Back to Resources
Glossary

What Is List Hygiene? (And Why It Boosts Email Deliverability)

List hygiene is the practice of keeping your email list clean and active. Learn what it means, how to do it, and why it improves open rates and ROI.

Lero Team
4 min read
12/19/2024

🧹What is list hygiene?

List hygiene refers to the ongoing process of cleaning and maintaining your email list to ensure it contains valid, engaged, and permission-based contacts.

Good list hygiene keeps your sender reputation strong, reduces bounces, and improves deliverability.

⚠️Why is list hygiene important?

Without proper hygiene, your list gets polluted by:

  • Fake or misspelled emails
  • Inactive subscribers
  • Spam traps or bots
  • Hard bounces

This leads to:

📉 Lower open and click rates
📩 More emails ending in spam
🚫 ESP suspensions or blacklists

How do I maintain list hygiene?

Key best practices include:

✅ Use validation tool

like Lero before sending

✅ Remove unengaged

contacts regularly

✅ Monitor rates

bounce and complaint rates

✅ Double opt-in

for new signups

❌ Avoid purchased

or scraped lists

📅How often should I clean my list?

It depends on your volume and frequency, but a good rule of thumb:

🧹 Clean high-volume lists

monthly

📊 Review low-volume lists

quarterly

🎣 Always validate new signups

in real-time

🛠️What tools help with list hygiene?

  • Lero for validation and catch-all detection
  • ESPs like Mailchimp or Brevo for engagement stats
  • CRM filters for segmentation and cleanup

📌 Summary

List hygiene is the practice of keeping your email list clean and active. Regular cleaning improves deliverability, reduces bounces, and boosts your sender reputation—leading to better open rates and ROI.

📎Related Articles

Business
Email Marketing for Startups: From 0 to 10,000 Subscribers

Build a healthy email list without burning your domain.

Read Article
Technical
Hard Bounce vs. Soft Bounce—Why It Matters

Learn the key differences and how they affect deliverability.

Read Article
Glossary
What Is Email Poisoning? (And How to Detect It)

Learn about malicious tactics that can harm your sender reputation.

Read Article

Ready to validate your emails?

Try Lero for free and validate up to 100 emails without any cost.