Why Creating Mailboxes on Subdomains Is a Bad Idea
When setting up email infrastructure for business purposes, one of the most critical decisions is choosing where to host your mailboxes. While it might be tempting to use subdomains for your email mailboxes, this approach can have serious repercussions for your deliverability, domain reputation, and overall email performance. Here’s why creating mailboxes on subdomains is a risky choice and why using high-reputation domains from services like Mailforge or Infraforge is a better strategy.
1. Subdomains Have Poor Deliverability Rates
Email deliverability—the ability to land emails in recipients' inboxes rather than spam folders—is influenced heavily by the reputation of your sending domain. Subdomains often suffer from poor deliverability because:
Lower trust: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) view subdomains (e.g.,
mail.marketing.yourcompany.com) as separate entities from the main domain (yourcompany.com). This means subdomains must build their own reputation from scratch.Limited history: Subdomains usually lack the same historical data as the main domain, making ISPs more cautious about trusting them.
Higher scrutiny: Subdomains used for emailing campaigns can raise red flags, as spammers frequently exploit this strategy to bypass filters.
2. Subdomains Can Damage Your Main Domain’s Reputation
One of the most significant misconceptions about subdomains is that they operate independently of the main domain. In reality, the reputation of your subdomain (e.g., newsletter.yourcompany.com) is closely tied to your primary domain (yourcompany.com). If your subdomain gets flagged for spamming or sending low-quality emails, your entire domain’s reputation can suffer. This creates a cascading effect that:
Reduces deliverability for all emails sent from your main domain.
Negatively impacts trust from ISPs, email security filters, and recipients.
Makes it harder to recover from blacklisting or poor sender reputation.
3. Using Multiple Subdomains Accelerates Domain Burnout
Some businesses attempt to use multiple subdomains to spread out their sending activity or bypass reputation issues on a single subdomain. However, this tactic is counterproductive and can quickly lead to domain burnout. Here’s how:
Consolidated impact: ISPs often view a domain and its subdomains as a single entity. Spamming or excessive emailing from several subdomains (e.g.,
promo1.yourcompany.com,promo2.yourcompany.com) adds up, burning your domain’s reputation faster.Exponential risk: The more subdomains you create, the greater the risk of one or more being flagged, creating a multiplier effect on your main domain’s reputation.
Resource drain: Managing multiple subdomains is complex and requires constant monitoring, making it inefficient for long-term email strategy.
4. Better Practices: Use High-Reputation Domains
To ensure optimal email performance and protect your sender reputation, consider using high-reputation domains from services like Mailforge or Infraforge. Here’s why this approach works:
Established trust: High-reputation domains are specifically designed to handle large-scale email campaigns and already have strong sender reputations.
Improved deliverability: These domains are optimized to meet ISP standards and avoid spam filters, ensuring your emails land in inboxes.
Simplified management: Leveraging services like Mailforge or Infraforge allows you to focus on your campaigns rather than technical reputation management.
For example, instead of sending emails from promo.newsletter.yourcompany.com, you can use a dedicated domain provided by Infraforge (e.g., yourcompanymailer.com) or Mailforge’s managed domain services.
Final Thoughts
While using subdomains for email mailboxes might seem like a harmless or strategic choice, the long-term risks far outweigh any perceived benefits. By opting for high-reputation domains from providers like Mailforge or Infraforge, you’ll safeguard your domain’s reputation, improve deliverability, and streamline your email operations. Protect your business by making the right choice from the start.