One of the most common misconceptions when designing an email newsletter: a HTML email is just a web page inside an email.

Adopting this view is incorrect. This viewpoint will often lead to an unsuccessful campaign that will never achieve the expected results.

HTML web page Vs HTML Email – Coding

From a coding point of view, a HTML based email is far apart from a web page. We often see a skilled web designer designing a campaign which looks stunning inside a web browser, but looks awful inside an email reader.

Different coding techniques are required when designing your HTML newsletter e.g. do not attach external style sheets, do not use javascript.

In addition to this, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided that the latest version of Outlook should use the Microsoft Word rendering engine for reading HTML. So your HTML newsletter code will be read differently in Outlook compared to IE.  – Microsoft, always adopting the logical approach!

HTML web page Vs HTML Email – Design

A successful website and a successful email newsletter will be far apart design wise.

Successful websites often feature  – logo and navigation at the top of the screen. These are normally images. While with a email newsletter, the top 3rd of the screen will often load in the preview pain of Outlook  – so this is where you should display the hook of your campaign, tempt the recipient to open and read your email in full, simply displaying your logo is not a very good hook.

In addition to this. Most email readers are designed to work at 700px wide. While a website layout can be much wider. Letting your web designer code a email newsletter using a web page approach will not work.

When designing your next email newsletter, remember this – it is not a web page inside an email. A successful email campaign will require a different skill set. The most successful campaigns feature simple and clear layouts – impressive large images and layouts never transfer well from a web page to an email.