How to Fix a Burned Domain: Rebuilding Your Reputation from the Ground Up

If your cold emails have stopped landing in inboxes, your domain may be suffering from something far more damaging than low open rates—a burned reputation.

Your domain reputation is the trust score email service providers assign based on your sending behavior. And just like a credit score, once it's damaged, getting back in good standing takes effort, consistency, and time.

But the good news? You can fix it. Whether you're recovering from past mistakes or inheriting a scorched domain, here's exactly how to identify the problem and rebuild your sender credibility step by step.

What Is a Burned Domain?

A "burned" domain is one that has developed a poor sending reputation, often due to:

• High spam complaints

• Poor engagement

• Sudden spikes in volume

• Failed authentication

• Spam trap hits

• Blocklist appearances

The result? Your emails get routed to the spam folder or blocked altogether, even if your copy is perfect and your intent is clean.

Warning Signs You’re Using a Burned Domain

1. Emails Going to Spam even for engaged contacts

2. High Bounce or Block Rates

3. Appearing on Public Blocklists

4. SPF/DKIM/DMARC Failures in your reports

If you're seeing a combination of these, it's time to hit pause and go into repair mode.

Step-by-Step Plan to Fix a Burned Domain

1. Stop All Cold Sending Immediately

Don't make things worse. If you're currently using the domain for campaigns, pause all activity until the reputation is restored.

2. Authenticate Everything

Check and fix your:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)

• rDNS and PTR (reverse DNS lookups)

Use tools like Mission Inbox, Valimail, and MXToolbox to verify.

3. Check for Blocklist Status

Run a blocklist scan across:

• Spamhaus

• Barracuda

• SURBL

• MultiRBL

• MXToolbox

If listed, follow each provider's removal instructions.

4. Warm the Domain Slowly and Strategically

Start a slow, high-quality warm-up campaign.

• Use tools like Mission Inbox.

• Begin with 10-20 emails per day to known, engaged inboxes

• Gradually scale volume over 2-4 weeks

• Monitor placement, bounce rate, and response metrics

5. Send Only to Highly Engaged, Verified Contacts

Avoid cold lists. Only send to real users who've interacted with you before.

• Prioritize high openers, clickers, or recently engaged users

• Validate all addresses with tools like ZeroBounce before sending

6. Clean Up Your DNS Records

Ensure:

• Your SPF record includes only authorized senders

• DKIM signatures align and verify

• DMARC is set to p=none during recovery (move to p=quarantine later)

• rDNS and MX records resolve correctly

7. Monitor Reputation Daily

Use:

• Google Postmaster Tools

• Microsoft SNDS

• Talos Intelligence

Look for improvements in domain score, complaint rate, and spam placement.

8. Rebuild Trust With Engagement

Mailbox providers notice when users open, click, and reply. Rebuilding reputation means:

• Writing relevant, personalized content

• Encouraging replies and positive interaction

• Keeping subject lines clear and authentic

9. Segment and Clean Your List

Get ruthless with your list hygiene.

• Remove hard bounces and inactive contacts

• Suppress unengaged users

• Implement double opt-in moving forward

Bonus: Use a New Domain if Needed

Sometimes, recovery isn't practical. If your domain is deeply blacklisted or flagged, it might be better to:

• Retire it from outbound campaigns

• Register a new domain (or subdomain)

• Properly warm it up using Mission Inbox's dedicated IPs and automation

• Set up redirects so replies still land in your main inbox

Mission Inbox helps you configure new domains, warm them safely, and monitor everything from one dashboard.

Tools to Help You Recover

• Mission Inbox: Built for outbound, with dedicated IPs, DNS auto-configuration, warm-up automation, blacklist monitoring, and real-time placement data.

• ZeroBounce: Best for list cleaning and validation

• MXToolbox: For DNS lookups and blocklist status

• Google Postmaster Tools: Domain reputation and spam metrics from Gmail

Final Thoughts: Reputation Can Be Rebuilt

A burned domain isn’t the end—but it's a wake-up call.

With the right tools, strategy, and patience, you can restore trust with mailbox providers and regain inbox access. And if you're starting over, now you know exactly how to do it right.

Start with one action today: check your domain reputation. Mission Inbox will show you where you stand and what to do next.

Next up: The Complete Guide to DNS Records for Cold Email