# Warm up a domain or IP

> Build sending reputation on a new domain or dedicated IP by increasing volume gradually, with an example ramp schedule and how Emailit's sending limits fit in.

Mailbox providers don't trust a sender they've never seen. If a new domain or IP suddenly sends thousands of messages, much of it lands in spam or gets deferred. Warming up means growing your volume step by step so providers can learn that your mail is wanted. This guide shows when to warm up, an example schedule and how Emailit's limits fit in.

## When to warm up

- **A new sending domain,** including a new subdomain such as `news.acme.com`. Domain reputation matters even on Emailit's shared IPs.
- **A new dedicated IP.** It has no history at all.
- **A domain that's been quiet** for a month or more.
- **A big jump in volume,** for example moving all your mail to Emailit at once, or a first campaign to a list you haven't mailed in a long time.

If you're migrating from another provider with an established domain, you can usually move faster, but still spread the first large sends over several days.

## Start with your best recipients

Send your first days of mail to the people most likely to open it:

- transactional mail such as receipts and password resets, which people expect,
- subscribers who opened or clicked in the last 30 to 90 days,
- recent sign-ups.

Leave older or unverified addresses for later, once the domain has a track record. Verify them first with [email verification](/docs/email-verification/lists/).

## Example ramp schedule

This schedule takes a new domain to about 50,000 emails a day in three weeks. Adjust it to your target volume. Only move to the next step when the previous day's numbers look healthy.

| Day | Emails per day |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | 200 |
| 2 | 500 |
| 3 | 1,000 |
| 4 | 2,000 |
| 5 | 3,000 |
| 6 to 7 | 5,000 |
| 8 to 10 | 10,000 |
| 11 to 14 | 20,000 |
| 15 to 17 | 35,000 |
| 18 to 21 | 50,000 |

Campaigns send to a whole audience at once. To follow a schedule with campaigns, split your list into several smaller [audiences](/docs/audiences/) and send to one more each day, starting with the most engaged.

## Watch these numbers

Check them every day while you ramp up:

| Metric | Healthy | Where to see it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bounce rate | Under 2% | **Dashboard** sending health, [Analytics](/docs/analytics/) |
| Spam complaint rate | Under 0.1% | [Analytics](/docs/analytics/), [Google Postmaster Tools](https://postmaster.google.com) |
| Deferrals | Few `attempted` emails with `421` or `451` replies | **Email API → Emails**, filtered by status `attempted` |
| Opens and clicks | Steady or rising | [Analytics](/docs/analytics/) |

If bounces, complaints or deferrals rise, hold your volume at the current level, or step back one level, until they settle. Pushing through makes it worse.

## How Emailit's limits fit in

Sending limits cap how fast your workspace can send. They aren't a warm-up plan, but they keep a new workspace from sending too much too soon.

- **Defaults.** New workspaces can send 2 emails per second and 5,000 emails per day, shared between the API and SMTP. Daily limits reset at midnight UTC. Over the limit, the API returns `429` and SMTP replies `452`.
- **Pro and Business** get automatic raises, at most once every 7 days, while your bounce rate stays under 2%. Each raise moves the daily limit one step, for example from 5,000 to 10,000 to 25,000. See [Sending health](/docs/deliverability/sending-health/#automatic-limit-raises).
- **Pay as you go,** or anyone who needs more right away, can request a higher limit from the **Sending Limits** card on the **Dashboard** with **Request Increase**.

Plan your ramp so each day stays inside your limits. See [Limits](/docs/limits/) for the full list.

## Shared and dedicated IPs

**On shared IPs**, the IPs are already warm, because many senders use them. You only need to warm up your domain, and you can usually follow a faster version of the schedule above.

**On a dedicated IP**, both the IP and the domain are new. Emailit warms up new dedicated IPs automatically by capping their daily volume: the cap starts at 500 emails, and each day it's reset to about 1.5 times what the IP sent the day before. You don't configure this, but plan for a slower ramp, typically two to six weeks depending on your target volume. See [Dedicated IPs](/docs/deliverability/dedicated-ips/).

## Related

  - [Best practices](/docs/deliverability/best-practices/): Authentication, consent and list hygiene.
  - [Sending health](/docs/deliverability/sending-health/): How bounce rates affect your score and limits.

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Source: https://emailit.com/docs/deliverability/warm-up/