What To Do If An ISP Blacklists Your E-Mail Server

Being blacklisted is never a fun experience. You are fairly safe from this if your site has its own IP address, as is the case for dedicated and semi-dedicated servers, however, it can still occur if you have an insecure contact script or server. In a shared environment there can be dozens or even hundreds of customers per server - so if it gets blacklisted odds are a bad apple decided to send out some spam. In either case, there are certain things you can do to help speed up the process of delisting your server from an ISP’s blacklist.

Here’s a simple 5-step procedure to help improve your chances of getting your server whitelisted once again:

1. Find out if it is a blacklist issue - Try sending an e-mail to yourself at various addresses to find out if the issue has to do with a blacklist or if it’s a basic server issue. If the service that is blocking you is open like AOL or Yahoo, get an account and try sending a message there. If you get an error message along the lines of “message rejected” then it is probably a blacklist issue. If your e-mail is simply delayed, it is most likely a communications or server problem.

2. Contact your web host - Once you have a general idea of what the problem is, it is time to contact your host. Be sure to inform your host of any error codes you may have received and let them know which server you were trying to send the e-mail to (Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, etc). Odds are they already know there is an issue, but letting them know you are having problems might put more pressure on them (and possibly the other ISP) to take action.

3. Inform Visitors - If after a few days or weeks the problem persists, inform your website’s visitors on your contact page that you won’t be able to respond to them if they use that ISP’s services due to ongoing problems with them. This is a good way to ensure no e-mails are lost before the issue is resolved.

4. Send e-mail to ISP - If your server is still blacklisted in the following weeks, it is time to send a nice aggressive e-mail or message to the ISP that is blocking you. Be sure to send it from a non-blacklisted address though - I usually send mine through my Gmail account. Most ISPs offer some sort of way to contact their postmaster, either through a form or through an e-mail address. Be nice, but at the same time let them know you’re losing patience with their unwillingness to fix the problem. If your own webhost is mediocre in the support department, I’d also send the e-mail to them.

5. Send another e-mail to ISP - If after a few more days or weeks your server is still blacklisted, send another e-mail or message that has a slightly angrier tone. There’s no reason to curse like a sailor though - simply tell them you’re utterly disgusted with the company. If possible, I’d send the second e-mail to the abuse contact for the ISP - since they tend to pay more attention to e-mails sent there. Every time I’ve had a blacklist issue reach this point in the past it has always been resolved within a few weeks of my sending the second e-mail. Either it is coincidence, or my e-mail convinced them that I was ready to start dropping exlax in their postmaster’s coffee.

The main thing to remember is be patient - these issues are normally resolved with time. Jumping the gun and bitching 2 days after you’re blacklisted will do nothing to help get your site whitelisted again. Oh, and if you run a bigger blog or website use that to your advantage. Just think about it and you’ll understand what I mean

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