Top 10 Email Design Best Practices

Top 10 Email Design Best Practices



Email Design Best Practices

Is your email good to land in your client's inbox? -Monks Monastery



The Anatomy of Heavenly Email Design



The world of email is not dead. In fact, more marketers are marking Email as an important marketing technique in to their calendars.



To create heavenly emails, is thus imperative. Below, we have outlined the elements that play an important role in creating spine chilling email designs, as well as the pitfalls that can affect the performance.



1. Brand Optimization:

A. From name: Include your brand name in the From Name

B. From Address: Use an identifiable From Address

C. To Field: To field of your email should be personalized to the recepient's name, not their email address.

D. Subject Line: Use an informative, short and recognizable subject line. Limit the words to 35 characters or less. Dont's use ALL CAPS or spammy words, though the most important factor for spam filter is domain reputation. However, subject lines plays a role when reputation is low.



Use UTF 8 special character symbols in subject line only if it is highly relevant.



2. Pre-header & Header:

A. Online Version: Include a link to an online version of your email.

B. Snippet Text: Few email clients like Gmail/Outlook/iPhone etc show snippet or preview text (usually limited to 100 characters or less) Here the text will be pulled out from the first few lines of email content. Use this valuable property to build on subject line.

C. Johnson Box: (Preview Pane top 400X300 Pixels)

- This is the most valuable area of your email which plays a major role in engaging your recepients.

- Put a line of text that describes the content or purpose that motivates the recepients.

- Try to keep header less than 150 pixel height to avoid pushing your main message and call to action below John Box.



Emailmonks Wednesday

Thank you for the order

Emailmons Payment Receipt thanks for your recent order. Your order details are...



JOHNSON BOX 150 px Sales and Support

123 456 7890

YOUR HEADLINE GOES HERE

C

400X300 px



3. Email Layout

A. Ideal email width - 500 to 650 pixels

B. Vertical layout over the Horizontal is preferable

C. Text and images should be used in a right proportion

D. Use a table of content if you have a lot to cover

E. If you have multiple products/categories to display, provide a navigation bar.

F. Use 4-5 panels of area for visual emphasis that offers specific eye path for key offerings.

G. Call-to-action should be clear and enticing

4. Visual Impact

A. Graphics & imagery should delineate the content sections well. Images speak louder than worlds.

B. Whenever an image is used, it's important to provide fall-back color and alt-text for the image.

C. Try to avoid background images layered with text. Many of the email clients (Outlook one of them)

don't support background images.

D. Make feature headers or product offers readily clickable.

5. Copy & Content

A. Use short sentences and paragraphs

B. Use design elements like spacing and dividing lines to distinguish the content sections from one another.

C. Use bold typeface and subheaders to make certain words stand out.

D. Use bullet points to showcase benefits.

E. Use web-safe standard fonts. For eg. Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Comic Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Tahoma, Times New Roman and Verdana. However, there are ways to setup non-standard fonts in an email by providing one of the web-safe fonts as fallback font.

F. Ideal font size for body copy is 14 pixels and title is minimum 22 pixels which provides a decent readability on mobile phones.

G. Double check your copy for spelling and grammar.

6. Footer

A. Include organization's complete contact details.

B. Don't hide the unsubscribe button.

C. Include links to main section of your website or key services/product categories if possible.

D. Make it easy for your audience to share your email by including social sharing links and/or 'Forward to a Friend' options. Encourage the viral effect.

E. Add a line about "Why your recipients are receiving this email?" to decrease chances of SPAM complains.

*Avoid

A. Rather than embedding videos into emails, use a still image linked to a landing page containing the video.

B. No Flash or Ajax functionalities

C. Avoid using GIF.

Worth Considering:

A. If the images you are using, turns off after landing into the client's inbox, your message will not be conveyed. Design your email keeping in mind that the message is conveyed without relying on the images to load.

B. When creating HTML emails, include a plain text version that is easy to read and structured for quick scanning.



Mobile email design checklist:



"90% of smart phone owners access the same email account on mobile and desktop.



A. Email width: Stay under 600 pixels for Android. Litmus suggests 320 to 550 pixels.

B. Create Tappable calls to action: Your creative calls-to-action need to be eye-catching, in center and tappable, with a minimum size of 44 x 44 pixels.

C. Layout: While newsletters are typically designed in two or three columns, mobile optimized email should be designed in a single column template.

D. Finger Targets: Increase font size, line spacing, button sizes and white spaces to make it easy to touch and go for the touch screen mobiles.

E. Visibility of call to action and links: As mobile devices don't support hover states, make sure your links, buttons etc are clearly visible as clickable objects.

F. Coding Methods: Choose Responsible or Scalable email coding standards while developing your email that uses rich media queries to shape your email based on the screen resolution. Email Design Best Practices Is your email good to land in your client's inbox? - Monks' Monastery The Anatomy of Heavenly Email Design The world of Email isn't dead. Infact, more marketers are marking Email as an important marketing technique in to their calendars. To create heavenly emails, is thus imperative. Below, we have outlined the elements that play an important role in creating spine chilling email designs, as well as the pitfalls that can affect the performance. 1 Brand Optimization « Back to Inbox Report Spam Delete < Newer 2 of 2594 Older> A. From Name: Include your brand name in the From Name. Email Newsletter Design & Coding Service Inbox B. From Adress: A Email Monks B Use an identifiable From Address. To: Ravi Pathak C. To Field: This message contains Show Images Options To field of your email should be personalized to the recipient's name, not their email address. D. Subject Line: Use an informative, short and recognizable Report Spam Delete ( Newer 1-50 of 2594 Older > O Email Monks Monks V Email Design Coding - Email Design Best Practices Infograph subject line. Limit the words to 35 characters or less. Dont's use ALL CAPS or spammy words, though the most important factor for spam filter is domain reputation. However, subject lines plays a role when reputation is low. Use UTF 8 special character symbols in subject Line only if it is highly relevant. 2 Pre-header & Header A. Online Version: Include a link to an online version of your email. B. Snippet Text: Few email clients like Gmail/Outlook/iPhone etc show snippet or preview text (usually limited to 100 characters or less) Here, the text will be pulled out from the first few lines of email content. Use this valuable property to build on subject line. t. AIRTEL 3G 5:56 PM O> 25% D Emailmonks Edit Emailmonks Thank you for the order EmailMonks Payment Receipt Thanks for your recent order. Your order details are.. Wednesday Emailmonks Alo Dedor Wednesday C. Johnson Box: (Preview Pane top 400X300 Pixels) A Can't see this email ? View it online Sales and Support • This is the most valuable area of your email which plays a major role in engaging your recipients. JOHNSON BOX 150px 123 456 7890 • Put a line of text that describes the YOUR HEADLINE GOES HERE content or purpose that motivates the recipients. • Try to keep header less than 150 pixel height to avoid pushing your main message and call to action below 400X300 px Johnson Box. 3 Email Layout 4 Visual Impact A. Ideal email width - 500 to 650 pixels. A. Graphics & Imagery should delineate the content sections well. Images speak louder than words. B. Vertical layout over the Horizontal is preferable. C. Text and images should be used in a right proportion. B. Whenever an image is used, it's important to provide fallback color and alt-text for the image. D. Use a table of content if you have a lot to cover. E. If you have multiple products/categories to display, provide a navigation bar. C. Try to avoid background images layered with text. Many of the email clients (Outlook, one of them) don't support background images. F. Use 4-5 panels of area for visual emphasis that offers specific eye path for key offerings. D. Make feature headers or product offers readily clickable. G. Calls-to-action should be clear & enticing. 5 Copy & Content A Logohere A. Use short sentences and paragraphs. B. Use design elements like spacing and dividing lines to distinguish the content sections from one another. C. Use bold typeface and subheaders to make certain words stand out. Email Marketing for your business D. Use bullet points to showcase benefits. laenn o aon C a E. Use web-safe standard fonts. For Eg. Arial, Arial Subscribe Now Black, Arial Narrow, Comic Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Verdana. However there are ways to setup non-standard fonts in an email by providing one Clean & minimal email template en coecet on Cu amga of the web-safe fonts as fallback font. Subscribe Now F. Ideal font size for body copy is 14 pixels and title is minimum 22 pixels which provides a decent readability on mobile phones. Expand your promotion today! Lom p ktatec donng Nun not pa n narstac gr. G. Double check your copy for spellings and grammar. Pt tananomai poa • Praesent iaculis elit quis diam commodo porta 6 Footer A. Include Organization's complete contact details. Spread the tell a friend B. Don't hide the unsubscribe button. C. Include links to main section of your website or key services/product categories if possible. in 8* D. Make it easy for your audience to share your email by including social sharing links and/or 'Forward to a Friend' options. Encourage the viral affect. E. Add a line about 'Why your recipients are receiving www.websit.com Why receiving this email? Our Services: infogwebsite.com Because you signed up to our Service 2 +1 708 300 0006 mailing list. Service 3 Address: C-106, 9th Sgare Old Block - NJK Not interestend anymore? unsubscribe frome our list this email?' to decrease chances of SPAM complains. * Avoid * Worth considering Ensil Morhe Emal Moni Neque porro quisquam dolorem ipsum Email Menka Valenines offern Email Manka Valentines Ofter This Valantina's Day cet more lowe t 25 less Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectet elit. Fusce venenatis tincidunt ibero ve Vestibulum ac adipiscing leo. Mauns o orci a neque dignissim nec. pet more leve t 25% lesa. Email Monka prowides Flot 25% otf to those Email Morka provides Flet 25 off to these who wish to spreed Love. who wish to spreed Love Read More he he dt Oe Image on Image off with alt text A. Rather than embedding videos into emails, use a still image linked to a landing page containing the video. A. If the images you are using, turns off after landing in to the client's inbox your message will not be conveyed. Design your email keeping in mind that the message is conveyed without relying on images to load. B. No Flash or Ajax functionalities. C. Avoid using GIF. B. When creating HTML emails, include a plain text version that is easy to read and structured for quick scanning. Mobile Email Design Checklist "90% of smartphone owners access the same email account "Stats say 42% of emails are now opened on a mobile device." on mobile and desktop. Exact Target O Logo Here Litmus "Email Analytics" (lan 2013) "The 2012 channel reference survey (2012) We meet agian, Company Name. D. Finger Targets: Increase font size, line spacing, button sizes and white spaces to make it easy to touch and go for the touch screen mobiles. A. Email Width: Stay under 600 pixels for Android. 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Nuta taciisi To experience the difference between Responsive, Scalable & Fixed email layouts visit www.emailmonks.com/explore.html or scan the QR code from your mobile. Email Design Download the printable version of Email Design Checklist at www.emailmonks.com/checklist.pdf Checklist Brand Optimization O gand Name is included in O From Ades is identifuble * +1 213 674 MONK f facebook.com/emailmonks Email Monks e twitter.com/emailmonks X [email protected] S emailmonks O pinterest.com/emailmonks www.emailmonks.com