How your eNewsletter is designed from the size of template to the images and content you use can make the difference between a successful or failed eNewsletter. Below are some quick and simple tips that can help you make successful eNewsletters.
- Less Is More.
Try not to clutter your eNewsletter with content. Use images when you can, use graphs, and make your content short with a “read more” link. - Background Images And Background Colors.
Some email clients will not display background images so be prepared and make sure you have a background color just in case. The last thing you need is to have white text on a dark image with no background color. The only thing that reader will be reading is a blank email unless they highlight the text. - Using Images.
The use of images is great but try not to make your entire newsletter pieces of images. Use images when you can, for example, pick out an image to add to your story. Adding images to your stories sometimes captures the reader more often and makes your eNewsletter less boring. - Use ALT Tags.
If you’re going to use photos in your stories make sure you always use an ALT tag. As I mentioned earlier, some email clients won’t display images so be prepared to have content in the ALT tag. ALT tags are especially useful when you have a button. If you don’t have an ALT tag in your button and the user opening that email can’t display images they won’t know where to click so make sure you use those tags. - Selecting The Proper Width For Your Template.
A good rule of thumb that I’ve always learned is not to make your template width more than 600px. The email window is not that big unless you have a huge monitor but remember more and more people are using tablets and phones to read their emails. Therefore, going big will only have your user scrolling around too much and eventually closing that email immediately. I have read some articles in the past that you can go up to 650px but I think you can never go wrong with 600px or less. - Most Importantly Test, Test And Test.
It is very important to test your eNewsletter against different email clients. You will be surprised how each email client will receive an eNewsletter. Most common email clients I’ve seen used are Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and Hotmail.
Hopefully some of these tips help you with your next eNewsletter design. Feel free to share this article with anyone who could use it.
