marketing, web development, graphic design blog

If you’re going to spend your time setting up permission based newsletters, then it’s worth making a few checks to ensure your emails are delivered correctly, with the message as intended. Here are a few pointers to get the best out of your internet marketing emails.

Clear Stylisation of Links
Blue underlined text is the preferred option for identifying your hyperlinks. However, if you can’t sacrifice the design then make sure all links are easy to pick out from the page.

Provide a Clear One-Click Unsubscribe Link in your HTML newsletter
When users unsubscribe make this process as easy as possible, preferably with one click via the email. Use bulk mail handling software to automate the subscribe/unsubscribe functions. Also take advantage of the double opt in methods and professional introductory, auto generated emails, which these systems can provide.

Encourage Readers to Forward to a Colleague or Friend
Readers don’t need a button or link to let them forward your email, however a little encouragement will never hurt.

Use a Strong Call to Action
Using a strong call to action will dramatically increase your click through rates. Do not use “click here”. Instead, use intriguing text or an unmistakable button to drive your main call to action.

Stay Around 600 Pixels Wide
A good majority of email clients will limit the width of an email. Because of these limitations the most optimal width falls within or close to 600 pixels wide.

Check Preview Panes
A lot of popular email clients, Microsoft Outlook specifically, provide a preview pane from which readers are able to see the beginning of an email. When designing your email make sure that the top of your mail is captivating enough to get readers to want to view the rest.

Make Sure Your Email is Legible with Images Disabled
It’s important to make sure that the message in your email can still be understood even if the images are disabled by the email client, such as outlook or hotmail.

Use Plain Text to Accompany HTML
If you decide to send your emails in HTML you need to make sure that you also attach a plain text version as well so that readers without HTML support are able to view your email.

Utilise CSS Carefully
Only use CSS to stylise the text and some of the minor elements of your email. When doing so, you are better off, if you decide to use CSS, with using as an inline style. Do not use CSS for the layout of an email as most email clients will not support a CSS layout.

Use Online Version for Support
Provide readers with an online version of the email for support in case their html version cannot be read by their email client.

ALWAYS Test Before Sending
Each email client will render your email a bit differently. Check as many email clients as possible before sending.