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 SpellCheck.net,
a free online spell checker.
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About
The Author: Michael Wong is the editor
of GoDefy.com - the world's first