Verifying emails is crucial, whether they come from a user, an API, or a database. Ensuring the data is correct is essential for all types of information. Do check if email is valid without sending email
How to Verify an Email Address
Let’s consider someone subscribing to your newsletter. Your script should check that:
- The email isn’t empty.
- It doesn’t exceed the allowed length in your database.
- It includes the “@” symbol.
These checks are the first step in validation, usually done using a regular expression (regex). To ensure the email exists and belongs to the person registering, your script should send a confirmation email with a link. The subscription is only valid when the person clicks the link, confirming their email.
This system is widely used for newsletter subscriptions and account creations on many websites.
Importance of Verifying Email Addresses
If a user mistypes their email, they won’t receive a confirmation email and might think your site is broken. Worse, if you send emails to non-existent addresses, they will bounce back. High bounce rates can cause your domain to be marked as spam, affecting the deliverability of all your emails.
Regular Checks for Email Addresses
Over time, email addresses in your database can become invalid as users delete mailboxes or email services close. Invalid emails lead to higher bounce rates, affecting your email deliverability. Regularly checking email addresses is necessary to maintain a clean database.
How to Validate and Verify an Email Address
For validation, a basic regex can check that the email format is correct. According to RFC 2822, the local part of the email (before the “@”) can contain various characters, including spaces. The domain part (after the “@”) should contain a dot.
For verification, you need a more complex system. The verification script should check if the domain exists, query DNS records for MX fields (which show email servers), and ensure the SMTP servers are operational. Building such a system can be time-consuming, but there are free web services that handle this efficiently.
Simple Email Validation and Verification
Abstract offers a free email address validation API service. It checks the email format, domain configuration, and SMTP server presence. It also detects if the email comes from a disposable email service, which is useful for account creation.
The service is fast, and you can use it with a simple GET request. The API documentation is clear, making it easy to get started.
Keeping Your Email Database Up to Date
Regularly verify the email addresses in your database without bothering your users. Use an email validation API like Abstract’s to ensure the SMTP configuration is still correct. Abstract’s API is easy to use and can be accessed with any language capable of making GET requests.
By regularly checking email addresses, you can maintain a clean and effective email list, ensuring your communications reach your users successfully.