E-Newsletters vs. Online Newsletters

A question I get frequently...."Is there a difference between an online newsletter and an E-Newsletter?". The answer is...probably....it all depends on how you are delivering it. If you are creating a newsletter page on your web site and expect that your visitors will use a typical web browser to view it, then your "online newsletter" is no different than any other web page. If you want to deliver your newsletter in an email and you want to use graphics, links and photos, then you will need to create an HTML-based email newsletter (E-news).

Most of you have probably seen in the email newsletters that you subscribe to, a line/link that says "Having trouble viewing this email?". If you click that link it opens a web browser (like Internet Explorer or Firefox) and brings you to an online version of that email.  The reason that just about every online marketer offers this line is because the delivery and proper display of HTML-based emails is sketchy at best. Each email program has a different level of support for HTML and CSS. Its like that old days during the browser wars where Internet Explorer and Netscape displayed at the same web page very differently.

The next question on this topic is typically...."Well can't I just take my online newsletter and copy/paste it into an email?" The answer is a resounding NO! Most email programs like Outlook, Outlook Express, Groupwise, Thunderbird and Eudora have very poor, or no support for, CSS. So if your web designer used CSS to create your online newsletter, chances are it will NOT display well when viewed in an email program. 

What about webmail programs like GMAIL, AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail? 

While technically these email providers are displaying emails in a web browser there are still some problems with getting them all to display your E-newsletter in a uniform way. 

So what's the answer?

Forget everything you have learned about styles, stylesheets and CSS when it comes to HTML-based emails. Instead we need to go back to the old days of using table-based layouts and deprecated HTML tags like and "font" and "center".

Here are some general guidelines for creating your HTML-based E-Newsletter:

1. Use tables for layout rather than CSS.

2. You can use CSS for presentational purposes, but use inline styles.

3. Avoid Javascript

4. Be sure to code all links and images with the full address including the http://.

5. Store images in a separate folder on your web server and be sure not to delete them. People tend to save emails for a long time.

6. It's better to use fewer, larger images than several smaller sliced ones. Some email programs will split sliced graphics.

7. Test! Be sure to test your email in as many different email programs and webmail programs as you can.

Once you get a layout that works well you should save it as a template for later use.

Getting the word out or marketing via email great, but if your email doesn't display well, you have wasted your time.