A Beginner's Guide to Email Link Validation

The goal of a good email marketing campaign is to deliver information or drive action—ideally both. For this reason, a significant piece of your email marketing strategy might involve directing the reader elsewhere using external links.

This sounds simple enough, but it’s important to be careful when you’re incorporating links into your emails. Email link validation is critical, as faulty links can damage trust with your readership and even put your organization at risk for cyber threats.

What exactly is email link validation, and why is it so important for healthcare marketers? Read more below in our beginner’s guide to email link validation.

What is email link validation?

Link validation involves confirming the legitimacy and functionality of all the links in your marketing emails. In other words, if you’re linking to another website or page from your email, validating your links will ensure that your readers end up in the right place.

This means double-checking that the URL you use is correct and loads properly. It might also mean making sure readers can see a preview of the URL, ensuring that any redirects are working properly (and loading quickly), and testing that the link works on all devices.

This can be done manually or be automated with tools like the MMS NOWW Platform, which offers a full suite of email marketing services that optimize deliverability.

Why is email link validation important?

URL validation is key for several reasons, starting with email deliverability. Broken, faulty or suspicious links will be immediate red flags for spam filters, which could result in your message not making it to readers’ inboxes.

Furthermore, medical marketers put links in their emails for a reason. Maybe you’re directing readers to a signup page, your organization’s website, or a free download that will give them more information on an important topic. No matter what your goal is, you won’t be able to achieve it if your links aren’t working properly.

Finally, email link validation will help you maintain trust with your readers. You want your audience to see you as professional and reliable, so faulty links could damage your credibility and make your readers hesitant to click on the links in any emails you send in the future.

Links may seem like simple, easily included components of your email marketing strategy, but failing to verify them can have significant consequences.

HTTPS versus HTTP

When it comes to links, you’ve probably seen that URLs begin with either http:// or https://. While HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS may seem interchangeable, you’ll always want to use the latter in your marketing emails. Why?

Simply put, HTTPS is HTTP plus verification and encryption. This means HTTPS uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt HTTP requests, digitally “signing” those requests and their responses. The S in HTTPS literally stands for “secure”—which should make this easier to remember: HTTPS is more secure than HTTP.

Why is this important? If a website uses HTTP, requests and responses aren’t encrypted. They can be intercepted and read by anyone monitoring the session, which makes them much more vulnerable to scammers or other bad actors.

Use caution with URLs

It may seem obvious, but it’s critical to make sure all URLs are spelled correctly and free of typos. Not only will a misspelled link not take your readers where you want them to go, but it could put them in harm’s way.

Scammers will often buy URLs that are similar to other URLs or to those of popular websites in the hope that someone will be misdirected to their website instead of the real one. Even one wrong letter or digit could put your readers in danger of being scammed, which would severely damage their trust in you.

What to do if you send out a faulty link

Mistakes happen—it’s not the end of the world if you send out a faulty link. But you should do your due diligence to correct the error.

If your link was internal and directed readers to a 404 error (page not found) within your domain, you can remedy this with a simple redirect. Most major website hosts have a straightforward process by which you can link the faulty URL to the correct URL, automatically redirecting anyone who clicks the faulty link to the correct web address.

However, this only works if you’ve sent out a link to your own domain. If you’re linking to an external website or another online entity you don’t control, the best thing you can do is swiftly and professionally admit your mistake.

Send out a brief follow-up email alerting your readers that you sent out an incorrect link, and be sure to send them the correct link instead. If anything, this occasion should serve as a reminder to always double-check all URLs (and proofread your email in general) before you hit send.

Keep links simple, relevant and readable

Links can be a real asset, but only if you use them sparingly and wisely. Too many links can make an email feel spammy, so try never to use more than 10 in any one email.

When you do use links, it’s better for your brand image if they direct to your own domain (as opposed to some other website or resource).

Be wary of URL shorteners like bit.ly, as these will be flagged as spam by most filters. And last, remember to separate your URL from your text content when you send out a text version of your email—this will make it more accessible to users with older devices, disabilities or specific email settings.