Are you getting a lot of bouncebacks? Is your open rate sagging? Does your mailing list seem to have more bad than good email addresses? Maybe it’s time to purge those bad email addresses from your list. Here’s some tips for cleaning your lists…

#1 – Analyze bounces. If most bad addresses come from Hotmail or Yahoo accounts, it’s probably time to start blocking people with these “disposable” email addresses from signing up in the first place.

#2 – Measure size against value. Remember that too many bad or “dead” email addresses can skew your open rates and other stats. A list bloated with useless addresses can make stats look bad.

#3 – Use link tracking. Most autoresponder services will allow you to turn on a feature that sets up a unique tracking link for every link in a mailing. By activating this feature every tie you mail, you’ll be able to collect valuable statistics over time, as well as watch for correlations between subject lines and click-through rates.

#4 – Make purges automatic. If your autoresponder service offers it, turn on the “purge bounces automatically” feature. A good setting is to purge after three failed delivery attempts.

#5 – Create an “inactive” list. Some services will track bounces and allow you to move bounced addresses to “inactive” status list. This is a safe option in case the address was only temporarily unable to receive mail. By separating out these email addresses, you can send this list a mailing at a later date — and purge any undeliverables at that point.

Yes, cleaning up your list looks like you’re “losing” subscribers. But you can’t really “lose” a subscriber who wasn’t getting your emails or opening them. Remember that it’s a trade off between quantity for quality. A worthless address won’t make you any money, so there’s no point in keeping it just to have a bloated list. And after cleanup, you’ll have fewer bounces to deal with.

Next… prepare for the unexpected!

Other posts in this series:

Q4 Affiliate Marketing Checklist

6 Ways to Put Dormant Domains to Use

Which Offers to Keep, Which to Dump?

ROI Tips for Affiliates

5 Ways to Update Aging Sites

Test New Niches

Design Makeover