Double opt-in is a system for adding new contacts to your email list. It involves collecting an email address through a signup form and sending a confirmation email to that address in order to validate the contact information before adding it to the list.

Unlike a single opt-in system, in which subscribers provide their email address through a signup form and are immediately added to an email list, double opt-in systems create an additional layer of protection to prevent fake email addresses or contacts who aren’t really that interested in your emails from signing up.

What Are The Advantages of Using a Double Opt-in?

One huge benefit of using double opt-in is that you have a more engaged list. Because subscribers have to confirm, you know that the people on your list really wanted to sign up. That should make them more responsive to your emails, and more likely to open and click. Since subscriber engagement is good for business, this is of huge importance.

Confirmed subscribers are less likely to report your emails as spam. Too many spam reports can really affect your sender reputation and hurt email deliverability. This is something to avoid at all costs, as a poor sender reputation could stop your emails from reaching subscribers at all. Luckily, since subscribers are likely to be engaged, using double opt-in can actually enhance your sender reputation, sending deliverability up.

Using double opt-in is also a great way to keep your email list clean. The spammers who sometimes target single opt-in email lists won’t get anywhere, because if they don’t use real email addresses, they’ll never get confirmation emails. And if they appear on spam blacklists, they won’t get your emails at all. Since all list members are confirmed, using double opt-in gives you more accurate subscriber data. And that means you don’t have to worry about spending money on emailing people who aren’t interested, and may not even be real.

Finally, there’s long term value in a list that’s built on quality rather than quantity. And that’s another huge benefit double opt-in delivers.