Choosing the Right Hosting for Email Marketing Success

The ultimate goal of email marketing is to capture interest through interactive emails, get the reader to click through to your website, and improve your conversation rate. 

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But you can have the most engaging emails and the best offers… And yet one thing could be holding you back—your website hosting. 

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We highly recommend building your empire and your email list on a solid foundation. By that, we mean choosing the right website hosting to complement your email efforts. 

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Your web host and email service provider might seem unrelated but don’t fall into the trap of choosing a poor web host or your email (and sales) might suffer. Here’s what to look for when choosing the right hosting for email marketing success! 

Good Reputation for Email Deliverability 

Your web host’s IP address can make a difference to the deliverability of your emails. If the IP has a reputation for spammy behavior, your website—and in turn, your emails—could be automatically considered spam. 

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Deliverability is one of the most crucial elements of email marketing. You can create the most exciting, interactive emails with the best offers out there… But if they’re not making it to the inbox, all your effort is wasted. 

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Look for a web hosting provider with a great IP reputation. Shared hosting is almost always a no-go on this point because your site’s reputation could be negatively influenced by the behavior of another website on the same server. 

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Choose a solid dedicated or cloud web host with a strong reputation. Don’t compromise on this, or you’ll be fighting with deliverability for reasons that could’ve been avoided! 

Dedicated IP Address 

Aside from making sure you aren’t sharing a server with any other websites, double-check that your web host isn’t sharing IP addresses even though you may be on your own server. 

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Sharing an IP address with other senders means their sending practices may negatively affect your reputation. Whether you’re on dedicated or cloud hosting, find out if you’re on your own IP address. This could be the difference between being marked as spam and landing in your target’s inbox. 

Email Authentication 

Check if your chosen web host supports email authentication protocols. They’re important for verifying that your emails are legit and not spam, which goes a long way toward reducing the chances of your messages landing in the spam folder. 

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Your web host should support email auth protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM. Check this upfront because it could become a tricky thing to fix down the line! 

Automation and Segmentation 

Although your email service provider will offer them, make sure your web hosting company supports email automation and segmentation. This is what truly sets the excellent email marketers apart from the okay ones—smart automation and proper segmentation. 

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If you’re using the built-in email service provider that comes with your web host, it might be a little sparse on automation and segmenting options. You’d be wise to consider using a third-party email service provider to get the most out of these features. 

Integration with Marketing Tools 

If you’re using built-in email software, make sure it has comprehensive marketing tools to help you build campaigns and track data. If you’re using a third-party email service, check that your hosting provider is compatible with all their marketing functions. 

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Any other marketing tools that you might be using—CRM systems, automation software, and so on—should also be checked for compatibility before you go ahead with a host. Incompatibility will hamper your marketing efforts, including email. 

Analytics and Reporting 

The host you choose should offer robust data analytics tools. Data is the lifeblood of email marketing—you need to be able to see the proof of how your emails are performing and make strategic decisions based on real numbers. 

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The data is your guideline for adapting your emails to what your target market really wants. A host that has sub-par analytics services can be worked around—Google Analytics and other options are easy to integrate—but if it comes with excellent built-in data analytics and reporting, it’s a big bonus. 

Compliance with Regulations 

This point is twofold—one, hosting providers may have their own specific policies on email marketing practices, and two, certain countries and regions have specific email marketing regulations (CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR, etc). 

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When choosing hosting for email marketing success, make sure that the host you choose complies with the relevant email regulations. This includes giving the reader the chance to opt-in and opt-out of communications, as well as sticking to anti-spam laws. 

Scalability 

As your email list grows, you’ll need a host that can handle a larger volume of emails. If you’re using built-in email marketing software on your web host, double-check that it can handle the volume of emails you need to send. 

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External email hosts are often easy enough to scale, but those linked to your web hosting might be a little more tricky as they’re tied to your hosting plan. It’s a good idea to check up on this before you commit to a hosting plan, so you have a good idea of whether or not the host will be able to handle the volume you expect. 

Server Uptime 

If your email is tied to your web hosting, server downtime can disrupt your campaigns, especially if you’ve set up intricate automation sequences. When the server’s offline, it’ll hold up your campaigns or even stop them from going out at all, leaving you to do damage control. 

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Choose a host with a minimum of 99.99% uptime. That equates to less than 10 minutes of downtime a year, which is pretty much as good as you can hope for. You could go for one with 99.9% uptime, but that’s a LOT more downtime every year. 

Security Measures 

Security is of utmost importance. Email marketing platforms can contain sensitive data, and the last thing you want is a breach that puts any of your subscribers at risk. 

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Make sure the host you choose—website and email—place a strong emphasis on security. This includes having multiple layers of protection, two-factor authentication, and keeping security features and plugins up to date. 

Conclusion 

Choosing the right hosting for email marketing success isn’t something most people think of upfront. But building your website on a poor hosting platform can impact your email negatively… Even if you’re using a third-party email service. 

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Put a little more time and thought into your hosting upfront. Just a bit of research into the points above can help you find an amazing web host and save you time, money, and a whole lot of frustration in the long run! 

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About the Author 

Paul Wheeler runs a web design agency that helps small businesses optimize their websites for business success. He aims to educate business owners on all things website-related at his own website, Reviews for Website Hosting.