Bounce Rate (Email)
The percentage of sent emails that could not be delivered to the recipient's inbox.
Why It Matters
High bounce rates damage your sender reputation and can get your domain blacklisted by ISPs.
How It Works
When an email server rejects a message, it sends a bounce notification back to the sender. ESPs categorize these as hard bounces (permanent) or soft bounces (temporary) and calculate the rate against total sent.
Real-World Example
Sending 10,000 emails with 300 bounces gives a 3% bounce rate, which is above the safe threshold.
Common Mistakes
Not removing hard bounces after first occurrence
Ignoring gradually rising soft bounce rates
Related Terms
A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure while a soft bounce is a temporary one.
The practice of regularly cleaning your email list by removing invalid, inactive, and unengaged subscribers.
A score assigned to your sending domain and IP by email providers that determines inbox placement.
Bounce Rate (Email) FAQs
What bounce rate is acceptable?
Keep your bounce rate below 2%; anything above 5% signals a serious list quality problem.
How do I reduce my bounce rate?
Use double opt-in, regularly clean your list, and verify email addresses before importing them.
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