The 2025–26 Email Deliverability Checklist (Gmail/Yahoo Rules)—Built Into Your Platform

Written by Marcus Gaughan | Jan 20, 2026 5:00:00 AM

Stop treating deliverability as a campaign problem. Minds On Fire bakes it into your Customer Platform—domain auth, consent flows, preference center, smart throttling, and ongoing reputation monitoring—so sales updates, product notices, and newsletters actually land.

The problem

Email is still the backbone of client communication, but:

  • Gmail/Yahoo bulk-sender requirements tightened,

  • Inbox algorithms punish low engagement, and

  • Fragmented tools (ESP + CRM + support) break compliance and reputation.

The platform approach (what we build)

  1. Authenticated sending domains

    • SPF, DKIM, DMARC (with reporting), BIMI (where applicable).

    • Dedicated subdomains for marketing and transactional mail.

  2. Centralized consent & preference center (lives in your portal)

    • CASL-safe express/implied consent capture.

    • One-click global unsubscribe and list-unsub headers.

    • Topic-level opt-down (e.g., “product updates only”).

  3. List health automation

    • Automated sunsetting of cold contacts (e.g., 90/120 days).

    • Bounce/complaint webhooks → suppress at the account level, not just per tool.

    • Re-engagement journeys before removal.

  4. Send-time + throttling controls

    • Pace large sends to protect the domain reputation.

    • Split traffic across pools (marketing vs transactional).

  5. Engagement routing

    • High-intent form fills → transactional stream for confirmations; low-intent lead magnets → marketing stream with stricter pacing.

  6. Deliverability dashboard (Looker Studio)

    • Open/Click/Complaint trendlines, domain health, cold % by list, weekly risk report.

What happens inside GoHighLevel (GHL)

  • GHL hosts the forms, preference center, and consent logs.

  • Webhooks feed a Google Sheet/Warehouse → Looker Studio for reporting.

  • Sequences use conditionals: if no opens x days → adjust frequency or suppress.

Why this matters to retention

If your executive updates and renewal notices don’t land, churn rises. Baking deliverability into the platform ensures that mission-critical messages are not sent to the spam folder and provides legal with a clear audit trail.

 

Want us to install a Deliverability Baseline (domains, preference center, sunsetting, dashboard) in 14 days?