HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It contains markup tags used to describe, classify, and structure elements in an email/webpage. Browsers will read the coding and will render what we see.
Make sure you optimize HTML. This way you are ensuring that anyone can read your emails. Not following HTML best practices has the potential to make you look like a spammer to ISPs or subscribers.
To keep from being filtered or blocked:
- Verify that your message is well-formed and easy to read.
- Confirm that the codes in all emails do not have any missing or open tags.
- Stay away from using a full URL link in the body of your emails.
- Avoid using URL shorteners. If necessary, make a redirectlink under your own domain.
- Avoid using comments in email headers. Bad grammar, certain words, and phrases can trigger spam filters.
HTML optimization Guidelines:
- Custom alt text on images.
- Most web browsers are able to display GIF and JPEG images.
- Remember to include plain text versions of your emails.
- Use hyperlinks and confirm that all links do go a valid domain. If the link points to a domain with a poor reputation, then the email will share that reputation.
- Ads and affiliate links/images can cause issues because:
- Random strings of letters and numbers can trigger spam filters.
- The email shares its reputation with the domains in it.
When working with HTML, consider the different types of Cascading Style Sheets.
- CSS describes the presentation/visuals of an email, webpage, etc. This includes colors, layouts, and fonts.
- Enables the separation between content and presentation.
Additionally, image size should not exceed 30k and email size should be no larger than 100k. Gmail in particular will “clip” emails larger than 100k, potentially losing important information at the bottom of the email. Copying and pasting word-processing programs and websites may add extra formatting and should be avoided at all costs. Use a text editor instead of a word processor when coding emails from scratch. Always save your work as .txt (don’t save it as a .doc or .rtf).
