11 spam words to avoid in your subject line
by. Jill Bastian
An ever-popular question we get here at VR is “What words should I avoid in an email to ensure inbox delivery?” If only there was a straightforward answer to that question! As with many things email marketing related, the answer is: it depends. Sure, you know not to use pharmaceuticals like Cialis or Viagra in your subject line or email, but what about the word Free? Before I give you a list of words to avoid there are some things to keep in mind when writing your email. First, always have someone proofread your email! A typo in a benign word can suddenly create a delivery nightmare when it transforms into the hottest new spam word. If a word in your subject line gets truncated or broken it could go to a spam folder, or even worse, cause unsubscribes.
An example I saw was the phrase “Buttons and Bows” in a long subject line. Because the subject was too long the word Button was broken in the middle and caused delivery and unsubcribe problems. In addition, a subject line is not the place to use the short words for texting, like 4U, U or even #1 . Sometimes unsavory types want to use known spam words and try to get around delivery issues by breaking them up with spaces or disguising them. Spam filters know these tricks, so C r e d i t, C*r*e*d*i*t or CREDIT can still put your email in a spam folder. Using all caps for a word or a whole subject line can flag the email as being spam. Plus, all caps in the internet world means you’re yelling, and you don’t want to do that to your readers.And now the list you were looking for:
- Affordable
- Apply Now
- Additional Income/ Extra Income
- Dear Friend
- Free
