Is There a Way to Verify an Email Address?

Many email marketers can run into issues with deliverability due to fake or spam email addresses ending up on their list. It leads to several questions about if you can verify an email address and how to stop this from happening. 

Fortunately, there are several tools and methods that can help you build a healthier email list and clean up any issues with ongoing lists that are struggling with deliverability. This article will discuss everything you should know about verifying email addresses, what an email address verification tool is, and other resources that can help. 

Can You Validate an Email Address?

There are several ways you can validate or verify an email list. The easiest way to do so is by using email address verification tools, which are software programs designed to help you verify that your new subscribers have active inboxes when they sign up. 

How Do I Verify an Email Address?

Now you’re probably wondering how you can verify an email address and how these verification tools work. 

The most common starting point with verification solutions is the email confirmation right when someone signs up for your list. This quick email verification will usually send a verification code or button to the email address listed during signup to ensure new subscribers have access to that inbox. 

What Is an Email Verification Code?

An email verification code is a unique set of numbers that are generated by automated systems within an email verification tool. 

For instance, let’s say you used your Gmail email address to sign up for an email list. Upon filling out the form, you may see a message that you need to input the email code number they sent to your inbox. After finding your verification code for Gmail in your Google inbox, you would then input that exact number into the signup form, and your email address would be confirmed while adding you to that brand’s email list. 

Most consumers are pretty used to this process, so it’s not much hassle for the average person and simply good practice for everyone involved. It helps ensure you get real and authentic email list signups while also helping new subscribers confirm that they filled out your form right. 

How Do I Manually Verify an Email Address?

The most common way to manually verify an email address would be to send an email to the subscriber in question from a different email address that doesn’t use your business domain. You will then wait a few minutes to see if it bounces. 

If it bounces, you’ll get a message back saying something along the lines of “server can’t be accessed,” showing you it’s an inactive email address. However, this is a pretty tedious process to go through for everyone who signs up for your list and certainly not scalable as you grow your company. 

Can You Validate an Email Address Without Sending an Email?

You can also try to validate an email address without sending emails. The most common ways are using tools like MXToolbox or PuTTY for Telnet to do IP address lookups, run DNS records, and ping servers. However, these are pretty technical processes, and just like the method involving manually sending emails isn’t scalable as you grow your list. 

Instead, if you’re thinking about investing in a tool, go with a bulk email verifier to help you verify emails without sending content. It’ll help you do all those processes in the background so you can scale the process as you grow your brand. 

How Can I Verify Email Addresses In Bulk?

There are several different types of bulk email verifiers available. While they all have the same purpose, to help you clean up your email list, they all use slightly different processes to get you results. 

When first starting, you may look for email verification online. There are several cheap or free websites like Bulk Email Checker or NeverBounce that allow you to do quick verifications. However, tools like those have their limitations and don’t do all the possible checks to help you validate subscribers. 

Instead, serious email marketers that have extensive email lists are better off going with premium tools like AudiencePoint’s email insight software which is powered by second-party data and provides real-time feedback to help you consistently verify new subscribers who are added to your list, re-engage inactive subscribers and remove any dormant email addresses. 

How Long Does Email Verification Take?

Email verification is a very short process. The initial email confirmation, that is standard in today’s email marketing space, usually takes at most a few minutes for new subscribers. 

Otherwise, bulk email verification can usually be done within seconds, varying slightly based on the tool you’re using. These tools make the process much easier and more accurate than trying to do verification manually. 

How AudiencePoint Can Help You Spot Invalid Email Addresses 

AudiencePoint’s email insight software can provide you with a comprehensive email verification solution that stands out amongst other options. 

As mentioned, one of the aspects that makes our solution stand out as a top option is the use of second-party data. The data pool our software uses gathers 1.7 trillion data points each week. It allows our software to make highly accurate decisions when determining what signals a valid or fake email on your list. 

Additionally, AudiencePoint is an excellent long-term solution that will continuously keep your email list active and healthy. It can monitor how subscribers engage and when they become inactive to help you re-engage them or remove them from your list if their inbox ever becomes dormant. 

Our tools also have the capacity to help you boost engagement rates with email segmentation, send time optimization, and real-time metrics that will give you actionable insights into how you can improve your campaigns. All this is easy to implement, even if you don’t know much about email marketing. 

Contact us today to learn more about how AudiencePoint can help.