Good HTML Email Newsletter Design

Summary: good newsletters, both HTML and plain text, explain themselves clearly and are focused, well-written information sources.

There are lots of newsletters on the internet: email newsletters are very common, and web page newsletters are gaining popularity. However, a lot of newsletters (particularly email newsletters) have serious problems:

• they're too long
• they're poorly organized
• they're hard to read

Remember, an online newsletter of any kind is most likely going to be viewed on a computer screen. That means poor quality, and little space. Users don't want to strain their eyes, nor their brains, so they need to be able to scan newsletters and pick up on the important stuff right away. I simply delete many of the newsletters I receive even if they would be valuable, because I can't get a good idea of what's in the newsletter right away.

The two basic newsletters: HTML and plain text

HTML newsletters are very common on the web, and increasingly are taking the place of plain text newsletters in email. They tend to have a few graphics, hyperlinks, and more complicated layouts than those of plain text newsletters.

Plain text newsletters don't have any links, nor any complex layout mechanisms. They rely on good writing and organization to be meaningful.

Bad things in HTML newsletters

I get a lot of very big HTML newsletters. They slow down my email program, and tend to have a lot of junk in them. Spammers, take note: if you want your spam to be even minimally valuable, pay attention to this article.

Here are some things to avoid in HTML newsletters:

• long articles
multicolumn layouts
• unrelated links
• gratuitous images
• Long articles

Newsletter authors will have to use their judgement when it comes to article length. Long articles, more than a few hundred words, are basically useless. They will push other content out of the visible display area, and are hard to scan.

Multicolumn layouts

Just as in web pages, multicolumn layouts are hard to folllow, and take a long time to render in some email programs. One column is sufficient: it's a newsletter, not a newspaper.

Unrelated links

Unrelated, or out-of-context, links have no place in HTML newsletters. I frequently receive email newsletters that have line after line of links, trying to expose me to everything under the sun. Users have no need for that: a newsletter is not an internet portal. Newsletter authors are better off inserting a context-sensitive link and gently guiding users to a website that incrementally exposes the reader to more and more relevant information.

Gratuitous images

Again, newsletter authors will have to use their judgement in deciding which images are useful and which aren't. A small logo might be fine, in addition to a relevant graph or pertinent photo. But only one or two images is fine. Images take a long time to load, especially in some email programs.

Good things in HTML newsletters

HTML newsletters are more effective than plain text newsletters, and than paper newsletters. The interactivity afforded by hypertext is invaluable and lets newsletter authors trim their works and make them scannable.

Here are some things to do in HTML newsletters:

• keep writing simple and to-the-point
• use links extensively
• use short human-generated summaries and tables of contents
• use bulleted lists
• use hierarchical elements
• Keep writing simple and to-the-point

This guideline is fairly straightforward, but it is important nonetheless. Like all online writing, newsletters should be simple and to-the-point. Consider how many emails or other snippets of text the user is likely to read in one day or one session, and remember that they are going to want substance, quickly. If filler seems necessary, then there probably isn't enough content to make a newsletter worthwhile. ... More .... >>