Have you ever wondered why you need an email verification service API? Is it really necessary to check the authenticity of a mailing address? Do you actually need to use such an API and incorporate this into your software?
To answer the above questions, consider this. An email is one of the best means of reaching out to your clients and informing them about product updates, new products, special offers, and much more. Ensuring that all email addresses on a mailing list are authentic leads to establishing a list of genuine customers. Hence, an important aspect essential for the success of marketing and sales strategies of any business is its email verification process. In this context, an automated way of verifying an email address is of utmost importance, and this is where an email service API comes into play.
The important task of email verification can be carried out using the apilayer’s mailboxlayer APIs. The mailboxlayer API has a wide variety of functions and options to help you with the email verification process. Continue reading to discover how you can use the mailboxlayer APIs.
How Do I Get The Access Key For Email Service API?
You can start using mailboxlayer APIs by first getting an access key. An access key is like a password that enables each user to access the services provided by the mailboxlayer APIs. If you are not already a mailboxlayer subscriber, then you can subscribe to a free plan.
All mailboxlayer plans are very reasonable. The free plan allows 20 requests per day and 100 requests per month.
What Is The Most Basic Email Verification Service API Request?
The email verification API of mailboxlayer is a simple and easy-to-use REST-based JSON API. The most basic email API request has the following format:
https://apilayer.net/api/check
? access_key = YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
& email = support@apilayer.com
As you can see, you only need to provide parameter values for access_key and email.
What Does The Response Object Of Email Verification Service API Look Like?
Once you call the email service API, you get the following response object in the universal and lightweight JSON object:
{
“email”: “support@apilayer.com”,
“did_you_mean”: “”,
“user”: “support”,
“domain”: “apilayer.net”,
“format_valid”: true,
“mx_found”: true,
“smtp_check”: true,
“catch_all”: false,
“role”: true,
“disposable”: false,
“free”: false,
“score”: 0.8
}
The response object returns quite a bit of information on the requested email address. Using this information, you can easily verify the requested address.
‘did_you_mean’
Suppose you specify an email address that has a potential typo or error. In that case, the key did_you_mean has a corresponding value that contains suggestions for the correct format. This is a very useful feature that you can use to correct the format or syntax of email addresses. For example, if you give the following request:
https://apilayer.net/api/check
? access_key = YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
& email = apilayer@gnail.com
The above request contains a typo in the domain name. The response object will return a suggested correct value, that is, `apilayer@gmail.com` in the did_you_mean key.
‘format_valid’
The format_valid key can have two possible values. It is set to true if the email address has the correct format. However, if the general syntax or format is incorrect then its value is false.
‘mx_found’
The mailboxlayer API follows a process of real-time verification of an email address. It automatically detects whether the domain has the right configuration to receive emails or not. This API checks the mail exchange (MX) record of the given domain. If this record exists, then the value of this key is set to true. Otherwise, it is set to false.
‘role’
The role key indicates whether the email address belongs to an individual or company. A role email is more of a company address and refers to a group of people serving a special purpose. For example, role can be ‘support’, ‘help’, ‘info’, and more. Hence, the role key is set to true if the email address is directed towards a special function or purpose. Otherwise, it is set to false.
‘free’
The free key contains a value true if the address is a free email address; otherwise, it returns false. For example, all email addresses with domain names gmail.com, yahoo.com, and the like are free email addresses.
‘catch_all’
Many email servers’ settings allow them to receive all incoming mail traffic, regardless of the local part of the email address. The catch_all key is set to true if this is the case; otherwise, it is set to false. By default, the mailboxlayer API does not detect this feature as it affects the response time of the API. However, you can turn on this feature by specifying catch_all=1 in the request URL.
‘disposal’
The response object contains adisposalkey that istrueif the request object’s email address is a disposal email provider. Otherwise, it is set tofalse. It is very important to omit disposable email addresses from your mailing list.
A disposable email service allows users to create a temporary email address that expires after a set period. Hence, the inbox of such addresses is visible to the public. Therefore, emails should not be sent to these addresses. You can easily use mailboxlayer APIs to filter out such addresses by placing a check on the disposal key’s value.
Does The Email Verification Service API Return A Quality Score?
Indeed yes. The mailboxlayer API returns an overall quality score to assess the quality of the requested email address. This score has a value that lies between zero and one. A zero means poor quality, and a one indicates good quality.
Is There A Way To Check Multiple Email Addresses Simultaneously?
Again yes! You can go ahead and perform bulk email address checks. In the API request, simply append comma-separated multiple email addresses, and you are good to go. If you are a professional member, you can verify up to 25 email addresses.
Also, if you subscribe to our enterprise plan, you can check a staggering 100 email addresses in one API request. You can also make good use of email append services like TheDataGroup to ensure you’re constantly reaching as many customers via email as possible.
How Do I Sign Up For mailboxlayer?
Signing up for mailboxlayer is easy. You can choose from a variety of plans and options ranging from the free to the platinum plan. With a diverse set of options for real-time verification including syntax checking, role identification, free provider checks, SMTP checks and much more, you certainly cannot go wrong!
So what are you waiting for? Join the apilayer family and sign up for free to start building automated email verification-based applications today.
