Have you ever had to email a new contact, only to get one of those messages telling you that there’s an error and your email can’t be delivered? A common cause is a typo in the email address. Maybe you wrote down the email address wrongly or are working from a scribbled handwritten address on a signup sheet from an event. It’s easy to check whether an email address is valid, using online email verification tools.
Email verification can also be useful if you send out marketing communications or other batch emails. By using an email verification website, you can tidy up your address lists and avoid those failed messages returning to clog up your inbox.
Email Verification Tools
You’ll find plenty of email verification websites online and they’re very easy to use. For a single address, all you need to do is enter the address and select ‘verify.’ If you want a more sophisticated approach, you can set up your system to verify emails automatically as they’re entered into your system, or you can batch-process entire lists.
Some sites use software that can not only verify an email address but can also detect if it hasn’t been used for a long time. There’s no point in having a huge email database for your business if many of the addresses don’t work. People change email addresses and forget to update their contact details. It’s also easy to mis-type an address when updating your list. Email verification technology will also alert you to typos if you’re adding addresses to your database.
Search the Internet and Social Media
An invalid email address is especially annoying if you need to contact someone urgently. These days people are more wary about putting their contact details out there for all to see, but an internet search for the person’s name could bring it up. Social media sites might give you some luck. If all else fails, if you can find them on Facebook or similar sites then at least you have a way to contact them.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Efficient email database management is good for your business. Issues with the email addresses that clients provide can be a real nuisance or just a missed contact opportunity. Sending emails to invalid addresses can be irritating for customers who are expecting to hear from you, and can create a bad impression of your company. Email verification can also be one element in your security strategy. The algorithms and analytics that email verification websites use can even detect when messages to an email address are constantly bounced around, which can be a sign of a something more sinister going on. Why take the risk when email verification can give you an early warning?
Quikteks Tech Support can work with your organization to ensure optimization of your email database management and IT operations. To learn more, reach out to us at (973) 882-4644.