Improving Email Deliverability with AWS SES and Verified Opt-in Forms

Email is one of the most powerful channels for reaching customers — but only if your messages actually land in their inbox. If you’re considering using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) to send transactional or marketing emails, it’s critical to follow best practices to ensure high deliverability, comply with email regulations, and protect your sender reputation.

In this article, we’ll look at why it’s so important to send emails only to verified addresses when using AWS SES, and then explore how services like AidaForm form builder can help you set up a simple opt-in process for the emails you collect.

Why use AWS SES to send emails and newsletters

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a cloud-based platform for sending bulk and transactional emails. It’s designed for scalability and cost-efficiency, and it integrates with other AWS tools to give you detailed metrics on delivery, bounces, and complaints.

While SES makes it technically easy to send large volumes of messages, it places responsibility on senders to maintain clean, permission-based mailing lists. Your sending reputation determines whether inbox providers like Gmail or Outlook will trust your messages. That’s why using only verified, opt-in email addresses is essential.

Why you should only send to verified email addresses

Sending email to people who never asked for it — or to addresses that don’t exist — creates real problems. Here’s why verified emails matter:

• Lower bounce rates: Invalid addresses cause hard bounces. Too many bounces hurt your reputation and can cause SES or inbox providers to throttle or block your mail.

• Fewer spam complaints: If recipients never consented, they may mark your messages as spam. SES monitors complaint rates closely, and high levels can even get accounts suspended.

• Avoid spam traps: Old or mistyped addresses can lead to “spam traps” that damage your deliverability.

• Better engagement: Verified subscribers open and click more often. High engagement signals to inbox providers that your emails are wanted.

• AWS best practices: Amazon itself recommends confirmed opt-in (also known as double opt-in) as the safest way to maintain a healthy email list.

• Legal compliance: Email regulations such as GDPR in Europe, CAN-SPAM in the U.S., and CASL in Canada require clear, provable consent before sending marketing emails. Using opt-in forms with explicit consent checkboxes — and ideally double opt-in — helps you stay compliant and avoid costly penalties.
  

What does a verified email address mean?

A verified (or confirmed) email address means the person has explicitly shown that they own the address and agree to receive your emails. This typically happens through an opt-in form with a consent checkbox combined with a double opt-in process:

1. The person enters their email address in a form and agrees by checking a consent box.

2. They receive a confirmation email.

3. They must click a unique link in that email to confirm their consent.

4. Only after confirmation is the address added to your active mailing list.
   

This process not only improves deliverability but also provides a clear audit trail of consent, which is important for legal compliance.

Example: verifying emails with Opt-in Forms

If you’re collecting email addresses through online forms, you need a way to confirm them before adding them to your SES mailing list. AidaForm, an easy-to-use online form builder, provides a straightforward way to implement this.

Here’s how it can work in practice:

• Collect addresses through opt-in forms — registration forms, order forms, quizzes, or surveys built in AidaForm can include an email field and a consent checkbox.

• Send an automatic reply — after a user submits their email, AidaForm can automatically send them a confirmation message.

• Include a verification link — that message contains a link to a follow-up form or page, where the user confirms their consent again.

• Add only confirmed emails to your mailing list — once the user has completed the second step, you can safely mark their address as verified and include it in your SES campaigns.
  

This simple flow ensures that every address in your database is both real and backed by explicit consent.

Read More: How SMTP and Email Ad Server Platforms Boost Email Deliverability for Marketers

Summary

Maintaining a clean and verified email list is not just a technical detail — it’s the foundation of successful email communication. When using AWS SES, sending only to confirmed addresses protects your reputation, improves deliverability, ensures regulatory compliance, and reduces the risk of account suspension.

Verified opt-in forms are the industry standard, and with services like AidaForm form builder, it’s easy to set up an automated process to collect, confirm, and manage verified addresses. By investing a little effort in verification upfront, you’ll save yourself many headaches and ensure your email campaigns consistently reach the inbox — while staying compliant with the law.