Crush Bounce Rates: The Importance of Email Validation

For email marketers, every signup is precious; each email address is an opportunity to make money from your email list or at the very least, improve brand visibility. But sometimes, the entries are null and void, leading to a spike in bounced emails, making your sender reputation crash.
Why does this happen? And what can you do to fix it?
The answer lies in email validation. By adding this step to your list maintenance process, you can improve your email marketing results by leaps and bounds.
Before we understand email address validation, however, we must understand what a valid email address is.
What is a Valid Email Address?
To ensure all entries in your email list are valid, each email address should follow these guidelines:
- It should have the correct syntax: The email address must be properly formatted and should follow the standard format (for example, user@campaignrefinery.com).
- The address should be deliverable: The email domain must exist and have an MX (Mail Exchange) record, plus the address should have an active mailbox that can receive messages.
- It can’t be a temporary address: The email address should not belong to a disposable email service.
- It can’t be a role-based address: In email marketing, you should avoid sending to role-based addresses such as marketing@apple.com or support@google.com).
- It shouldn’t be a spam trap: Spam traps are email accounts set up by email service providers to catch spammers. Sending to spam traps can lead to blacklisting.
- It must be submitted voluntarily: The address should belong to a recipient who has given you explicit permission to email them. This is crucial for compliance with laws like GDPR/ CAN-SPAM.
- The address should not be on a blacklist: The domain or email address should not be on any major email blacklists, which could indicate a history of spam or other malicious activity.
Next, let’s study the process that ensures all entries in a contact list follow this format.
What is Email Validation?
Email validation is a critical process in email marketing that ensures the accuracy and authenticity of email addresses.
It involves verifying whether the email address:
- Is valid,
- Exists,
- Is active.
This process of verification helps to prevent emails from being sent to nonexistent or invalid addresses, reducing bounce rates. Combining email address validation with email deliverability tests can be highly effective at improving overall results. By validating email addresses, marketers can maintain email list hygiene, enhancing the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Additionally, validation can help to protect your sender reputation. If you’ve wondered why your email deliverability is poor despite a high domain reputation, you may need to add email address validation to your weekly schedule.
All email marketers desire the best email deliverability; email validation is a fundamental step in making this possible.
7 Email Validation Methods
These 7 methods are commonly used to check whether an email is valid:
- Syntax check: This checks if the email address is correctly formatted. For example, it ensures the presence of an “@” symbol and a valid domain extension like “.com.”
- DNS lookup: This verifies that the domain (the part after the “@”) exists and can accept emails. It checks if the domain has a valid MX record, necessary for email delivery.
- Mailbox validation: This step involves verifying that the specific mailbox (the part before the “@”) exists and can receive emails. This is possible by sending a confirmation email.
- Disposable email check: This check identifies whether the email address is from a temporary or disposable email service, often used one time and generally less reliable.
- Spam trap detection: This process identifies if the email address is likely a spam trap.
- Catch-all server check: Some domains accept all email addresses, even if they don’t exist. This check determines if the email domain is a catch-all server.
- Blacklist check: This identifies whether the email domain or address is on any known blacklists.
Let’s expand on the three most critical validation methods:
- Syntax check,
- DNS lookup,
- Test for temporary email addresses.
Email Validation Method #1: Syntax Check
A syntax check is the first step in the email address validation process. It ensures an email address is correctly formatted according to the rules defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in standards like RFC 5321 and RFC 5322.
Using a syntax check is critical because it prevents issues like emails bouncing back due to invalid formatting. Sending emails to addresses with incorrect syntax could lead to more queued emails on your email platform, leaving you wondering why your emails are taking so long to send.
A syntax check reduces the likelihood of spam or fraudulent addresses being accepted.
An email address is typically structured as:
Components of an email address | Description |
---|---|
Local-part | This is the section before the “@” symbol. It can include letters, numbers, and special characters (for example, user.name, jason_b, user123). |
Domain | The domain is the part after the “@” symbol. It includes a domain name and a top-level domain (TLD), such as campaignrefinery.com or biz.org. |
Here are examples of common errors that a syntax check can catch:
- Missing @ symbol: usercampaignrefinery.com.
- Multiple @ symbols: user@@campaignrefinery.com.
- Invalid characters: user!#^&@campaignrefinery.com.
- Leading/Trailing Dot: .username@campaignrefinery.com or username.@campaignrefinery.com.
- Consecutive dots in local-part: user..name@campaignrefinery.com.
- Invalid domain format: username@campaignrefinery..com or username@-campaignrefinery.com.
Implementing a syntax check in your validation process helps maintain the integrity of your email list.
Email Validation Method #2: DNS Lookup
The DNS or Domain Name System is like the phonebook of the internet; it translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses that computers use to communicate with each other.
In the context of email address validation, a DNS lookup involves querying the DNS email records associated with the domain part of an email address to verify the domain exists and is set up to receive emails.
Trivia: DNS lookups aren’t reserved for email recipients; mail providers often use reverse DNS lookups to verify that you’re a legitimate sender.
How Does a DNS Lookup Work?
This 4-step process explains how validation using a DNS lookup works:
- Step 1: From the email address (for example, user@campaignrefinery.com), extract the domain part (campaignrefinery.com).
- Step 2: Query the domain’s DNS records to check for specific types of records that indicate whether the domain can receive emails.
- Step 3: Check for MX records, which specify the email servers responsible for receiving email for the domain. The presence of MX records is a strong indicator that the email address might be deliverable.
- Step 4: If a domain has no MX records but has an “A record,” some mail servers will attempt to deliver email directly to the IP address associated with the A record.
Why a DNS Lookup is a Critical Part of Email Validation
4 ways in which using a DNS lookup benefits you:
- It checks the domain: A DNS lookup verifies that the domain exists, which is essential for ensuring emails sent to that domain can be delivered.
- Drop in bounce rates: By filtering out email addresses with non-existent or misconfigured domains, DNS lookup helps prevent hard bounces.
- Enhanced sender reputation: Sending emails to non-existent domains is problematic. DNS lookup helps maintain a good sender reputation by ensuring your emails are sent to valid domains.
- It improves email deliverability: Verifying the domain has proper DNS records in place increases the likelihood that your emails will reach the intended recipient.
Email Validation Method #3: Check for Disposable Email Addresses
Checking for disposable/temporary/burner email addresses is an integral part of email address validation.
This step aims to identify and filter out temporary or throwaway email addresses. These addresses are often used for short-term purposes, such as bypassing signup forms or avoiding spam. They are not useful for email marketers as they don’t work for long-term communication or marketing campaigns.
Why Identify Disposable Email Addresses?
Getting rid of burner addresses from your contact list is critical for these 3 reasons:
- They’re practically useless: Users of disposable email addresses are unlikely to engage with your content.
- They boost bounce rates: Since disposable emails are temporary, sending emails to these addresses after they’ve expired will result in hard bounces.
- They skew your metrics: Including disposable email addresses in your list can distort your email campaign metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates.
- They cause compliance issues: Using disposable email addresses might violate terms of service or lead to compliance issues with email unsubscribe laws, especially if the user did not provide explicit consent to receive communications.
How to Check for Disposable/Temporary Email Addresses
Tools/services that check for disposable emails use one or all of these three methods:
Methods to identify burner email addresses | How it works |
---|---|
Compare with a database | The validation process often relies on a database of known disposable email service providers such as TempMail.org. |
Domain check | The domain part of the email address (such as john@burneremail.com) is compared against a list of known temporary email domains. |
Pattern-based analysis | Some validation tools identify patterns associated with disposable email addresses, such as unusual domain names or newly registered domains. |
You can try tools such as WhoIsXML or compare against this GitHub list to weed out temporary emails. Note that new disposable email services pop up regularly, so it’s essential to keep the validation process up to date with the latest lists.
The Benefits of Email Validation
By adopting email validation, you get these 10 benefits:
- Lower email bounces: Email validation helps identify invalid or non-existent email addresses, minimizing the number of bounced emails and improving deliverability rates.
- Improved email deliverability: Valid email addresses are more likely to reach the recipient’s inbox, increasing the chances of your emails being seen and engaged with.
- Boost in email engagement: A clean email list means that your emails are more likely to reach real, engaged users, leading to higher open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.
- Reduced email marketing costs: Email platforms charge based on the number of emails sent or the size of your list. Validating emails reduces unnecessary costs by removing invalid or low-quality addresses.
- Fewer spam complaints: Validating emails helps avoid sending messages to spam traps or inactive addresses, reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam.
- Compliance with CAN-SPAM/GDPR: Email validation helps you comply with regulations by ensuring you send emails to users who have provided valid consent.
- Lower chances of blacklisting: By avoiding sending emails to invalid or harmful addresses, you lower the risk of being added to email blacklists.
- You become a trusted sender: Mailbox providers are more likely to trust senders who consistently send emails to valid addresses, leading to better inbox placement.
- Support for email personalization: A validated email list ensures that you can confidently personalize your marketing efforts, knowing that your messages are reaching real individuals.
These benefits collectively lead to more successful email marketing campaigns, higher ROI, and better relationships with your audience.
Top 6 Email Validation Tools and Services
These 6 tools let you test features for free, but you will have to opt for a paid plan if you want full functionality or higher volumes.
Tool/Service Name | Features |
---|---|
ZeroBounce email validator | ‣ Syntax check ‣ Domain validation ‣ Spam trap detection ‣ Disposable email detection ‣ Catch-All email checker |
NeverBounce | ‣ Real-time email verification ‣ Domain validation ‣ Disposable email detection ‣ API |
Hunter | ‣ Syntax check ‣ Domain search ‣ Bulk email verification ‣ DNS lookup |
Kickbox | ‣ Real-time email verification ‣ Disposable email detection ‣ Role-based email detection ‣ API access |
Emailable | ‣ Email verification ‣ Bulk validation ‣ Domain checker ‣ DNS lookup ‣ Disposable email detection ‣ Removes duplicates |
DeBounce | ‣ Syntax check ‣ Domain validator ‣ Catch-All email checker ‣ API access ‣ Duplicate email detector ‣ Spam trap removal |
You can use these in combination with email deliverability services to ensure your campaigns are optimal.
How to Build a Valid Email Address List
While email validation is effective, it will be equally useful to implement clean email lead generation practices. By being diligent when building a valid email address list, you further lower the chances of adding invalid emails to your list.
Below are 8 best practices to help you achieve this.
1. Use the Double Opt-In Method
The double opt-in method requires subscribers to confirm their email address by clicking a link sent to their inbox. This ensures the email address is valid and that the subscriber genuinely wants to receive your emails.
After a user signs up, send them a confirmation email with a link — only add them to your list once they click this link.
2. Don’t Purchase Email Lists
Before you buy email lists, know that they often contain outdated, invalid, or uninterested email addresses, leading to high bounce rates and spam complaints. It’s better to build your list organically through your website, social media, and events to ensure subscribers are genuinely interested in your content.
3. Provide Value to Subscribers
Offering valuable content or incentives encourages users to sign up with their primary email address, leading to a higher-quality list.
To encourage legit signups, offer a free ebook, discount, or exclusive content in exchange for an email sign-up.
4. Use Clear and Visible Sign-Up Forms
A well-designed, easy-to-find sign-up form can significantly increase the number of valid email addresses you collect.
Place sign-up forms on high-traffic pages, use pop-ups, and make the forms easy to fill out with minimal required fields.
5. Validate Email Addresses in Real-Time
Real-time validation during the sign-up process helps catch typos and invalid addresses before they enter your list.
Use email validation tools on your forms to check the syntax, domain, and mailbox of the email address as users type it.
6. Regularly Clean Your List
Over time, email addresses can become invalid or inactive. Regular list maintenance helps maintain the quality of your list and improves deliverability.
Use email validation services to remove hard bounces, inactive users, and role-based emails from your list periodically.
7. Comply with Data Protection Regulations
Compliance with regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM ensures that your list is legally obtained and maintained, protecting your business from fines and legal issues. Make sure you get explicit consent from subscribers, provide a one-click unsubscribe option, and store their data securely.
8. Share Testimonials
Influence website visitors to submit their email addresses by displaying the number of current email marketing subscribers or testimonials on your sign-up form. Showing potential leads that others have signed up can encourage them to join your list with their valid email addresses.
Campaign Refinery Features Built-In Email Validation!
Campaign Refinery is an email deliverability beast, taking the number one spot when it comes to inbox placement.
As an email platform, everything we do is with this one focus in mind: our clients’ messages should consistently reach subscribers. While best practices and robust infrastructure make this outcome possible, our built-in automated list cleaner plays a vital role.
It analyzes your email list and detects all types of invalid entries:
- Malformed email addresses,
- Spam traps,
- Blacklisted emails,
- Complainer accounts,
- Disposable emails,
- Role-based emails,
- Seeder accounts,
- Undeliverable IDs.
With this feature, you don’t have to pay extra for a third-party service. Most importantly, it’s fully automated and highly effective.