Email verification is the process of finding out if the target email address exists and is able to accept incoming emails. It's an essential phase in any marketing campaign to ensure its success.
Email verification tools help ensure that your contact list remains error-free and that you have active addresses belonging to the recipients you wish to contact. By cleaning your email list, you can enjoy low bounce rates and an increased ROI on your marketing campaigns.
Sending a test email to your prospect to manually check if the address is receiving emails is an outdated approach to confirming the validity of an email address. Email verification technology has come a long way, and so has the email verification process.
Now, it's far more efficient to use an automated email checker tool for this job. They verify email addresses in multiple ways, giving you the flexibility to choose one for your needs.
In this post, we will tell you all you need to know about verification tools, offering you a guide on how to pick the best free or affordable tool before sharing with you some of the best options on the market today.
What Is an Email Verification Tool?
An email verification tool helps you determine whether a particular email address is valid and still in use. It can also help you identify malicious addresses and spam traps.
By checking email address legitimacy and refining your contact list, you can protect yourself from dangerous attachments and segment leads according to where they stand in the purchasing process.
Who Should Use It?
An email address can become invalid in many different ways. For instance:
- The shutting down of the company could make the domain non-existent.
- An email service provider could close down its business.
- The recipient could change their job or position, making their email address inactive.
- You could have syntax errors or typos in the email addresses.
These occurrences might not be new to you. However, you might not know that sending bad emails can increase complaints and bounce rates, putting you in the bad graces of email service providers. In fact, email service providers can block your account if the bounce and spam complaints get out of control.
Those who source leads via inbound marketing need an email verification tool the most. By regularly removing invalid email addresses, companies and individuals can maintain healthy deliverability rates.
What Happens If You Don't Verify Emails
Sending an email or two to an unverified email address is okay, but sending out email campaign after campaign to invalid addresses is extremely bad practice.
- Email delivery rates suffer, which causes the email marketing campaign to suffer as well.
- ISPs can flag your email server as spam by making use of spam trap emails.
- Improving your email deliverability gets difficult if you engage in outbound marketing without verification and cleaning your lead list.
Types of Email Verification Services
While all verification tools have the same purpose, they differ when it comes to features, accuracy, ease of use, and type of integration. The three main types of email validation tools include the following:
Real-Time Email Verification Tools
This type of email validation tool allows you to check if an email address is valid at its point of collection. For example, if you enter an invalid email due to a typo, a real-time mail server validation tool will detect the error and notify you. Validating email addresses at the point of collection is usually used as a sanity check to see if the email being collected is a valid email address in the first place, as shown in the image below.
The email address being active or inactive is a problem for later. An email validator is able to check if the email address is valid in the first place.
Bulk Email Verification Services
Bulk email verification services let you upload a list of emails and notify you of their status: good, invalid, and risky. These tools prove especially useful for those who have an old, purchased list they want to check.
While some options will require you to upload a .csv, the process is normally automated if you use a larger automation platform.
Some hybrid tools support verifying both single and bulk email addresses by using
Automated or Ongoing Email Verification Software
Email lists do not age gracefully. Fortunately, automated verification tools will scan your email database regularly. If they detect your list needs cleaning, they will either notify you or automate the removal process.
Advantages of an Email Verification Tool
You can take advantage of several benefits that email verification tools offer, from preventing the blacklisting of your IP address to increasing your sender score. The following reflect some of the key advantages you could enjoy from using an active mail check service.
Helps You Keep Your Email List up to Date
Sending emails to invalid addresses increases your bounce rate and negatively impacts your sender reputation. However, thanks to regular verification, you can remove invalid email addresses and keep your email list up to date.
Protects Your Sender Reputation
Besides high bounce rates, when you send emails to unverified email addresses, the user could mark you as spam, which could harm your sender reputation. Using spam trap detection helps you know that you will send emails to addresses of recipients who are likely to open the email and engage with it.
Increases Conversions
Sending emails to 20 quality leads is much better than sending emails to 50 unverified email addresses. By using an email verification service, you can focus on quality over quantity, which promises to increase your conversion rates.
Can Help You Save Money
Removing invalid addresses frees up storage space. Since storing data usually comes with a price, freeing up storage can help you save money. Furthermore, better engagement and higher conversion rates can do wonders for your ROI.
Choosing an Email Verification Tool
Not all verification tools are the same. When shopping around for a suitable email verifier, ensure that you keep the following factors in mind.
Accuracy
Don't use a free email checker that is not reliably accurate. While no email verification API can guarantee 100% accuracy, a good validation tool can ensure you receive a high accuracy level. Some verification tools offer 98% accuracy, while others guarantee bounce rates below 2% or 3% after clearing.
Always remember to check for the tool's level of accuracy, comparing it with other options before making your decision.
Integration
It should be easy to integrate the email verification API with those you use for your email outreach automation. Easy integration helps you ensure that your work runs smoothly because everything will be in sync.
The Type of Email Verification Service
When deciding the type of tool to go for, keep your business's nature in mind. For instance, if you would like to generate leads, a bulk email verification service is more suitable. On the other hand, a real-time email checker would be better if you want more sign-ups.
Usability
Consider how easy it is to use and what level of control you have. Always opt for an email verifier with a simple user interface and one that gives you a full level of control when selecting the email addresses to keep or reject.
Software Requirements and Compatibility
Can the email checker work on different devices, or does it need other software to function? While most people overlook these factors, they go a long way in improving the tool's usability.
Speed
Users with a small email list might not worry about speed. However, if you have hundreds of thousands of emails, turnaround time becomes crucial. After all, who wants to spend an entire day verifying emails when they have other tasks to complete?
Customer Support
You might have trouble with the email checker somewhere down the line. You want to know that you have access to great customer support to help you resolve the issues as soon as possible. Amazing features mean nothing if you encounter unreliable customer support.
User Reviews
Never forget to read the reviews of the email verifier you are thinking of purchasing. Looking at reviews helps you get a better picture of the tool's performance and the user experience it offers. It also helps you avoid falling for misleading product features.
Pricing
Contrary to popular belief, paying more does not always mean you will end up with the best email verification service. Instead, it is better to first look at the tool's features, choosing the option that offers the best value for your money.
The Best Email Verification Tools
With that out the way, let's look at our list of some of the best verification tools on the market.
ZeroBounce
We kick off our list with ZeroBounce, an award-winning verification tool that seamlessly integrates with multiple popular marketing platforms like Mailchimp and Cloudflare.
It uses an artificial intelligence scoring system to identify active email addresses and claims an accuracy level of 98%. The tool can also remove duplicate emails, spam traps, and addresses from domains that do not accept mail.
While each verification costs one credit, new users instantly get 100 free email verification credits after registering. Users can also purchase more credits using the convenient bundles ZeroBounce offers.
The best thing about ZeroBounce is that it offers an email deliverability test, instant bounce analysis, and an instant email verification system that allows you to tune configurations before proceeding with your email marketing software.
Pabbly Email Verification
Pabbly ranks as one of the most affordable and accurate verification tools you can get. The email verifier uses a manual and human-involved process, combining its standard automatic verification with pings that mimic the response times of real human beings. Its comprehensive syntax validation and 98% success rate have helped prevent more than 720 million bounces.
However, Pabbly's major downside is its slow speed. While this speed helps it avoid false positives, it makes it less than ideal if you need a bulk email verifier.
DeBounce
If you require a fast and accurate email verification and validation tool that can help you verify emails in bulk, then DeBounce might be perfect for you.
This bulk email list verification tool has over 100 integrations in total, 30 of them direct integrations with different ESPs. This level of integration helps you combine DeBounce with your ESP, CRM, or registration forms. On top of its integration, the bulk email list verification tool offers users a powerful data enrichment engine, helping them find the full name and avatar behind any address.
When it comes to bouncing, DeBounce helps you resolve this issue by removing addresses with syntax errors and those from disposable mail providers. In addition, its three-step verification process helps it stand out, making it one of the best options for email marketing campaigns.
Its helpful and responsive customer service is the icing on the cake. Customer support quickly resolves any issues, replying within 24 hours via email. All these factors helped DeBounce become one of the most highly-rated email list cleaning services.
MyEmailVerifier
Not all email verification services offer monthly subscription plans. If you prefer an email validation API that lets you verify addresses and improve email deliverability without paying for monthly subscriptions, MyEmailVerifier might be the most suitable option.
This secure email validation service uses a pay-for-what-you-use model. MyEmailVerifier also offers users a free trial. With your free account, you can verify as many as 100 email addresses.
On top of performing all the real-time API email verifications you would expect from standard email validation services, MyEmailVerifier also offers low turnaround times, spam trap detection, and disposable email detection.
GetEmail.io
With some of the world's major email domains using GetEmail.io, it is one of the best email verification services. Some of its clientele include companies like Google, Shopify, Oracle, and IBM.
The big data and machine learning algorithms used by GetEmail.io make this validation service provider so popular. These algorithms allow the bulk email checker to reliably find spam traps and misspelled and invalid addresses in seconds, fully optimizing your email marketing.
The developers also scoured the web to look for as many email addresses as possible, building one of the most comprehensive address databases. This database enables GetEmail.io's bulk email list verifications to take seconds.
While the verification tool is ideal for professional marketers, anyone can use GetEmail.io. In fact, the tool even offers users a free trial plan, allowing them to have a first-hand experience.
Top Cheap Email Verification Tool
Thanks to several affordable options available, cost should no longer hinder you from using a verification tool. However, if you are in the market for the best value deal, you won't be able to do better than the Email Finder and Verifier by Ful.io.
Though the tool does offer several enticing features, including a reliable email validation process, high accuracy, and user-friendliness, the best part is that it's completely free to use. Just add the extension to your browser, and you're ready to go!
Affordable Email Verification API
A top validation tool offers reliability and high accuracy rates at detecting invalid, undeliverable, and spam email addresses. At a minimum, the tool should:
● Check for domain authentication and correct syntax
● Offer spam trap identification
● Support multiple upload formats
● Have a friendly user interface
● Offer in-depth verification reports and key customer data security
Get in touch with us today at +1 343 303 6668 or reach out via our website to learn more about how our email verification tools and other third-party marketing services can help increase engagement and conversions for your email campaign.
Conclusion
Many free online email verification services exist that verify email addresses directly for you. However, many other free email verification tools might end up being inaccurate.
We recommend trying out free email verification services for some use cases or experimenting with the free plan before upgrading to premium. Alternatively, get started by using our free email checker and verifier by downloading the Chrome extension here.
However, at the end of the day, the best verification tool comes down to your business's structure and needs. Whatever your needs, the team at Ful.io can offer you an affordable solution, helping you avoid the stress of inefficient email marketing.