Deliverability
List hygiene
The ongoing work of keeping your contact list accurate and engaged: removing invalid addresses, bounces and long-inactive contacts so you only send to people who can and want to receive your mail.
Why lists decay
Email lists naturally lose around a fifth of their valid addresses every year as people change jobs, abandon accounts or switch providers. Without regular cleanup, bounces rise, engagement falls and spam traps creep in.
A list hygiene routine
- Validate addresses at signup, before they ever reach your list.
- Suppress hard bounces and complaints automatically.
- Watch for contacts who haven’t opened or clicked in months, and apply a sunset policy.
- Never import old or purchased lists without validating them first.
List hygiene in MailCraft
MailCraft suppresses bounces, complaints and unsubscribes automatically across all your sending, and the email validation API checks format, mail servers and disposable domains before you add a contact.
Let MailCraft handle the details
Authentication, bounces, complaints and suppression are built in. Start free with 3,000 emails a month, no credit card required.
Start freeRelated terms
Full glossaryDeliverability
Sunset policy
A rule for when you stop emailing unengaged contacts, for example after six months with no opens or clicks, to protect engagement rates and sender reputation.
Sending & delivery events
Email validation
Checking whether an email address is correctly formatted, belongs to a domain that accepts mail, and isn’t disposable, before you add it to a list or send to it.
Deliverability
Spam trap
An email address with no real owner, used by mailbox providers and blocklists to catch senders with poor list hygiene — sending to one is a strong negative signal.