Email Coding Best Practices

Learn Email Coding best practices.

Keep it Simple: keep you HTML simple and use basic HTML tags for coding. 


Formatting: if your HTML software uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for formatting, adjust the preferences to apply formatting using basic HTML tags only. If absolutely necessary, inline style sheets are an acceptable substitute for CSS. 


Mobile Friendly: make sure you optimize your code for mobile devices. 


Avoid Comments: avoid comments in the HTML code - these can potentially flag spam triggers. 


Plain HTML: create the HTML in an HTML editor in plain HTML. Do not use MS Word, MS Publisher of other graphic/desktop publishing software. These programs often carry code which is already in the document which can negatively impact the code in the email. 


Prevent Slow Download Times: heavily coded pages take longer to download, and Google often penalizes sites with slow download times. Additionally, users are impatient, so slow download times can negatively impact the user experience. 


Deliverability: avoid JavaScript, submission forms, layers or rich media (e.g., flash movies, animation). These cause deliverability issues affect the campaign response and hinder deliverability for future campaigns. They also do not render in many email ISPs. 


Size: keep the offer, CTAs and key information above the fold - 250px - 300px in height is recommended. 


Half-Page: design as a half-page rather than a full-page ad. Do not force the consumer to scroll. 


Campaign Metadata: spam filters want to know that you’re acquainted with the person receiving the email. We recommend using merge tags to personalize the ‘To’ field of your campaign, sending through verified domains and asking recipients to add you to their address books. 


Spam Filters: spam filters can be triggered by sloppy code, extra tags and/or code pulled in from Microsoft Word. We recommend using one our templates or working with a designer.