report: cPanel → Email → Track Delivery
3. Check the mail log:

  # On a VPS (Debian/Ubuntu with Postfix)
sudo tail -100 /var/log/mail.log | grep "yourdomain.com"

# cPanel VPS (Exim)
sudo tail -100 /var/log/exim_mainlog | grep "yourdomain.com"

# AlmaLinux / Rocky
sudo tail -100 /var/log/maillog | grep "yourdomain.com"
  

Emails Not Sending from Your Site link

If your website’s contact form or application emails aren’t sending:

1. Check PHP mail function: many shared hosting plans use mail(). Verify it works:

  <?php
mail('[email protected]', 'Test', 'This is a test');
echo 'Sent';
?>
  

2. Use SMTP instead: PHP’s mail() function often triggers spam filters. Use an SMTP plugin or library:

  # PHP
composer require phpmailer/phpmailer

# Node.js
npm install nodemailer
  

Verifying Your Setup link

After making changes, verify everything works:

1. mail-tester.com: send a test email and get a deliverability score
2. GoZen DNS Inspector: validates SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records automatically
3. GoZen Blacklist Check: check if your server IP is on any blacklists
4. cPanel → Email Deliverability: shows a status dashboard for SPF, DKIM, and rDNS

What to Do Next link

• Setting Up Email Accounts in cPanel: configure new email addresses
• Managing DNS Records: add or update SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records