How to Verify Email Address for Improved Deliverability & Response?
Knowing how to verify email address before sending ensures your cold outreach campaigns hit the mark.
Your email list plays a huge role in your email campaign’s effectiveness.
Invalid or outdated email addresses reduce email deliverability harm your sender’s reputation and lead to your emails to SPAM
In this guide, we’ll walk you through various ways to verify email addresses, helping you keep your lists clean, improve deliverability, and boost overall email campaign performance.
Why should you verify the email addresses?
Verifying email addresses is crucial for maintaining the success and reputation of your email campaigns.
Some of the prominent reasons are:
It protects your email sender reputation.
Sending emails to invalid or outdated addresses can harm your sender’s reputation.
Email service providers(e.g., Gmail, Outlook) track how often your emails bounce (fail to deliver), and high bounce rates signal that your list isn’t up-to-date, potentially labeling your emails as spam.
Email verification helps keep your email list clean, which boosts deliverability.
Increase your email engagement rates.
A verified list ensures you reach real, engaged recipients, boosting open and click-through rates by landing in active inboxes—not spam. This also allows for accurate engagement tracking, helping you see what resonates with your audience.
Improve the email campaign ROI
Email outreach platforms often charge based on the number of emails sent. By verifying emails, you avoid sending messages to dead addresses, cutting down unnecessary costs and improving ROI on your campaigns.
It reduces your spam complaints and unsubscribes
Verified emails often belong to people genuinely interested in your content. When you reach only these users, you reduce the chances of spam complaints and high unsubscribe rates, which can further affect your sender’s reputation.
How to verify emails with SmartReach?
SmartReach.io is an AI-powered sales engagement platform designed to automate your cold outreach sequences.
With SmartReach.io, you can manage your entire outbound process, all from a single platform saving quite a lot of time and increasing productivity.
Here is a step-by-step process of how you can run a cold outreach campaign and also perform email verification that is free of cost.
Step 1: Sign up and log into your SmartReach.io account
Step 2: Click on ‘Create Campaign’ and then create one based on your use case.
In this example, I am going ahead with ‘Email Only Campaign’.
Step 3: You can choose your preferred way either manually or via AI.
If you are choosing to create with AI, then you need to provide the prompted input.
Here my email sequence was generated based on the input I had provided.
Step 4: Add your prospects to the campaign. Then complete all the mandatory steps like adding your email address, setting the campaign as per your target audience, etc.
Step 5: Start the campaign with soft start.
Once you upload an email list, the email verification process starts working in the background
In SmartReach.io, all prospect email addresses are verified before the first email is sent.
This validation process includes SMTP checks, MX lookups, and email format verification to identify invalid or non-existent emails.
Typically, this process filters out up to 80% of invalid emails, reducing bounce rates.
As a result, your email reputation improves, leading to higher deliverability and open rates.
This in-built verification process is completely free with SmartReach.io.
So effectively, you verify your email lists without sending emails in them.
SmartReach.io provides a 14-day free trial without needing any credit cards.
Start your 1st campaign today!
6 Ways to Verify Emails Without Sending Actual Emails
Some of the common methods that you can follow to verify your emails are below.
Verification method #1 → Syntax check
A Syntax check ensures the email address follows the correct format according to the rules of the email protocol.
This method is the first layer of validation and catches errors related to structure.
Here’s how it works:
Basic structure
An email address follows a simple format: [email protected]. Syntax checks make sure it includes the following
Syntax checks ensure:
- Only certain characters (like letters, numbers, dots, and underscores) are used in the username.
- The domain follows naming rules and doesn’t contain invalid characters.
- Each part has specific length limits (e.g., the username can’t exceed 64 characters).
While a syntax check doesn’t confirm the existence of the address, it removes clearly invalid emails, making it a quick and effective preliminary check.
Verification method 2→ SMTP Verification
Pinging the Server, also known as SMTP Verification, is a more advanced technique that involves connecting to the email domain’s SMTP server to verify if the email address exists.
This process confirms the presence of the email account without sending an actual email.
Here are steps for email verification using SMTP:
Step 1) Check domain and MX records
Find the domain’s mail server (MX records). If no MX records exist, the email address is invalid.
Step 2) Connect to the SMTP server
Connect to the mail server using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). This simulates an email request without sending an actual email.
Here’s a youtube video that explains the SMTP verification better ⤵
Using this process verifies if an email exists accurately, especially when combined with other checks for quality assurance.
Verification method #3: DNS Lookup
A DNS Lookup (Domain Name System Lookup) is an essential step in email verification that checks if the domain of an email address is valid and can receive emails.
DNS is a protocol that translates human-friendly domain names (like example.com) into IP addresses that computers can read.
Here’s how DNS lookup works in verifying email addresses:
Steps for email verification using DNS lookup
Step 1) Extract the domain
Separate the domain from the email address (e.g., domain.com from [email protected]).
Step 2) Perform DNS lookup
Use a DNS lookup tool to check for Mail Exchange (MX) records for the domain.
Step 3) Check for MX records
If MX records are found → the domain has mail servers and can receive emails ✅
If no MX records are found → the domain is invalid, and emails to it won’t be deliverable ❌
Verification method #4: Performing an IP address lookup
IP Address Lookup is an additional method used in email verification to assess the reputation and quality of the domain associated with the email address.
It’s particularly useful for identifying potentially risky or suspicious addresses.
IP address lookup involves identifying the IP addresses associated with a domain’s mail servers.
The main purpose here is to check the reputation of these IP addresses.
Domains associated with poor-reputation IP addresses may be involved in spam or phishing activities, indicating that emails from such addresses may harm deliverability or sender reputation.
Steps for IP address lookup in email verification
Step 1: Find the domain’s mail server
Do a lookup to get the mail server (MX records) for the email domain.
Step 2: Get the mail server’s IP address
Use an IP lookup tool to convert the mail server name into an IP address.
Step 3: Check IP reputation
Use reputation tools like Spamhaus or SenderScore to see if the mail server’s IP has a good reputation. This step helps verify if emails sent from this server are likely to be trusted.
Verification Method #5: Using an Email Verification Tool
Email verification tools perform comprehensive checks to confirm whether an email address is valid, deliverable, and safe to contact.
Email verification tools use multiple verification methods to check the validity of each email address, including:
- Syntax check → Checks if the email format is correct (e.g., [email protected]) and catches any typos or formatting issues.
- Domain validation→Checks if the email’s domain can receive messages by confirming it has valid mail records (MX records).
- SMTP verification → Simulates an email delivery to see if the address is real, without actually sending an email.
- Role-based detection→ Flags addresses like info@ or support@, often used by teams rather than individuals.
- Temporary email detection→ Identifies disposable emails often used for short-term sign-ups, to keep the email list high-quality.
- Catch-all detection→ Flags domains that accept all emails, helping assess if individual addresses are valid.
Verification method #6: Using Google search engine
Using Google Search can help verify email addresses through indirect methods.
While this approach doesn’t confirm email validity as thoroughly as a dedicated tool, it can reveal useful insights about whether an email address is likely valid and linked to a real person or organization.
Here’s how to leverage Google Search for email verification:
- Search the email address: Type the email in quotes (e.g., “[email protected]”) to see if it appears on official sites or social media—this often means it’s a valid address.
- Check for social media links: If the email shows up on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), or other social profiles, it likely belongs to a real person or company.
- Look on official websites: Search the business website or use Google with “contact” or “team” to find the email on official pages, especially for role-based addresses like [email protected].
- Find mentions in blogs or forums: If linked to an industry, the email may appear in blog posts or forums, verifying it’s used by a legitimate person or organization.
Takeaway: How to verify email address
Email verification is essential to maintaining a high-quality contact list, protecting your sender’s reputation, and improving engagement rates.
By using the right verification methods, you can ensure your emails reach the right audience, reduce bounce rates, and avoid unnecessary costs.
If you are really bothered about running all these manual checks and looking for results from different methods, SmartReach.io can help.
SmartReach.io verified your entire email list before running outreach on them for free.
This means your emails are sent to valid, engaged prospects, boosting your deliverability and campaign performance.
Try SmartReach.io today with our free 14-day trial—no credit card required—and start optimizing your outreach effortlessly!
How to verify email addresses: F.A.Q.s
Can you verify an email address without sending an email?
Yes, you can verify an email address without sending an email. This is done through several methods, such as checking the email’s syntax, verifying the domain via DNS lookup, pinging the mail server (SMTP check), or using an email verification tool. These methods confirm whether the email address is properly formatted, active, and capable of receiving messages without actually sending one.
How do I verify an email address before sending an email?
To verify an email address before sending an email, you can use an email verification tool, perform syntax checks, conduct DNS and SMTP lookups, or do a Google search to see if the email appears on reputable websites or social media profiles. Each of these methods helps confirm the email’s validity and avoid sending messages to inactive or incorrect addresses.
Can I verify someone’s email?
Yes, you can verify someone’s email if you have their address. Using email verification tools, you can confirm if the email address is active, properly formatted, and associated with a valid domain. However, remember to respect privacy and ensure you’re using the information responsibly and ethically.
Can you check if an email address is valid?
Yes, there are multiple ways to check if an email address is valid. By using syntax checks, domain validation, and SMTP pinging, you can confirm if the address is properly structured and active. Email verification tools can simplify this process and provide detailed verification reports, helping you avoid invalid or risky emails.
How do I verify an email address list?
To verify an email address list, upload it to a dedicated email verification tool. These tools scan each address for syntax errors, inactive domains, and spam traps, and perform SMTP checks. This method is efficient and ensures a clean, validated list, reducing bounce rates and improving deliverability.
How is email verification done?
Email verification involves these checks:
- Syntax: Ensures the email is correctly formatted.
- Domain: Confirms the domain can receive emails.
- SMTP: Checks if the email address is active.
- Blacklist/Spam Trap: Flags emails linked to spam traps or blacklists.
How do companies verify emails?
Companies verify emails by using email verification software or services. These tools perform multiple checks, including syntax validation, domain verification, and SMTP tests, to ensure each email address is valid and active. Verifying emails helps companies maintain clean contact lists, improve deliverability, and protect their sender reputation.
How do I verify a sender’s email address?
To verify a sender’s email address, you can check if it’s properly formatted, search for the address on Google or social media to confirm its authenticity, and perform an IP lookup if needed. For professional contexts, verifying the domain’s DNS records and using email verification tools can further confirm that the sender’s address is legitimate.
