HTML emails are a widely accepted marketing tool and require innovation and creativity as far as designing, appearance and functionality are concerned. The prime motive they serve is to communicate with existing as well new consumers and turn them into a proactive consumer. While Email marketing proves to be a great source to reach out prospects, you must know how to do it right in order to be effective. Well, this blog covers a few basic points that must be taken into consideration while designing an HTML email worth user engagement and conversion.
 Using Tables
 In order to deliver error-free design, it is quite important to make fine use of tables. The only reason of implementing tables is the enhanced clarity and readability they offer to the readers. There are several email clients that do not support CSS layouts, however, semantic table-based design offers a clear and decent appearance, no matter what device it is being viewed on. When using a table-based design, developers should ensure setting all the attributes where possible. This includes cell spacing, border, align, width and height.
 Use an action-oriented Call to Action (CTA) button
An appealing and action-oriented CTA can definitely serve its goal. Other than only relying on images, you should use buttons which are more HTML friendly. The use of image and text must be done in right proportion to serve the purpose of designing an impressive CTA. HTML developers need to ensure designing CTA’s that stand out, look clickable as well as powerful.
 Do not forget the Content
 Email newsletters act as the sole source of maintaining constant contact with consumers. Therefore, they aim at designing HTML newsletters that are enriched with unique content and information. In order to grab reader’s attention, it is important to use concise copy and clear descriptive headers along with quick loading attractive visuals.
When placing the content, avoid locating it near the template edges as doing so might make it look unprofessional. Additionally, it becomes difficult to read as well.
 Be a little cautious with Images
 The use of images in HTML email leads to several complications as there are clients who do not support background images whereas the others which might support but often turn them OFF by default. The USP of HTML emails is that they surpass the qualities of rich text already available in most email clients. Eliminating images can reduce the benefits. Instead of completely ignoring images, you need to ensure that your message looks fine without them. In order to make the text readable, you can use background colors.
 Use nested tables
Email clients are quite inconsistent when it comes to interpreting margins and padding. To come out with a solution, you can try nested tables.
 Test in all major Email clients
Testing might seem to be a tedious task but designers should definitely get into the practice of testing their newsletters on all popular email clients. Overall, there are about 30 popular email clients, each with their own standards and support for different commands. It is impossible to test every client however subscribing for services like Litmus will allow you to get a preview of your mails on varied email clients.
 Keeping things short and simple
It does not matter how lengthy your content is till the time people do not notice. They are not going to scan the content if they do not find it attractive or eye appealing. What best you can do is including large and engaging headlines with shorter section of content that provides a link to the web page or content.
Using bulleted lists can also help you with the same. The point here is to attract readers with small chunks of content that is valuable or creates a template that is short, to the point and drives clicks rather than providing information. In order to code HTML email templates so that it goes well with all major email clients, you should:
- Use HTML tables to control design layout
- Use Inline CSS to control other presentation elements
- CSS style declarations must appear below the body tag
Email width
Keep emails under the width of 600 pixels. There are many email clients that have a preview window with a limited size. Emails designed within 600 pixels are easily viewable in Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Preview panes and so on. This allows the email to display properly in most of the email clients and display configuration. The validation of email width and height ensures your email template maintains its structural integrity across clients. One needs to be extra cautious while specifying the dimensions because Email clients are not as benevolent as web browsers.
Always go for manual coding
HTML emails should be coded manually instead of using HTML editors like Microsoft Front page, Home Site and so on. It is recommended avoiding to use these editors because using them might put some additional code to your message source. When using HTML editor tool, you should make sure that you clean the code. While copying the text, it is always suggested that you copy paste from Notepad instead of Microsoft Word so as to get rid of Microsoft Office tags.
Avoid using background images
It is suggested not to use background images in HTML templates because there are several clients which do not display them. So retaining or abandoning them won’t make much difference.
Final Verdict
 Now that you have gain an insight on the principles of designing an attractive and effective email, it’s time to implement them into practice. While there is no universal standard to fall back on, following the above-mentioned tips will help ensure that HTML formatting does not hinders the effectiveness of your marketing message.
 Author-Bio:
Nola Arney is an expert web developer, working with HTMLPanda since last 3-4 years. She is an expert in PSD to email conversion of different domains. She is passionate and dedicated for writing about HTML email templates and loves sharing her knowledge with readers all over the globe.
