> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://testdocs.clodura.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Spam Score Checker: Write Emails That Reach Inboxes

> Learn how to use Clodura's Spam Score checker to detect risky content, fix spam triggers, and improve email deliverability before sending.

Even a well-timed, well-researched outreach email can end up in a spam folder if its content triggers automatic filters. Email providers run every incoming message through a scoring engine that looks for patterns associated with spam — promotional language, excessive punctuation, suspicious links, and dozens of other signals. Clodura's Spam Score Detector lets you run that same kind of analysis on your draft before you hit send, so you can fix problems while you still can.

## What the Spam Score Checker Does

The Spam Score Checker analyzes your email's text, links, and formatting against a set of known spam filter rules and returns a score from **0 to 10**. A lower score means less risk. It also flags the specific phrases, patterns, or infrastructure issues that contributed to your score, so you know exactly what to fix. The tool surfaces results inside the email editor itself — you don't need to leave your compose window to check your draft.

<Info>
  Each Spam Score check costs **10 credits**. Run your check once your draft is ready for final review to get the most value from each credit.
</Info>

***

## How to Run a Spam Score Check

You can access the Spam Score Detector in two places within the Clodura email editor:

1. **Sidebar Panel** — Click the **Spam Score** tab in the left-hand sidebar of the email editor. This opens a full diagnostic panel that updates as you edit your content.
2. **Quick Check Button** — Click the **Check Spam Score** button at the top right of the compose window for an instant score check of your current draft.

After clicking either option, Clodura analyzes your content and returns a score along with a list of flagged items.

***

## Reading Your Score

The Spam Score uses a traffic-light system to communicate risk level clearly:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="🟢 Low Risk (0–3)">
    ### Score 0–3: Send with Confidence

    Your email is clean, professional, and unlikely to be caught by spam filters. The content reads as natural and human, your links look trustworthy, and there are no major red flags in your formatting.

    **What to do:** Send your campaign with confidence. Continue using the same content approach for future emails.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="🟡 Moderate Risk (3–5)">
    ### Score 3–5: Review Before Sending

    Some elements in your email may trigger spam warnings with certain providers. Your message will likely get through to most inboxes, but there is meaningful risk with stricter filters.

    **What to do:** Open the sidebar panel and review the list of flagged items. Rephrase the highlighted phrases and re-check your score before sending. Do not leave moderate-risk emails unseen — small wording changes often drop the score into the green range.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="🔴 High Risk (6–10)">
    ### Score 6–10: Rewrite Required

    Your email contains multiple signals that are very likely to trigger spam filters. A significant portion of your audience will not see this message.

    **What to do:** Stop. Review every flagged item in the sidebar and rewrite the offending phrases before sending. Use the **Improve with AI** button (see below) to get instant suggestions for cleaner phrasing. Do not send a high-risk email without addressing the flagged items first.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

***

## Common Spam Triggers to Avoid

Spam filters look for patterns that are statistically associated with unsolicited or deceptive emails. These are the most common issues that drive up scores in sales outreach:

<Accordion title="ALL CAPS writing">
  Writing words or phrases in all capital letters reads as aggressive or shouting to both human recipients and spam filters. Use sentence case or title case instead. Save emphasis for bold or italics.

  ❌ `WE HAVE THE BEST SOLUTION FOR YOU`
  ✅ `We have a solution that fits your team's workflow`
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Currency symbols and guaranteed-wealth language">
  Phrases like "\$\$\$ guaranteed," "make money fast," "earn \$X per day," or excessive use of dollar signs are among the most reliable spam triggers in existence. Even legitimate financial services companies need to avoid these patterns.

  ❌ `Save $$$! Guaranteed ROI!`
  ✅ `See how our customers reduce software costs by an average of 30%`
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Artificial urgency phrases">
  "ACT NOW," "FINAL WARNING," "LAST CHANCE," "LIMITED TIME OFFER," and similar phrases are classic spam vocabulary. They also damage the consultative tone that makes cold outreach effective.

  ❌ `ACT NOW — this offer expires Friday!`
  ✅ `Happy to share what this looks like if you have 15 minutes this week`
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Too many links or suspicious URLs">
  Emails packed with links, or that contain URLs that don't match their display text, trigger link-based spam checks. Keep your email to one primary call-to-action link. Make sure all links use recognizable, branded domains.

  ❌ Multiple tracking links, shortened URLs with no recognizable domain
  ✅ One clean link to a legitimate, recognizable URL
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Excessive punctuation">
  Multiple exclamation marks in a row (`!!!`), question-mark spam (`???`), or alternating punctuation patterns are spam signals. Use punctuation sparingly and naturally.

  ❌ `Ready to grow your pipeline?! Don't wait!!!`
  ✅ `Ready to grow your pipeline? Let's set up a quick call.`
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Missing or broken DNS authentication">
  The Spam Score panel also checks your **Domain Health** section. If SPF, DKIM, or DMARC are not configured correctly, your emails are functionally invisible to major providers regardless of how good your content is. Red indicators here need to be fixed at the DNS level before any content optimization will make a significant difference. See the [Email Deliverability Overview](/docs/deliverability/overview) for setup instructions.
</Accordion>

***

## How to Improve Your Score

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Spam Score sidebar">
    In the email editor, click the **Spam Score** tab in the left sidebar. Review the full list of flagged items and the specific phrases or elements that were flagged.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Rewrite flagged phrases">
    Click on each flagged item to see the exact text or rule that triggered it. Rewrite those sections using more natural, conversational language. Think about what you would actually say in a one-on-one email to a colleague.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use Improve with AI">
    If you are stuck on a high-scoring section, click the **Improve with AI** button. Clodura's AI assistant will suggest rephrased versions of your content that score better while preserving your message's intent.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check your domain health">
    In the same sidebar, scroll to the **Domain Health** section. Confirm that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all show green. If any are red, fix those DNS records first — content improvements alone cannot overcome authentication failures.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Re-run the check">
    After making changes, click **Check Spam Score** again to confirm your score has dropped into the green range. Aim for a score of 3 or below before sending any campaign.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Frequently Asked Questions

<Accordion title="If I score 1.0, am I guaranteed to reach the inbox?">
  A score of 1.0 means your content is very clean — excellent. However, spam score checks your email content and some infrastructure signals. Actual inbox placement also depends on your domain's sender reputation, your list quality, and recipient engagement history. A clean spam score gets you to the starting line; warmup, list hygiene, and authentication keep you there long-term.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Does the spam score check scan attachments?">
  Not currently. The checker analyzes your email body text and links. Attachments are not scanned. As a general rule, avoid sending attachments in cold outreach — they increase spam risk and often trigger security filters at enterprise organizations.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="How many credits does a spam score check cost?">
  Each check costs **10 credits**. There is no bulk discount — each button click runs one check. Draft your email to a near-final state before running your check to get the most value per credit.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Can I check spam score for every email in a sequence?">
  Yes. You can check the spam score for each email in a multi-step cadence individually by opening each step in the editor and running a check. It is good practice to check every template you plan to use, not just the first step.
</Accordion>