What are the best practices for handling typo traps and blacklists when sending emails?

Key findings

1. Typo trap impact: Sending to typo traps can result in immediate listing on blocklists, such as SURBL, indicating a lack of a fully confirmed email list.
2. Automated correction risks: Automating the correction of email misspellings in an ESP is considered a poor practice and can inadvertently lead to sending to spam traps or unintended recipients.
3. Double opt-in benefit: Implementing double opt-in is the most effective method to ensure a 100% confirmed list and prevent the acquisition of spam traps.
4. Block bounce insights: A significant increase in block bounces for custom domains suggests underlying deliverability issues that may or may not be directly tied to a specific blocklist.

Key considerations

1. Data collection integrity: Focus on improving data collection processes to prevent invalid or unwanted addresses from entering your list. For more, see our guide on effective strategies to avoid spam traps.
2. Email list validation: Regularly validate your email list to identify and remove invalid or typo-ridden addresses before sending. Learn more about email address validation.
3. Bounce message analysis: Obtain and analyze raw bounce messages from your ESP to understand the specific reasons for rejections, which can pinpoint underlying issues beyond general blocklists. Twilio provides insight into avoiding email blocklists effectively.
4. Proactive email form correction: Implement real-time email validation at the point of data collection (e.g., signup forms) to prevent common misspellings before they enter your list.

Key opinions

1. Source correction preferred: Marketers should prioritize correcting typos at the source, such as signup pages, rather than within their ESP. This prevents sending to potentially non-existent or trap addresses.
2. Double opt-in as standard: To avoid spam traps definitively, double opt-in is recommended. While email verification tools are helpful, they don't catch all types of spam traps.
3. Spam trap as a signal: The presence of spam traps on a list signals a flaw in the data collection process itself, allowing non-consenting or invalid addresses to be added.
4. Bounce data importance: Accessing and understanding specific bounce messages is critical for diagnosing deliverability issues, whether or not they directly relate to a known blocklist.

Key considerations

1. Impact on engagement metrics: Even if click-through rates seem to recover after blocklist issues, sustained high block bounce rates indicate ongoing deliverability challenges that need attention.
2. Proactive form validation: It is crucial to implement email validation on checkout and lead forms before submission to prevent invalid addresses from entering the database. See our guide on preventing email typos on signup forms.
3. Typo correction risks: Making up email addresses or 'fixing' typos is generally harmful, as it can lead to sending unsolicited mail. For more details, explore our advice on handling email typos in CRM and Fintech signups.
4. Focus on valid data: The problem is not spam traps themselves, but the presence of addresses belonging to real people who do not wish to receive emails, which points to broader list quality issues. Higher Logic discusses avoiding spam traps.

Key opinions

1. Spam trap causality: Spam traps are never the primary problem; rather, they serve as a signal of fundamental issues within the data collection process itself.
2. Typos and validity: Correcting typos to 'make up' email addresses is always a poor practice, even with good intentions, as it can lead to sending to invalid or non-consenting recipients.
3. Bounce message detail: It is essential to retrieve and analyze the actual bounce messages from an ESP, as these messages contain valuable information about why mail is being blocked, regardless of specific blocklist listings.
4. SURBL as a score factor: While a SURBL listing may not be the direct cause of all bounces, it contributes to the overall sender score and can impact bounce or spam folder placement.

Key considerations

1. Addressing data acquisition: Identify and rectify issues in lead forms where invalid data might be provided (e.g., users giving fake email addresses for gated content). Our article on Spamcop listings and spam traps provides context.
2. Invalid flagging: Instead of attempting to 'fix' mistyped domains, it is more effective and safer to flag such addresses as invalid and move on. Discover what happens when your domain is on an email blacklist.
3. Tailored double opt-in: Implement double opt-in processes that are user-friendly and can achieve higher confirmation rates without deterring legitimate subscribers.
4. Reverse DNS and reputation: Ensure your sending infrastructure has proper reverse DNS configuration, as rejection reasons like 'no reverse DNS' or 'BMS reputation' indicate broader technical or reputation issues that need addressing. SpamResource offers insights into reverse DNS and sender reputation.

Key findings

1. Consent verification: Always confirm opt-in for new recipients, ideally through a double opt-in process, to ensure explicit consent and reduce the likelihood of acquiring spam traps.
2. List hygiene importance: Regularly clean email lists by removing invalid, inactive, or unengaged addresses to prevent hits on recycled or pure spam traps.
3. Engagement monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics closely and implement sunsetting policies for unengaged subscribers, as continued sending can lead to spam trap encounters.
4. No purchased lists: Acquiring email lists through purchase or scraping is a direct pathway to spam traps and blocklist listings, and should be strictly avoided.

Key considerations

1. Understanding trap types: Familiarize yourself with the different categories of spam traps (e.g., pure, recycled, typo) and how they function to better protect your lists. Our guide explains the different types of spam traps.
2. Proactive validation tools: Utilize email validation services at the point of signup to catch invalid and typo-ridden addresses before they ever enter your system. Learn what an email blacklist is.
3. Monitoring deliverability: Regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics, including bounce rates and complaint rates, as early indicators of potential issues that could lead to blocklist entries. Mailgun provides guidance on how to get off an email blocklist.