The Importance Of Double Opt In Email
Let’s start off by defining what double opt in email actually is. It is a way of ensuring that the person who opts to join an email marketing list really does want to join it. It works like this. Someone signs up to an email list to receive regular email messages. They are then sent an email to the same email address they used for signing up. That email has a link in it, which they are asked to click on if they really do want to sign up for the list. When they click on that link they have not only opted to receive email messages from that list, but they have done so twice – double opt in email, in other words.
Why is double opt in email important? It is for a whole lot of reasons. It is mainly in place to protect the person running the email list, however. If he or she is accused of spam, they can look back through their records and see at a glance that the person making the accusation has performed double optin to receive the email. That cannot happen with spam, and the authorities concerned will uphold the list owner’s assertion that they are acting in strict accordance with the law.
Double opt in email also protects the end user too. If someone who didn’t like you decided to play a trick on you, he or she could sign you up for dozens of email lists without you knowing it. If double opt in was not required, you would start receiving list message after list message. Cancelling the subscriptions would be time consuming and extremely annoying.
However, with double opt in email, that cannot happen. If you receive an email message asking you to confirm that you want to opt in to a list you have never heard of, you simply ignore it and you will never see it again. This is because you have complete control over your own email address. Someone trying to play a trick on you by subscribing to various email lists without your permission cannot click the confirmation lick on your behalf.
Double opt in email can be a small nuisance inasmuch as you have to go through the process twice. However, the small inconvenience it poses is vastly overruled by the security it offers, both for you and for the email list owner. Like so many things in life, it’s the simple ones that work best, and double opt in email is both simple and extremely effective.
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Our SEO blogger is an expert in Web Marketing, Usability and Interface Design. He has been a vital part of The Blue Cube Communications since 2003. As the West Midlands fastest growing web marketing agency, we always strive to maximise return on investment for our customers.
