What is Email Bounce Rate?
TL;DR
The percentage of emails that couldn't be delivered, returned by the recipient's email server. Bounces are either Hard Bounce (permanent failures like invalid addresses) or Soft Bounce (temporary issues like full inboxes). High bounce rates (over 2%) damage Sender Reputation and Email Deliverability. They signal poor list quality, purchased lists, old addresses, or improper collection methods. Reduce bounces by using Double Opt-In, cleaning your list regularly (remove addresses that repeatedly soft bounce), validating emails at collection, and never buying lists. After any major bounce spike, investigate the source. Email platforms automatically suppress hard bounces; you shouldn't manually re-add them. Maintaining low bounce rates through list hygiene protects your ability to reach everyone else on your list.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Email Bounce Rate
What's a healthy email bounce rate?
Under 2% total, ideally under 1%. Higher rates damage sender reputation. Hard bounces should be near zero after list cleaning. Consistent high bounce rates indicate list quality problems that need immediate attention.
What causes high bounce rates?
Purchased lists (addresses may not exist), old lists (people change emails), typos at signup (no validation), or previously cleaned addresses re-added. Quality list-building and regular cleaning prevent most bounces.
Should I remove bounced emails from my list?
Hard bounces, yes, immediately. Most platforms do this automatically. Soft bounces, watch for patterns. Repeated soft bounces from the same address should eventually be removed. Never manually re-add hard bounces.
How do I prevent high bounce rates?
Use double opt-in, validate email format at collection, never buy lists, clean your list regularly (remove long-term non-engagers), and monitor bounce patterns. Prevention through quality list-building is the only solution.
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