284 Spam Words That Are Affecting Your Email Deliverability

You created the perfect email with an intriguing subject line - You Won 100$, Open to Claim! and thought it would give you higher opens.

But, your face dropped as you saw your email keep hitting higher and higher spam rates. And you thought, what did I do wrong? We guess you used a spam word, i.e., WON 100$ in your subject line, which might have triggered the spam filters, so your email landed in the spam folder.

Such incidents can happen if you aren't aware of spam words. So, we have curated a list of 284 spam words you should avoid in the subject line and email copy to keep a healthy distance from spam filters.

Table of contents

• What are spam words?
• 284 spam trigger words you should avoid
• 5 other tips to stay out of the email spam folder
• Conclusion

What are spam words?

Spam words are phrases or keywords in your subject line and email copy that email providers mark as malicious or spammy. These words activate the spam filters, causing your emails to land in the user's spam folder instead of their inbox.

Apart from the words, the context also matters. As spam filters are getting more advanced, they won't automatically send your emails to spam if they contain words like "discount code" or "claim your offer." But, you'll be in trouble if you.

• Stuff plenty of spammy keywords.
• Use lots of emojis exclamations.
• Use all capslock, bright red fonts.

The image below reflects the spam words used in the subject line, which is why this email landed in the spam folder. Other than that, in the beginning, the sender is using all caps lock, which is another red flag.

Spam words are just one of many factors which can cause lower email deliverability.

To know about other major reasons, you can read our guide: 9 Reasons Why Your Emails Land in Spam and What You Can Do About it.

284 spam trigger words you should avoid

Here are all the words you must avoid in your email subject line and copy to ensure that you don't get trapped by spam filters.

Symbols or exaggerated numbers

• #1

• $$$

• 0%

• 0% risk

• 777

• 99%

• 99.9%

• 100%

• 100% more

• 100% free

• 100% satisfied

• 50% off

Avoid words that create unnecessary urgency

• Access for free

• Access now

• Access right away

• Act immediately

• Act now

• Action required

• Apply NOW

• Apply Online

• At no cost

• Buy Now

• Buy direct

• Cancel at any time

• Cancel now

• Cancellation required

• Claim your discount NOW!

• Claim your prize

• Click below

• Click here

• Exclusive deal

• Exclusive discount

• Exclusive offer

• Expiring soon

• For instant access

• Get it now

• Get out of debt

• Get out of debt NOW

• Get started now

• Hurry up

• Important information regarding

• Instant weight loss

• Limited time

• Limited time deal

• Make $

• Make Money

• Now only

• Offer expires in X days

• Once in a lifetime deal

• Once in a lifetime opportunity

• Once in lifetime

• Online biz opportunity

• Only for today

• Save up to

• Sign up free today

• Stuff on sale

• Supplies are limited

• Take action now

• Time-limited

• Urgent

• Vacation offers

• Weight loss

• While in stock

• While you sleep

Avoid using exaggerated claims and a number

• 100% money back

• Best bargain

• Best offer

• Best price

• Big bucks

• Double your leads

• Double your cash

• Double your income

• Double your wealth

• Earn extra profit

• Earn $

• Earn extra cash

• Earn money

• Earn per week

• Extra cash

• Extra income

• Extract email

• F r e e

• For just X$

• For only XXX amount

• Free bonus

• Free cell phone

• Free consultation

• Free DVD

• Free gift

• Free grant money

• Free hosting

• Free info

• Free information

• Free installation

• Free instant

• Free investment

• Free iPhone

• Free leads

• Free membership

• Free money

• Free preview

• Free quote

• Free sample

• Free trial

• Full REFUND

• Guaranteed deposit

• Guaranteed income

• Guaranteed payment

• Huge discount

• Incredible deal

• Instant earnings

• Instant income

• Instant offers

• JACKPOT

• Lose weight

• Lose weight instantly

• Lowest price

• Lowest price ever

• Money back

• Money making

• Money-back guarantee

• Potential earnings

• Recover your debt

• Recover your debt instantly

• Satisfaction guaranteed

• Save $

• Save Big Money

• Serious cash

• Subject to cash

• They keep your Money — no refund!

• Unlimited

• Work at home

• Work from home

• You are a winner!

• You have been chosen

• You have been selected

• You will not believe your eyes

• Zero chance

• Zero percent

• Zero risk

Avoid words that make your sound spammy or too salesy

• Affordable

• Auto email removal

• Bargain

• Cheap

• Claims

• Claims not to be selling anything

• Claims to be in accordance with some spam law

• Claims to be legal

• Clearance

• Compare rates

• Confidential

• Confidentially on all orders

• Deal breaker

• Dig up dirt on friends

• Don't delete

• Don't hesitate

• Easy terms

• Explode your business

• Fast cash

• Free access

• Hidden assets

• Hidden charges

• Info you requested

• Information you requested

• Join millions

• Junk

• Loan approved

• Loans

• Mass email

• Never before

• New customers only

• No extra cost

• No hidden costs

• No interests

• No medical exams

• No middleman

• No risk

• No strings attached

• Not intended

• Not junk

• Not spam

• Open this email!

• Please read

• Priority mail

• Prize

• Profits

• Promise

• Pure profits

• Requires initial investment

• Risk-free

• Save big money

• Sent in compliance

• Special discount

• Special promotion

• Strong buy

• This isn't a scam

• This isn't junk

• This isn't spam

• This won't last

• Undisclosed

• Undisclosed recipient

• We hate spam

• We honor all

Finance related spam words

• Accept credit cards

• Additional income

• Avoid bankruptcy

• Beneficiary

• Billing

• Billing address

• BONUS

• Bonus credited

• Buying judgments

• Cash bonus

• Cashcashcash

• Cashless

• Check credited

• Consolidate debt

• Consolidate debt and credit

• Cost

• Credit

• Eliminate bad credit

• Eliminate debt

• Income from home

• Investment decision

• Low insurance premium

• Low mortgage rates

• Lower interest rate

• Lower monthly payment

• Lower rates

• Lower your mortgage rate

• Lowest insurance rates

• Million dollars

• Outstanding amount

• Outstanding values

• Pennies a day

• Stock alert

• Stock disclaimer statement

• Stock pick

• Unsecured credit

• Unsecured debt

• Unsolicited

• XXX amount credited

• XXX$ credited

Others

• Be your own boss

• Brand new pager

• Casino

• Compete for your business

• Congratulations

• Credit card offers

• Home employment

• Home-based business

• Legal

• Legal notice

• Marketing solutions

• Meet singles

• Meet women

• Miracle

• Month trial offer

• Mortgage

• New domain extensions

• Obligation

• Order shipped by

• Order status

• Orders shipped by the shopper

• Passwords

• Purchase

• Removal

• Removes wrinkles

• Reverses aging

• Rolex

• Round the world

• Score with babes

• Section 301

• Shopping spree

• Social security number

• Terms and conditions

• University diplomas

• Valium

• Viagra

• VIP

• What's keeping you?

5 other tips to stay out of the email spam folder

Here are 5 crucial tips you should ensure to pass through spam filters:

• Ensure your email are authenticated: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Ensure that your emails are passing the following email authentication criteria:

Sender Policy Framework (SPF): SPF ensures that you send emails from an authenticated domain, not a relay server.

Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM): DKIM is an email security standard that ensures messages are not modified while traveling between the recipient and sending servers.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC): DMARC is the actionable protocol. DMARC will take action when DKIM/SPF fails on your sender's domain.

• Run a spam check

Use spam checkers tools to scan the email content to ensure no content might trigger the spam filters. Use tools like SpamAssassin, Unspam email, or Mailgun. You can also run spam words tests on Gmail- Google postmaster. One of the tools that Google Postmaster has is Spam rate. It gives you an overall rate of how many emails are landing in spam versus email delivered.

• Monitor your IP reputation

A low IP reputation can be due to IP blacklisting, getting hit by spam traps, or sending many emails without proper warmup. All these factors work as a red flag, triggering the spam filters. So, you must keep an eye on your IP reputation. Tools like Google Postmaster can help you monitor your IP reputation.

• Maintain a higher domain reputation

A higher domain reputation would mean that emails from your sender domain are less likely to be trapped in the email provider's spam filters. Hence, you will get higher deliverability. To monitor your domain reputation, you can use the Google Postmaster tool and get insights into how your domain performs among Gmail users.

• Practices email list hygiene

Email list building is crucial for reaching out to your subscribers but cleaning it consistently to maintain a healthy email list rate is equally essential. A healthy or hygienic email list is when you remove unsubscribed users so that you don't accidentally send them emails and risk landing in the spam folder. Besides, you should also suppress inactive and unengaged users by implementing a sunset policy to avoid sending emails despite user's disengagement.

• Make your emails engaging and relevant

Besides the technicalities, if your emails are not engaging and relevant to the recipient, they will either unsubscribe or stop engaging with your emails. And when you keep sending emails to such users, the mail provider sees your emails as spammy and puts them in the email spam folder.

So, put yourself in your audience's shoes, study their pain points, and behavior, and use that data to create emails that resonate to keep them engaged.

Conclusion

It's horrible to see all your time, efforts, and resources getting hit by the spam train just because you weren't aware of the words that might trigger the spam filters. But now you have the list you can refer to while writing your emails. Always keep this list handy, and you'll see higher deliverability.