Email bounces can happen for different reasons, including aging email lists, incorrect sender configuration and your emails being reported as spam. Managing bounces properly is essential to stay compliant and avoid further problems. High bounce rates can have serious consequences, such as sending restrictions or even the suspension of your account.
What is an email bounce?
An email bounce happens when an email isn’t delivered to its intended recipient and a notification is sent back to the sender. Bounces can damage your email reputation if they happen too often, because they signal that part of your email list is outdated or inaccurate. Understanding the types of email bounces is the first step to minimizing them.
There are two main types of bounces:
Hard bounces: Permanent failures caused by nonexistent email addresses, incorrect domains or blocked servers. These emails will never be delivered and should be removed from your list immediately. Hard bounces usually happen when an email address is incorrect, has been deleted or isn’t valid because of a typo.
Examples of hard bounces: The most common cases include mistyped domains (for example, user@gnail.com instead of user@gmail.com), nonexistent email addresses, or email accounts that were disabled after the user left a company.
Soft bounces: Temporary issues, such as full inboxes or server problems. While these may resolve over time, it’s important to monitor and manage soft bounces to stay compliant.
Handling soft bounces: If an email address keeps soft bouncing over a period of time, it’s good practice to remove it from your list or reach out through another channel to confirm the address is still valid. An email verification tool can help you tell temporary issues apart from more permanent ones.
Causes of high bounce rates
Several factors can contribute to high email bounce rates:
- Outdated email lists
- Erosion over time
- Lack of double opt-in
- Why double opt-in matters
- Spam complaints
- Consequences of spam complaints
- Technical issues
- The importance of proper authentication