Dead Domains: How to Clean up Your Lists and Why it Matters

Email messaging is an essential piece of the marketing puzzle in the 21st century. Unfortunately, a number of factors can keep your emails from getting to their final destination—factors like dead domains. They may sound terminal, but with proper list management, dead domains don’t have to haunt you.

What is a dead domain? A dead domain is a website domain that is no longer active. Dead domains are a dead end—messages sent to those addresses literally have nowhere to go. There is no computer receiving, processing, or redirecting them.

How do domains die? Domain death is part of the cycle of the web. A company may go under or an email service provider (also called ESPs) may stop offering email to their clients. Some individuals purchase vanity domains, such as those based on their own name, only to let them expire.

Why do dead domains matter? Compliance specialists make sure that emails abide by spam- and error-detecting policies and algorithms. Their job is to get messages into inboxes while preventing system resources from being bogged down by dead-end traffic. Dead domains are red flags that negatively impact delivery.

How do I avoid dead domains? Follow these best practices in email marketing and list maintenance and you’ll be well-positioned to mitigate dead domains:

• All your email recipients should be individuals who have shown interest in hearing from your company or are already engaged in business with you.
• Ideally, have an opt-in system that requires user confirmation. With confirmation messages, you’ll keep bad addresses from being added to your list and customers will actively affirm their relationship with you.
• Send email consistently. With frequent, regular opportunities to engage with you, users preparing to change email domains can keep their email subscriptions current.

The last thing you want is for destination-less emails to bog down systems, deflate open rates, and damage your company’s delivery reputation. Exercise good list management habits and you’ll stay one step ahead of dead domains! Contact Evolved Office today for more ways to optimize your marketing strategy.