Before you send: spam check, test email and the final check

Spam check

The template editor and the campaign's Template step show a live spam check under your subject and body. It looks for the habits spam filters dislike: all-capital subjects, a fake "Re:", words like "free" and "act now", link shorteners, too many links, emails that are mostly pictures. Each finding comes with a fix.

Send me a test

Send me a test sends the email to your own address through the mailbox you pick, filled in with sample values (your own name where Vecta knows it). It goes through exactly the same code as a real send, with your signature and reply-to, so it's what a recipient would get. The subject starts with [Test]. The unsubscribe link in a test does nothing, because you are not on any list.

The final check

On the Review step, Check before sending lists what could go wrong, in plain words:

• Is the sending domain set up (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)? Is it on a blocklist? Can it receive mail?
• Does the wording look like spam?
• Who will be skipped, and why (unsubscribed, bounced before, blocked by you)?
• Do any addresses look like typos or throwaways?
• How many days will it take at your daily limits, and is a mailbox still warming up?

Each line is green, amber or red. It is advice only: nothing stops you sending. Press Check again after you fix something.

Blocklists and the mail server

On the Deliverability page, two more checks sit beside SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Mail server (MX) confirms your domain can receive replies and bounce notices. Blocklists checks your domain, and the server your mail leaves from, against public blocklists (Spamhaus, SURBL, SpamCop, PSBL).

• Mail sent through Gmail, Microsoft and similar providers leaves from shared servers, so only your domain is checked there.
• Some lists refuse lookups from shared servers like ours. Vecta says "couldn't check" rather than guessing, and never treats a refused lookup as a listing.

If something looks wrong

• The spam check says "looks like spam" but my email is fine: it matched words or habits. Read each finding. If it truly doesn't apply, you can still send.
• My test didn't arrive: check spam first. Then check the mailbox on the Mailboxes page passed its last test. If the message says the server refused the login, re-enter the password.
• "That's a lot of tests": tests are limited to a handful every ten minutes to protect your mailbox. Wait and try again.
• Blocklists say "couldn't check": the lists refused the lookup. Check by hand at mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.
• A real blocklist listing: open the list's website, find your entry and follow its removal steps, after fixing the cause (for example a compromised mailbox or a purchased list).