How to Verify Email Addresses: Top Tools for Accurate Email Validation

Checking email addresses allows for the continued success of the marketing campaigns and the assurance that the messages are being delivered to the intended persons. As a result of using wrong or obsolete email addresses, the deliverability rates, sender’s reputation, and time and money invested are compromised.

Email checkers and email verification tools help in making sure that the correct emails are used in the contact, hence helping in the correctness of the emails to be used in the communications. These tools help in the detection of typos, identification of fake accounts and spam traps to help the marketing and sales team to work on validated leads.

This guide covers:

In this guide, you will learn how to check for valid email address and the five best listed email verification services that can be so useful in your campaigns.

What Is an Email Address?

An email address is a user’s unique identification required to send or receive messages through the use of the internet connection. It generally consists of two main parts: A set of characters of text that consists of a username and a domain name that are separated with an ‘@ ‘symbol.

The text that appears before the ‘@’ symbol is called the username while the text that appears after the ‘@’ symbol is referred to as the domain which is the mail server for the emails such as the Gmail mail server.com or yahoo.com. It provides a corresponding structure which creates a way for the emails sent to reach the recipient.

This is the name commonly in the username provided by the user or the company. On the other hand, the domain is simply the name of the service provider as it can be Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo and so forth.

What Is a Valid Email Address?

what is a valid email address?

This meant that the email ID to be used should be a genuine email ID, the format of the email ID used should also be relevant and the domain of the email ID should be active. There are no spelling errors; each of them, as it should be, is written in the name of the username at the domain. com and it is connected with the mailbox which has the ability to receive messages.

In addition, it should not be associated with or only be limited to access to the so-called ‘Disposable’ mail servers like the ‘Free’ or ‘Restricted’ mailboxes. As for the ways of getting such lists, one can use BookYourData to check the email addresses that are provided, and whether they are in use.

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Why Is Checking Email Addresses Important?

why is checking email address important?

To this end, one has to ensure that all the keywords are associated with the proper email addresses. This is something that is essential for any organization that is likely to incorporate Email Marketing for strategy use.

In other words, making sure that emails are sent properly will bring you massive advantages, including enhanced reach among users who will receive the emails, as well as the perception of your brand.

Thus, the use of email verification in marketing is very useful in the sense that it helps the campaigner see whether he has rightly applied the campaign and the chances of the right customer being reached exist.

Increase Email Deliverability Rate

It is also important to look at the delivery rates for any kind of email marketing that is to be done. This implies that if one sends messages to wrong or inactive addresses, then one gets bounces and this reduces the probability of getting to the inbox.

However, including the email checkers in the list may, in fact, lessen and or eliminate the chances of email delivery failure due to incorrect email addresses. This makes it certain that the messages that are to be sent are delivered to the intended recipients, and hence there are high chances that the target group will respond to the messages.

That is why verified email lists are more effective: These give better open rates and overall performance in comparison.

Protect Your Sender Reputation

Sender reputations are very crucial in as much as the credibility of the ESPs is a concern in the market. High bounce rate and sending emails to inactive or spam-trap addresses will have a negative impact on your reputation, and your messages will be moved to the spam folder.

The adverse consequences of spamming in the long-run for the sender's image are that genuine emails are sent to the junk folder of the recipient. This is why you should use the services of Email Verification Tools that are available online, such as BookYourData, to keep your sender score high and ensure your emails are delivered to the inbox of your subscribers.

Achieve Better ROI (Return on Investment)

It is much cheaper to compile or buy an email list than other forms of consumer contact, and its success depends on the fact that it targets active and actively responsive email addresses.

Thus, by agreeing with the list, you also free yourself from the necessity to waste your money and time on sending messages to fake or dead addresses. It is, therefore, necessary to be able to direct your marketing budget to the consumers who are the potential buyers. When more of your audience has valid email addresses, your campaigns are going to be more effective and hence profitability and ROI.

These are the ways that assist in relationship formation, nurturing the feeling of gratitude, and maintaining proper communication with the customers, as this will lead to increased revenue and business growth in the long run.

Increased Conversions

The effectiveness of email marketing is known by the rate of conversion from leads to customers. If your emails never get an opportunity to make it to the potential buyers, you lose the sale. 

Internet Academy identifies it by checking and verifying email addresses so as to be certain that you are emailing people who are real and can actually open your emails and read what you have written or clicked on offers that you have placed online. 

A good, updated email list ensures that you target the right prospects because a particular group of people is more likely to act in a certain way, hence increasing the chances of converting them into customers.

Elevation of the Brand Profile

This implies that having a clean list also works hand in hand with the delivery rate and the image of the business brand. This is because the messages that you send to people reach the right persons and have been confirmed and authenticated. 

Dealing with real prospects who show interest in your content makes them trust you as a business, and they can then perceive you and your brand as professional.

A well developed and backed up by email verification business communication through email builds brand equity and encourages the development of long-term customer relationships.

Types of Email Addresses

types of email address

It’s important to know the various kinds of email addresses in order to improve the email address verification process and email marketing. It means that formats and classifications such as regular addresses, disposable emails, and valid email formats will impact the quality of your email lists.

It is now time to turn to some of the most significant types of it and, first and foremost, the overall approach to email validation.

Regular Expression (RegEx)

RegEx is a pattern that signifies the location of the character needed, and the regular expression is basically known as RegEx. RegEx can be used in the verification of the format of emails used in any organization in the world. A working RegEx keeps track of the following parts that must be included in the address.

  • A correct username (first part of the email)
  • An “@” symbol
  • A proper Website address (e. g., Gmail.com, company.com, etc.) is required for this purpose.
  • For instance, while using the domain extension such as .com, .net, or .org.

For example, RegEx can be used to match an 'Email' field while checking RegEx to assist in proving the format of the email address. However, it is not useful in establishing the existence of the said email address or, at the moment, is active. BookYourData tool helps in substantiating the presence of the email address.

Disposable Email Addresses

Where the authentic email identity is not required to be revealed, temporary or one-time email addresses are employed; DEA stands for disposable email address. Many of such addresses are time-limited and are good only for a specific period; therefore, they are not very suitable for circumstances where extended communication is to be initiated.

Although DEA is used most often in the fight against spam, further application of DEA poses significant challenges for businesses engaging in email marketing because it results in high bounce rates and low interaction.

Some of the typical features of temporary email addresses include:

  • Lifespan is comparatively less, and the activity is time-bound. It may vary from 10 minutes to several hours.
  • It is seeing particular services like these Mailinator, TempMail, and Guerrilla Mail
  • Essentially, most of them are fake accounts and, therefore, can be used for any actual marketing.

It is also useful from time to time to glance at the list of emails to remove the disposable ones in order to boost delivery rates and engagement.

Checklist for a Valid Email Address

If a certain email address is to be collected, the following components should be first verified so as to exclude such an address as a potentially invalid or ambiguous one. Here is a brief guide on how to check the validity of an Email Address: 

  • Proper Structure: Satisfies all the conventional aspects that reflect the requirement of addressing the standard usernames: The username name, the @ symbol, the domain name, and the domain extension.
  • No Invalid Characters: These include space, commas, and symbols; '!' ‘#' 'and other characters.
  • Existing Domain: The domain should be working and should be operational to receive emails accrued. The domain should be a real name, e.g., yahoo.com, and not an invented name like yahoo123.
  • Not Disposable: One should avoid signing up with those email service providers that allow users to get temporary email addresses easily.

Acceptable Email Prefix Formats

The part of the email address located before the symbol '@' is referred to as the 'prefix,' especially where one is required in the construction of a user name. Some acceptable formats include:

  • Alphanumeric characters: Two upper case letters, a lower case letter, and three numbers or more (e. g., john123).
  • Periods and underscores: Can be useful in between letters with the purpose of separating the names or words (the name john. doe or words john_doe).
  • Hyphens: Hyphens are also allowed in email prefixes such as john-doe.

Others are spacing, including the use of a comma or any other special character like '!', '&,' or '$' if it is in the prefix.

Acceptable Email Domain Formats

Another is the domain which is the right side of the email address after the "@" symbol. An acceptable domain format must have the following:

  • Domain name: It should only cover violations of legal signs or, more specifically, alphanumeric characters (e. g., Google, company).
  • Top-level domain (TLD): These may be extensions of it. As it has been pointed out, these may be extensions: Extensions com, .net, .org, and other new gTLDs such as .co or .io.
  • No invalid characters: Domain names do not contain spaces, underscores, special symbols, and others, and this is to make them easily readable and help in the correct re-orientation of people.

How to Validate an Email Address Manually

This is important in an effort to deliver a better quality email list and improve the rates of delivery. While in today's world, there are methods API that can perform such validation, such as BookYourData, the following checks still make a manual validation possible. Every now and then, people are in search of ways how to validate an email address and here is a manual way to do the process.

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Step 1: Check the Formatting and Syntax of the Email Address

The first method of confirming the email address by simple checking is called format and syntax check of the address. Ensure it follows the proper structure, which includes:

  • An identification label in the form of a username (prefix) before the '@' sign.
  • In the middle of the username and the domain, there is a symbol which is "@."
  • Also, a domain name completed with a correct top-level domain (TLD) such as .com, .net, or .org.

For example, in [email protected]. For instance, if the address is [email protected], the domain part is "example," and the TLD is ".com." One should also note some possible misprints or typos; there is no "@" sign, there are no spaces, and certain symbols such as "&" or "!" are not permitted. As a result this is an indication that the arrangement of the emails is very important in enabling the users to gain the needed outcomes.

Step 2: Use a RegEx Tool to Check an Individual Email Address

After that, the RegEx facility can be used to determine if the vehicles' strings are in the correct format or not. RegEx tool checks the current character and structure of the email address under analysis by searching for characters that should be present with respect to the pattern that has to coincide.

Here's what RegEx checks for:

  • The email prefix has only characters that are the legal names for an email – the letters a-z, numbers 0-9, and periods'. Punctuation marks include full stops '.', commas, ", and hyphens '-.'
  • It is established that the domain name is there and that it contains allowed characters only.
  • Neither is the domain constructed as an incorporation of a commercial character string, a digits string, or a hybrid of the two. It ends with a valid Top Level Domain or TLD such as .com or .net.

Thankfully, there are numerous online RegEx tools to apply to check on the spot if an email address in question corresponds to this pattern or not. What this check only does is to confirm that an email address was indeed properly entered but it does not confirm if the particular email address is authentic or if there really exists a mailbox for it in the said email address.

Step 3: Use a DNS or Domain Name Checker for Each Domain in an Email Address

Based on the tests that prove that the software is able to identify the domain part of an email address as correct you can use two methods, DNS or Domain Checker. This also makes sure that the part of the email address that appears after the ‘@’ sign is also correct and that the domain exist.

Steps to use a DNS checker:

  • Type the label of the email address (for instance, the “example.com” part of the email address john. [email protected]) in a DNS lookup tool.
  • The DNS tool will check and identify if the domain actually has an active mail exchange server address (MX records which indicate that the domain accepts incoming mails).

Thus, if the domain is not in use or does not contain an MX record, then the address will not function. This step will validate if the created domain exists as well as the functionalities of the domain in receiving and handling incoming mail.

Step 4: Check If the Mailbox Exists with a Single Email Validation Tool

Last, to make sure that the particular mailbox is present, use only one email verification service. These tools are in the form of an attempt to send an email message to the given address but not actually sending it. It also shows how to know if a person read the email in order to monitor those you have been sending messages to ensure they opened them.

Here's how to manually check if the mailbox exists:

  • It is recommended that you go for an online email validation tool that uses the mail server pinging method.
  • Please specify the whole email address (example: [email protected]).
  • One will attempt to run commands that will help check whether the mailbox is active and whether the mails is being delivered effectively.

This is necessary because although the syntax and the domain of the email are correct and are specific to a certain domain, the mail box can have been disabled or the user deleted, or the mail box may not be frequently used. Some tools, for example, BookYourData, have boost options, and therefore give the right results.

Automated Methods to Verify an Entire List of Emails

This process of checking on an email list is very tiring especially if you are dealing with a large number of email addresses from the same IP address. Fortunately, there are automated methods that we use to ensure that the mailing list is accurate and reliable in the following manner.

This is because, one can, within a few minutes, validate hundreds of emails with the right tools and gadgets. Below are some of the most common automated ways of confirming every list of emails:

Email Checkers

Email checkers are basic utilities created for the purpose of checking whether your list of recipients contains email addresses of incorrect format. They include cases such as excessive or lacunar characters, the absence of an ‘@’ symbol, an incorrect structure of the domain, or the presence of prohibited special characters. 

As for these formatting problems, email checkers can inform you of them, but they do not tell you whether the mailbox is valid and used at the moment. For this reason, they are used to build an email list which in turn needs to be verified to make it effective.

Email Verification Tools

Most email verification tools not only validate the format of the particular address. This way, it is possible to determine if the mailbox is real, to verify the domain, and also to check if a specific email address is connected with any disposable email services.

Such tools check the background to make certain that, for instance, one’s email address is not on a blacklist that is associated with damaging the sender. Moreover, using an email extractor will help to get the contact of people, so you get a list that may be used for cross-checking, in order to make sure the information you have is correct.

Email Address Validator

An email address validator is concerned with the domain part of the email address in addition to the account to which the address belongs. It verifies if the given domain is indeed functional and can receive mail and also verifies if the given email address has a valid mailbox.

This process is very crucial to avoid posting emails in dead domains or even non-existent email addresses. The use of an email address checker shall also reduce cases where the organization has a low delivery rate, and the delivery bounce rate is high.

Domain Name System (DNS) Checker

The other aspect of personalities related to the domain elements is the DNS checkers because they help to dictate the authenticity of the email address’s domain. They check the name server to make sure that the domain accepts mail through Mail Exchange (MX) records.

In a case where wrong MX records are set, then all messages that are sent to the certain domain will not get delivered; instead, they are returned to the sender. When testing corporate or less popular domains, the DNS checkers are very useful. During this process, if the checkers are running, one is certain whether the given domain is working or not.

Single Email Checker

For companies that require only a few selections to be made and thus only a couple of email addresses to be verified, there are single email checkers available that are very fast and effective. These tools enable the user to input a single email address for syntax check, domain validation, and mailbox validation. 

Single email checkers are mostly useful in the verification of a single and the first email submission only or as a rehearsal for the correctness of the lead contact information before incorporating it into other lists.

Bulk Verifier Tool

If one wanted to confirm the validity of all the emails at once, then the best way would be to use bulk verifiers. These tools can be used to parse several thousands of email addresses simultaneously with checks on format, domain activity, and mailbox existence. 

Bulk email verifiers are useful for organizations that obtain extensive and dirty email lists and consequently have to clean the list frequently so that their campaigns only reach active subscribers. They are faster and give better results than the traditional ways of validation.

How to Avoid Invalid Email Addresses Appearing on Your List

It is very important to manage a clean email list if you are to get the highest deliverability rates for the emails you send and also keep your sender reputation intact while carrying out the different marketing campaigns. 

Some of the users may provide wrong email addresses, some other people may provide fake email addresses as they sign up with your list, or else the information provided may be old. Find out what you should do in order not to have invalid email addresses that can hamper your email campaigns in the future.

Use Double Opt-In

The most efficient approach to avoid the creation of invalid emails is by using a double opt-in method. Double opt-in is a system in which the users have to subscribe twice; the second subscription is done through an email containing a verification link. 

Taking that extra time helps to guarantee that you enter legitimate, active email addresses into your list. It also makes it difficult for fake or typographical errors in email addresses to get passed through because the individual is actually required to prove that he or she owns that Email account.

Implement Email Validation Tools

The most effective measures include the inclusion of email validation every time the visitor subscribes to the newsletter. It can check if the given email is in the correct format or not if the generic or not domain exists, and if the mailbox is active or not.

You can use such tools in the sign-up forms of your site’s services, like BookYourData, which can validate the value of an email as users complete the form. It also enhances the quality and deliverability of your campaigns from the start hence, choosing to do this.

Bookyourdata is the b2b email list provider

Regularly Clean Your List

Email addresses, just like phone numbers, may stick around even after an individual has moved on to another company or even changed his/her service provider, among other possibilities. Consequently, it is crucial to remove inactive or unnecessary addresses from the list from time to time so that the email marketing campaign will be successful.

This is because you can prevent such companies from clogging the list and, therefore, increasing bounce rates. Cleaned lists, on the other hand, will help you eliminate emails of such a nature and, thereby, target the right audience: an actual audience that wants to receive your message and would be receptive to it.

Monitor Bounce Rates

If you are not achieving low bounce rates, there is a high probability that you have the wrong email addresses in your list. The potential of having bounce rates after the various campaigns makes it easier to have an indication of areas that need to be worked upon. Therefore, if the number of bounces has risen sharply, then you should consider auditing and cleaning your list.

This is the worst type of bounce that a sender can experience because the email being sent bounces back due to the fact that the address used is invalid and should not be used to worsen the sender’s reputation. Again, the bounce rates assist one in correcting the situation where the incidences happen more frequently.

Avoid Buying Lists

The tank mailing may seem to be the simplest way to increase the number of clients but it is highly risky. Buying lists also have problems of having wrong, unresponsive email addresses that would make your bounces go high. It’s relevant to know if it is legal to buy an email list in order to avoid violation of the law.

These lists may also include people who have not opted in, which would, therefore, make the recipients annoyed enough to file spam complaints. The worst thing a person can do is to buy these lists because not only are the contacts most likely fake, but they also did not willingly opt-in to receive mail from you.

Educate Your Audience

Another manner of avoiding such invalid email addresses is by helping the audience complete certain aspects of email addresses. Opinions like these would be welcome. The first concept is an alert message that will say something like: ‘It is highly advised that you take a cursory look at the email you are typing before this form is submitted.’

This one is typical of an option to search an email by name, for the user to look at the email, just in case the recipient was typed in correctly.

Also, the specification of the need to type in the correct email address (for viewing the content, to receive the updates, etc. ) would also help to make the users more careful during registration.

Use CAPTCHA

Incorporating CAPTCHA in your sign-up forms is helpful in that it will stop those who are wrong or fake email addresses from entering them. CAPTCHA is a type of test which the user is required to complete. For instance, a question is presented where the user has to identify which items from the displayed picture constitute a particular word or, if they want to type in a number, which items of the picture equate to that number.

This added check of identity prevents computer-generated membership that often produces a lot of bogus email addresses. CAPTCHA is best for those websites that receive a large number of traffic since such sites attract spammers intended to create fake accounts.

How to Check for Valid Email Address: Email Checker and Email Verification Tool - Key Takeaways

  1. That is why email-verified tools are important if you are aiming for very high rates of first-pass deliverability. They check that the targets – the addresses are reachable and existent.
  2. The effects that come with changed or wrong email addresses include; it leads to high bounce rates and it makes the sender to be perceived as a spammer.
  3. As pointed out in the case of applications such as BookYourData, one can check for errors, dead accounts, and spam traps before sending emails.
  4. This email validation results in a high return on investment (ROI) because marketing is done to reachable and real people.
  5. You can always update your list often using the automated verification services, and this means that you will always be communicating with real active and receptive users, hence reducing the bounce rates.
  6. Double opt-in methods even help reduce this deliverability error percentage because the subscribers are forced to provide their email addresses twice.
  7. The bulk verification tools help organizations to determine the status of several thousand email addresses in the shortest time possible if one has been doing it one at a time.

FAQs

How Many Emails Can I Verify at Once?

The number of email addresses within the list that can be verified at once also varies with the tools used. Some sites may provide an email verification service like the one offered at BookYourData to validate thousands of addresses in the course of the said session. This is quite useful especially if the firm has numerous subscribers or is undertaking daily campaigns.

What Happens If My Email Gets Blacklisted?

When your email is blacklisted, your emails will not be delivered and instead will be rejected or sent to the recipient’s junk folders. This could be associated with a high bounce rate or complaints of spam by the message users. Email list cleaning on a regular basis or using the email verify tools will help you avoid getting blacklisted and mail to really exist and active addresses only.

Can I Check If an Email Address is Valid Without Actually Sending an Email?

Yes, it is possible to determine the validation of an email address by the use of the email verification tools. These tools ‘post’ to the recipient’s mail server to verify its existence, and its capability to accept mail, but no mail is ‘sent’ to the recipient.

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