Ezine publishers avoid filtering traps and put your ezine in the hands of your readers

So you think all your subscribers are getting

your ezine? Better think again. With the rise of

Spam filtering software, both by ISPs and end users,

your ezine will most likely be removed sooner

it is even delivered to its subscribers.

There are two main types of filters: those installed

on the end user’s computer and in server-side programs

used by Internet service providers. The most popular

The program used is http://SpamAssassin.org

So what does this mean for you as a publisher? Yew

you want to make sure your ezine is read

you’ll want to pay close attention to the tips

given here. After all, do you spend your time

write a good ezine just to make you feel

The trash? I don’t believe it.

Spam filters work by counting the words in your ezine that land on

their “hit lists”, each of which has been assigned a number

worth. Once they have finished “scanning” your email,

add up your score. If its total value is higher

a fixed number, it is determined to be “spam” and

sent to the trash. He’s gone forever, and yours

subscribers are not the wisest. Filter Search

the message, the header, the subject line and

look at the format too. See what

Spam Assassin seeks to go to…

http://www.spamassassin.org/tests.html

I personally use filtering software because of the

hundreds of unsolicited messages that I receive daily. goal I

always go through the “garbage can” first and

review it before you hit the delete key

to make sure it hasn’t caught something I want

or need. The problem is that most users

of filtering software either

I don’t want to waste time, or I don’t know how

to check it to see what was “killed”. So

many of them may be missing their ezine, even

although they have signed up to receive it.

Now you see how hard it’s getting

your ezine in the hands of your subscribers?

The trick is to be “smarter” than the filters and

use some of the great free tools that have

emerge to help publishers with this

problem.

Before you send your next number, run it

one of these free tokens to see if it will work

pass the filters and discover what your electronic publications

total score is along with tips on how to improve.

1) SiteSell spam check

http://spamcheck.sitesell.com

Go to the above URL or send your ezine to

mailto:[email protected] with the word TEST

in all caps before your ezine name in the subject line

line.

Example: TEST Merle’s Mission Ezine

2) Lyris Content Checker

http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker/

Runs your ezine through a battery of tests used

for “Spam Assassin”. Paste your ezine into the

web based form, hit submit and the results

will be sent to you by email.

3) AssuranceSys.com- If you don’t mind parting ways

with part of its cash, Assurance Systems

run a variety of tests for you and let you know

how your ezine compares to filters and

if you have been blacklisted. Take a look at

[http://AssuranceSys.com]

So what is considered “bad” for filtering software?

and what can you do to lower your score? I thought

you would never ask. Here are some tips to help:

1) Be careful with your subject line – Avoid

the word free or in capital letters or in excess

punctuation.

2) Using a lot of fancy HTML formatting can

hurt you. Many filters will remove HTML emails

as a fact mistaking them for viruses.

3) A larger size can help you. Anywhere

20k to 40K is good and will actually subtract

bad points from your total score.

4) Blocking: Make sure your IP address is not

being included in the blacklist. This can happen if your site

is hosted on an open repeater or is sharing a

IP address with someone who is a known spammer.

You don’t want to be blacklisted, so

be careful here.

5) Avoid using the words free, click here,

delete, spam and anything else known to be in

the list. This is quite difficult. some editors

have resorted to putting * or ^ instead of

letters. For example, fr^eo Sp*m- is highly

whether this will work or not is debatable since most

filters will catch up with this technique

soon if they haven’t already.

6) Set up free accounts on Yahoo and Hotmail

and subscribe to your own ezine and control the

boxes to see if your ezine is coming

your filters.

For more tips, I recommend the following resources:

“Avoid the spam filter trap”

[http://assurance.sys.com/f/avoid-spam-filter-trap.pdf]

“Filter Trigger Word List”

[http://www.iprofitsystems.com/articles/spamfilters.html]

“20 Ways Emails Can Outsmart Spam Filters”

[http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/spamfilter-avoidance.htm]

Nice list of trigger words here:

[http://www.sv-cs.spam.html]

As you can see, publish an ezine and get it

to your subscribers is no longer an easy task. One

practice that has been adopted by some publishers is

to send a follow-up email after your ezine has been published,

indicating that it has been sent, including a url

where your subscribers can go to read the number online. I do this

and every week that link records 50 to 100 clicks,

so obviously a lot of people don’t get it

the first time.

There is also a new service called Habeas.com that

it is a whitelisting tool. For a large sum of cash

will give you a line of code to add to your

email headers that ensure your message

go through the filters. have special

relationships with ISP’s and mail filters that

recognize the headline that labels you a “nice guy.”

It is not cheap. Visit their site for more

information on how it works at http://habeas.com

There is no way to get past the filtering, but being

informed and knowing what you are up against and

how to improve, you will have much better chances

to get your ezine where it needs to be. AND

That’s why you started posting in the first place,

It is not like this?