Other Cross Email Service Provider Design Issues

While it's nearly impossible to provide a comprehensive list of tricks for ideal display across multiple email service providers, especially because the rules frequently change, here are a few other key points to keep in mind.

Spacer Images: It's common to design a web page using spacer images, or clear gifs that are the dimensions required to create a desired buffer space between text blocks or areas of the webpage. Do not replicate this process in designing your html email template. Because in most email clients images do not load, you may be creating either a broken display or a display that appears to users as a high number of unloaded images.

Image Dimensions: Always assign height and width dimensions to your image. If the image doesn't load then at least your email format and layout will hold.

Use of Images in General: In general, remember that the vast majority of email clients don't load images; therefore it's in your best interest not to design around including them. In particular, don't use a background image!

Overwrites: In some cases, the best advice is to accept that some specific email service provider will overwrite your html and style commands with their own. This is particularly true in the case of links, which many email service providers automatically overwrite with a blue, underlined format. You may save yourself hours of headaches and grief if you simply accept that your email may not display using your exact desired methods in certain email clients and not take hours and days to battle for your specific branded design elements!

Training Your Design Team: Finally, if you are designing your own email template in-house, it's probably worth your time to train your design team on the limitations and best practices of designing an html email template versus a webpage. Otherwise, you may have frustrated designers who don't understand why they can't match your brand requirements in an email or who design non-optimized html email templates because they don't know the limitations. If you're using a pre-made email template by your email marketing or newsletter platform, it has likely been designed with all of these concerns in mind. However, an in-house design team may not include an expert on the ins-and-outs of creating an html email template.

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