In the modern world of technology and marketing, there are several ways of conducting your communications and executing strong messages. People around the world use different types of email systems and other ways of online communication to interact with others globally. Using these systems means we adapt to the technology and their programming structures without really having much knowledge of it.
For some, it is also not relevant to go through the complex understanding of these systems, because all they have to do is simply use the front end of the system, execute whatever they have to complete and then log out. These people are your general mass audience who just believe in using the platform for emails and communication and not really interested in how these platforms were designed or work.
For many others, it is important to know the basic difference in communication platforms and how can it be improved or enhanced over time. For example, the use of HTML emails against the simple text emails and understanding the primary difference of both including the ways of enhancing them is something that will set people interested in catching the eyes of consumers apart.
These people are usually your marketers, people who want to increase the traffic on their website or have a strong consumer base in email subscriptions. They have to go through each and every important step from back end to front end in order to understand the marked differences and ways of enhancement in different languages or systems.
Today’s article is all about the HTML emails, it includes detailed analysis divided into different sections as to what helps users to not only improve the user experience of HTML based messages, but also how to improve and work upon HTML emails in order to enhance the delivery of the message. The do’s and the don’ts of HTML will also be discussed as a part of this article.
Tips To Create Awesome HTML Emails
Keep It Simple
HTML emails may look fancy in your inbox however it has many limitations on different clients and tools. Stick to the very basic features of HTML to keep it compatible with most clients.
HTML is one of the easiest markup language to learn. You can pick a good HTML book and learn the basics quickly.
Test Your Emails
As a programmer, I like test driven development. Testing your email before sending it very important. Most email clients may show your HTML formatted emails in a different format. Without testing you will not have any clue of how it looks on your receivers inbox. Below are some important test coverage areas.
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Setting Up Multiple Domains For Testing
Setup multiple test account with different popular email providers and test on web based client on PC and Mac.
When you first put your step towards working on HTML emails and pages, it is important to know what is on offer. Today, the email communication is done through various different platforms which include the likes of Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and AOL email.
The extension of Hotmail and Gmail platforms is also Live, America Online and Microsoft Outlook emails. So this means basically you have a lot to play with when it comes to using email platforms. Before you begin enhancing your emails, it is a must that you have a complete understanding of how each platform’s design and message delivery works with HTML. There might not be significant functional differences, but overall you should know each and everything that has to do with your message delivery.
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Test On Multiple Browsers
There are dozens of browsers and many different versions of each browser available on the web. Try to use Chrome, Firefox and Safari to cover most of the popular browsers.
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Test on iPad and Tablets
iPad and tablets make a big share of internet access. Most users have started accessing emails on iPad and tablets using native apps. This is important platform to check your email look and feel.
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Test on Mobile Native Apps
Almost all email providers have a native app on each mobile platform. Test your email and see how they look inside these client. These clients are mostly not respecting any of your special formatting.
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Test on Mobile Browsers
Its not very common however some people may also access the email on mobile device browsers. Access popular email clients on mobile browser and observe how your email looks.
Use Email Templates
Since testing emails is a cumbersome task. You may want to stick to performed email templates. You can pick some well tested email templates from marketplace like themeforest.
If you do not like pre-built templates, you can get really unique and beautiful looking email template design on top freelance websites for a very low cost. Once the email design is created you can get it converted to HTML format using a PSD to HTML service.
Design Your Emails Gracefully
It is important to understand what your users act like and behave on emails. Like it is important to know that most users have images disabled by default on their email systems. This means that your HTML email, if designed through the use of a strong background and a picture which is giving out an important message, is going to go as blank since the images are disabled. Here you not only lose the effectiveness of your email message, but potentially a user because they will think you have sent something consisting of malware.
Most users are not aware of the fact that their picture display is disabled. Similarly, using techniques like providing a link for the message to be seen on external window also increases your conversion rates. Allowing your users to clearly read the message without mixing up with the background is also important.
Use Tables And Formatting
HTML can look really weird and out of sorts if your tables and formatting are not aligned. First of all, it is important that you should know which text and information requires you to design tables and which font or text requires you to align formatting. Tables and layouts will provide you an attractive, readable and understandable way of presenting different information, usually numbers and comparisons.
For example, if you are sending out different list of packages compared to the prices, then you can insert a three column table to clearly differentiate. Similarly, if you are using a list of services you are offering then probably you can send a formatted and aligned bullet points list in your email along with all other details.
Most modern day emails rely a lot on the use of different tables and formatting systems. It is not only eye catching and easily readable, but also very clear and crisp, and also gives out the right information without wasting time.
Use Styles, Especially In Hotmail Emails
In order to have attractive designs and messages, using inline styles is important, especially if you are on Hotmail email platforms. These styles allow you to not only deliver strong messages through programming quickly and efficiently, but also provide a good layout and design display. If some user is reading that message, it is clear to him and also very readable.
Styles allow you to keep everything in check and sorted with enough breaks and codes in between for a perfect execution on the front end. Do not over stretch your tables and use wrap text formatting to perfectly align your tables with texts and so on.
Use Gmail’s Formatting To Your Advantage
If you are using Gmail, which evidently is one of the most widely used network for emails then you are at an advantage. Gmail allows its users to use the already default formatting system it has for all HTML emails. This keeps a programmer and an email designer to an advantage.
The formatting system of Gmail is obviously going to be something which is perfectly compatible with the email systems and so you would not have to tinker with it so much, rather than designing your own formatting system.
You might also be able to take advantage of using fonts and image positioning according to Gmail’s already default formatting system. As a programmer, you must know all these to use and improvise on the systems and tasks you are working on.
Keep Everything Within 600px Wide
Sometimes, forcing your users or readers of the HTML emails to continually scroll from one side to another, is a lot of irritation and the death of your subscriber. This means that you have to devise a strategy which fits everything on the front and this is why we recommend you keep everything to 600px wide and nothing more or nothing less.
Keep A Strict Call To Action
A vague email asking your users to do nothing or offering nothing is simply not on. Once you have them read your email, this is the chance to strike, so keep your focus on the strong and strict call to action messages and conversion links.
Start With A Story
Do not quickly jump on to making a sale offer, start with a story which can attract a user to formally read the email you have sent. Strong messages with story lines have proven to be the best HTML email designs.
State Your Credentials
Most people try to target users anonymously because of their low confidence on email marketing.However, this is the worst thing you can do as no one is going to read your email unless you mention strong credentials, so make it clear as to who is sending the message and why.
Images On The Left And Text On The Right
Always develop a landscape which promotes smooth reading without distractions. You can use the recommended format of images on the left while keeping all your text on the right side.
Do Not Waste Time
Do not add lines and lines to an email, keep your message strict, short and with a good call to action otherwise you will start to lose your users.
Do Not Use High-resolution Images Or Heavier Text
The quick to quick responsive HTML emails is to ensure that the loading time is fast.If your email has high resolution images and heavy text which can affect the loading time, then you are at a risk.
Author Bio
Jenny Gunn is the author of this blog post. Jenny is a specialist email marketer who also has a strong understanding of programming languages. Jenny fondness for online communities and programming brings him to post guest posts articles on the website Assignment writing help service UK (AssignmentDone). Contact here at Twitter | Google+.