Email Newsletters Need Great Information
The GrokDotCom.com email newsletter looks like crap in my version of Microsoft Outlook, BUT I still love it because the content (the information) is incredibly valuable to me.
It’s stuffed with great information on subjects that I’m interested in: website design, usability, conversions, SEO and everything in between. In fact, if you have a website for your business, you need to be reading it. Sign up here.
What They Did Wrong
Every email designer knows that images in email newsletters are blocked most of the time. It doesn’t matter if you use Microsoft Outlook, Mac Mail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc…. Most of them will make you click a button or link to show all of the images.
Most email newsletter designers & programmers understand this idea and design accordingly. They’ll build the email so it looks great when the images are shown AND when the images are blocked – not “either or.”
Here’s what the email looks like when I receive it:
The newsletter is impossible to read and completely useless because the images are blocked. But we’re not done yet…
This email is only functional when the images are shown. That means the HTML code of the email is dependent on the images to be useful – Ouch.
Even worse – this problem is easily fixed with a few simple tweaks. For example, setting the height & width of all the images in the HTML code. That small change will still hold the spacing and form of the design even when the images are blocked.
Always Follow Your Own Advice
The GrokDotCom even wrote about this very issue a while back. They talked about an email from Apple and how awful it is with the images blocked. Doh!
I Still Love It
The information in the GrokDotCom.com email newsletter is outstanding. And that reason alone is enough for me to “deal” with the crappy looking email they send me. In fact, I look forward to this newsletter because I always learn something new when I read it.
The information is why I’ll continue to overlook the shortcomings of the design(er).
Make sure the information in your email newsletter is incredible, outstanding and amazing so your readers will ignore the awful design.
No related posts.
