An email newsletter can be a great way to connect with your readers, and to share posts with your audience they may have missed. It’s easy these days to get a simple “sign up to my newsletter” feature on your blog. You can see mine in the sidebar over there, and I’d love if you would sign up!
The problem with having a “sign up to newsletter” feature is that you need to ensure it can’t backfire. It can take time to build up a reasonable email list and it’s important that your growth is genuine and not artificially boosted by fake accounts. There is a risk that malicious parties could sign up to your newsletter using fake email addresses, or that people may incorrectly enter their email address by mistake. This is a problem because you can be penalised for having a database with too many false emails. Also if you are sending out emails to loads of dead addresses, your open and click rates will be depressingly low. Luckily there’s a simple way to avoid this. Just ensure your “sign up to newsletter” feature also has real-time e-mail verification, so that it will let know immediately whether each e-mail submitted is real.
If someone is hanging about your site and submitting false email addresses, it’s likely they could be up to no good elsewhere as well. When you’ve worked on a blog for a long time, it can be truly heartbreaking to be the subject of a hacker, malware or viruses. It’s important to install high-quality antivirus software to protect your content and prevent anyone from seizing control of your blog.
Both of these tips seem simple and perhaps even superfluous, but it’s worth remembering just how many evenings you’ve spent sitting up crafting the perfect blog post. If you want to maintain a good standing – and not to lose your content – it’s time to protect yourself!
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