E-Mail Marketing

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How to Format E-Mail Newsletters, Part 2 Dr. Ralph F. Wilson Web Marketing Today - Jan 11, 2009

Building an attractive e-mail message is all about the details. In part 1 of this series we considered subject lines, the From: field, and whether to select HTML or text for your newsletter. We'll assume that you selected HTML. Now let's consider some more e-mail design guidelines.

4. Employ HTML Tables, Not Full CSS Layout

Old-school HTML uses tables to lay out the sections of a webpage, with FONT tags to indicate font sizes. New-school HTML relies heavily on Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control the layout, color, and fonts. Webpages typically have a link to a single online style sheet that controls the entire website. ... a little tricky to set up the first time, but when it's working, it's wonderful.

While all modern browsers support CSS fairly well, e-mail programs, on the other hand, are all over the map in terms of support. I use a <STYLE> tag at the top of my e-mails to control fonts, sizes, and colors, and it seems to work reasonable well. But CSS positioning is something else. I still use old fashioned HTML tables to block out the large spaces in my e-mails, and I recommend you do so also until e-mail programs get caught up with web browsers.

You can see how your e-mail will appear in different e-mail programs with the Campaign Monitor Testing Tool (www.campaignmonitor.com/testing/).

5. Design Page Layout Carefully

As you're laying out your newsletter, you need to keep several things in mind:

• Long lines of text are hard to read, especially if you have lines of text extending all the way across the width of your newsletter. Studies have found that the maximum length of a line of text should be about 50 to 55 characters. Shorter lines are okay, but longer lines than that will hurt readability. As a result, many newsletters restrict the width of a line of text by putting it within a fixed width table.
   
• Use 10 pt type or larger. Just because you have good eyes and a large monitor doesn't mean that your recipients do. Make sure your type size is at least 10 point for readability. 9 point is okay for copyright and legal boilerplate, however.
   
• Multiple columns have some advantages. Many designers use a two or three column layout. You see this on websites a lot. The text column (cell) is a fixed width, for example, <TD WIDTH="400">, while the other columns (cells) are variable width, for example, <TD WIDTH="25%">. The other option is to have a fixed width for each column, but then you force a people to open their e-mail window to your e-mail's full width to read your copy -- and many may not bother.
   
• Avoid important messages in your side columns. Webpages and e-mails are a linear medium. People read from top to bottom, scrolling as they go. Few people will scroll back up to the top to read a second column. Side columns can contain incidental information, display ads, or just show patterns or color.
  
  The exception is an e-mail displaying multiple products. They're often shown in a grid of 3 or 4 across and 6 or more down -- a small graphic, and a couple lines of text, the price, and a link to click to see more on the website. People typically scan them left to right and scroll down until they see all the products.
   
• Low contrast hurts readability. Pattern backgrounds look so cool! But they usually make reading more difficult. Always use a white or very light solid background for your text area, with black or very dark letters -- that makes for maximum readability. But by all means use color in your narrower columns at the side to add design flair.
   
• People don't always read with their e-mail window wide open. When I work, I seldom have a single window filling the entire screen. Some are larger, some smaller, placed strategically on my monitor. Therefore it's wise to make your e-mail format flexible, compressible if someone wants to have a narrower window. Instead of a banner-logo all the way across the top of your e-mail, extend it part way only and fill the cell it resides in with a suitable background color.

Every e-mail service provider offers a variety of free templates you can use. But you'll often find that their designs don't obey the guidelines above. Be careful.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson founded Web Marketing Today in 1995, helping to train a whole generation of Internet marketers. He is the author of more than two dozen books. All of his Internet marketing e-books are available for download with a $49.95 annual subscription to Web Marketing Today Premium, a $300 value.