highlighting topics with uppercase or bold text
in HTML newsletters
2. Insert Line Breaks
Improve the readability of your newsletter by
formatting it with hard line breaks at 60/65/70 characters per line.
You can use a text editor, such as TextPad,
and set it to insert hard carriage returns at the end of each
65-character line.
3. Include Newsletter Title In The
Subject Field
Include your newsletter title at the beginning
of the subject field. This will help the reader differentiate your
newsletter from junk emails. It will also allow them to filter your
newsletter into a separate folder with the use of filters.
4. Make Your Subject Field Sell!
Advertise the most enticing story of each issue
in the subject field. You literally have seconds to grab the readers
attention, so make it count.
5. Include A Table Of Content
Include a table of contents at the top of the
newsletter. This will allow readers to scan the topics to see if
anything in the newsletter catches their interest.
6. Fix Long Links
Long hyperlinks may be broken when you format
emails using hard line breaks at 60/65/70 characters per line.
To fix this problem, deselect word wrap after
you have inserted the carriage returns. Then manually edit the links
to ensure they are on one line. When the email is sent, a link may
still wrap onto two lines. But now it will be clickable.
7. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag The
"Unsubscribe" Word
Do not use the word "unsubscribe" in
your removal notice. A number of spam filters flag emails containing
that particular word as possible spam. The reason is many spammers now
offer "unsubscribe" functions that don't actually do
anything.
8. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag Chain
Letters
Some spam filters are flagging emails that asks
readers to forward the newsletter on as chain letters.
Avoid using the word "forward" and any
of the following words in the same sentence, "all, anyone, every,
friends, many, others, people." Instead of "forward,"
try using "pass," "share," or "send."
9. Reduce Remove Request Emails
There are two methods to reducing the number of
remove email requests from your subscribers:
- Include a removal notice at the top and
bottom of the email.
- Place the bottom removal request at the very
bottom of the email, rather than a few paragraphs from the bottom.
10. Design User-Friendly HTML
Newsletters
Most people use an 800x600 screen resolution,
but the email preview pane is usually much smaller than the full
screen. So format your HTML table widths at 500-600 pixels at the
most. Better still, use a relative (percentage) width table, which
will allow your newsletter to be resized when viewed in different
sized windows.
11. Create AOL Friendly HTML Newsletters
AOL try to protect their users by eliminating
potential security hazards. As such, AOL email clients do not support
the following HTML objects:
- ActiveX
- Audio
- External Style Sheets
- Frames and IFrames
- Java
- Meta Refresh
- Scripts: JavaScript, Perl, VBScript, etc.
- Tooltips
- Video
In addition, the following HTML tags are the
only ones supported by AOL email clients:
- Big: Big
- Body: Body
- Bold: B
- Break: BR
- Center: Center
- Font: Font
- Header: H1, H2, H3
- Hyperlink: A
- Italics: I
- Paragraph: P
- Small: Small
- Strong: Strong
- Subscript: Sub
- Underline: U
12. Include AOL Clickable Links
AOL users can't click standard hyperlinks or
email links. For links to work in AOL email clients, you must format
them using HTML. This is why you sometimes see both standard and HTML
formatted links.
For example:
http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com
<a href="http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com">AOL
Link</a>
<a href="http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com">AOL
Users Click Here</a>
joe@anysite.com
<a href="mailto:joe@anysite.com">joe@anysite.com</a>
13. Spell Check Your Writing
Last but not least, always spell check your
newsletter. Text editors, such as TextPad,
include a spell check function.
If yours doesn't, then copy and paste the text
into Microsoft Word (assuming you have it). Make sure you have the
"Check spelling as you type" option switched on.
To set this, select "Options" under
the "Tools" in the top menu bar. Then select the
"Spelling & Grammar" tab. Under "Spelling"
check the "Check spelling as you type" check box and click
"OK." Word will underline all of the words that contain
spelling errors.
Alternatively, check your spelling using SpellOnLine,
a free online spell checker. It offers an English, French, Italian,
Portugese and Spanish dictionary. You can even use it to spell check
web pages.
