I've been sending out monthly newsletters to my users (around 100k) using my own coded script that sends out about 10 emails per second). However it seems that most of the emails get stuck in spam filters or don't get there at all. What should I do to make sure the emails reach my users? Are there secures sites out there that offer newsletter service (they must be whitelisted)? Suggestions?
Assuming that your 100K users are from a properly managed confirmed opt-in system, then a lot of anti-spam systems don't like emails that are sent directly from web servers (assuming this is what you are doing) because web servers are not usually properly configured like email servers. You should always send emails via a properly configured email server that accepts incoming emails from the "from" or "return" address on your email and with properly set-up rDNS (or PTR) records. You should also be sure to keep your lists clean (remove bounced or rejected emails) and immediately remove anyone who requests removal. You should also consider setting up an SPF record for your domain, and DomainKeys too, to help legitimize your emails. Finally, check the content out. Maybe it contains links to sites, or content, that is triggering the anti-spam engines on the recipients email servers.
MailChimp is brilliant if you got the money, and it's whitelisted for Gmail/Hotmail at the least. And Ron is right, a dedicated mailserver is a sensible idea, but can get expensive as you're gonna need a dedicated box or a pretty hefty VPS to cope with the loads.
Try to use different email to sent. Using free email such as gmail do help a lot to bypass the spam folder.
My server is definitely not properly coded for sending out newsletters, that's why I coded my own program to send out a certain of emails every second. There seems to be a ton of hassle with this, so going with a 3rd party service is probably a better idea. Thanks for the site. I found a couple of other sites similar to MailChimp, however the pricing is almost exactly the same. 25k subscribers cost $130 monthly. Considering I have over 100k registered it's gonna be really expensive. The users do not have to confirm their emails so most likely 50% of the emails are false anyway. That's a lot of bouncing... I'm starting to see what is my site's problem. Any more suggestions/ideas?
Just get the server for mailing. If the newsletters are REALLY important for your website or business, then you want to be sure people receive them.