Navigating Domain Blacklisting: Overcoming Challenges for Non-Technical Users

Recently, I encountered an unexpected hurdle with my newly acquired domain, which ended up being blacklisted on SURBL. As someone with minimal technical expertise, the situation felt daunting. I purchased this domain through Namecheap, a process I’ve successfully managed several times before, and linked it to my Kajabi site using the provided DNS settings. Everything was running smoothly for a solid five days. However, I was shocked to find out early one morning that my domain had been suddenly blacklisted.

The reason stated for the blacklist was “ABUSE,” which seemed rather surprising. The link had been included in several legitimate marketing avenues, such as a weekly newsletter on Beehiiv, a Facebook post, and a Reddit advertisement.

Seeking Solutions

Recognizing the urgent need to resolve this issue—especially since I have customers purchasing courses through the site—I reached out to the SURBL team and filed a support ticket. However, I was still left feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to unearth the root cause of the problem and rectify it.

In an effort to provide a bit more context for anyone facing a similar situation, I want to share some additional details. My company has been operating for over 21 years, and we maintain a robust list of engaged newsletter subscribers. I recently added the custom domain link to our weekly newsletter, and initial engagement metrics suggested this link was performing exceptionally well compared to our standard content.

We also have a private Facebook group dedicated to our users, where entry requires approval. I shared the same link in that space, hoping to increase visibility. While considering marketing options, I had also purchased Reddit ads targeting specific subreddits relevant to our niche. I want to clarify that although the advertisements were part of our strategy, I had never previously interacted with Reddit under our company’s official username.

A Quick Resolution

Fortunately, I found a solution: by explaining my situation to the whitelist team at SURBL ([email protected]), I was able to successfully have my domain removed from the blacklist. In a matter of 48 hours, Radix automatically updated their records, and I was able to resume normal operations.

It turned out that the issues arose because a few users had flagged my email as spam. Given that my domain was quite new and hadn’t been fully established yet, this triggered a spam filter. This experience reinforced the importance of monitoring email interactions and ensuring that our communications are well-re