Introduction to Email Deliverability
Email deliverability refers to the rate at which email messages successfully arrive in recipients’ inboxes instead of getting filtered as spam or bouncing. Optimizing deliverability is crucial for email marketers, as low inbox placement rates directly impact open rates, clickthroughs, conversions, and revenue.
There are many factors that influence email deliverability, including the sender’s domain reputation, email authentication protocols like SPF and DKIM, the quality of the recipient list, the frequency of mailings, and most relevant to this article – the content of the email itself. Images, fonts, links, and other design elements can trigger spam filters or cause rendering issues if not properly optimized.
In this article, we’ll provide best practices and tips for selecting images, fonts and links in a way that maximizes deliverability and inbox placement. Following expert guidelines for compressing images, sticking to standard fonts, and vetting links can make the difference between email success and failure. We’ll cover specific techniques for optimizing in each area, as well as provide a handy checklist for reference. Read on to ensure your beautiful, engaging emails reach the inbox!
Optimizing Images for Deliverability
Including images in your email can enhance the content visually. However, improperly optimized images can harm your email deliverability.
Large, uncompressed image files greatly increase the size of your email. Overly large emails may get caught in spam filters or may fail to send at all. Ideally, your email’s total size should be under 100KB.
Follow these tips to optimize images for email:
- Resize images to be no wider than 600 pixels. This reduces file size while still displaying clearly on most devices.
- Use image compression tools to reduce file size without losing quality. Compress JPGs to 60-85% quality.
- Convert large PNG files to more compact JPG format if possible.
- Host images on your web server instead of attaching them directly in the email. Link to them using image src tags. This prevents large files from being attached to the email.
- Use an image optimizer service like TinyPNG or Compressor.io to efficiently compress images.
- Test your email with image blocking enabled. Ensure your message remains readable without images shown.
Properly resizing and compressing images before inserting them in your email is crucial for deliverability. With optimized images, you can include eye-catching visuals without hampering your emails.
Using Standard Fonts
Custom fonts can decorate an email and make it visually interesting. However, fancy fonts often don’t render properly across all email clients and devices. When a recipient’s email client can’t display the custom font, it will default to Times New Roman or another standard font.
This inconsistent rendering increases the likelihood of your email being flagged as spam. Some spam filters specifically look for emails with uncommon fonts and mark them as untrustworthy.
To ensure deliverability and consistent rendering, stick to these standard, web-safe fonts:
- Arial
- Verdana
- Tahoma
- Trebuchet MS
- Georgia
- Times New Roman
- Courier New
These fonts are universally available on all operating systems and email clients. Avoid cursive, handwritten, and display fonts. Also be wary of condensed fonts, as these may be difficult to read on mobile devices.
Keeping fonts simple and standard will help your email reach the inbox. Fancy formatting can wait until after your recipients open the email!
Link Best Practices
Links are an important part of email communication, but if not implemented properly, they can lower deliverability or even cause your email to be flagged as spam. The reputation of the sites you link to matters a great deal. Pointing to sketchy, spammy, or malware-laden sites is one of the quickest ways to get labeled as a spammer yourself.
To avoid this issue, thoroughly vet any site before linking to it in your email campaigns. Check it for things like:
- Spammy content or popups
- Malware warnings from security software
- A brand new domain registration date
- Low domain authority and trust metrics
You also want to avoid tactics like cloaking, where the text appears to be linking to one place but actually directs to another. These practices will destroy your sender reputation.
In addition to link safety, optimize your anchor text in each link. Avoid generic anchor text like “Click Here” which can appear spammy if overused. Include keywords where appropriate but don’t keyword stuff. write anchor text that explains where the link goes and provides value to the reader.
Tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, and Moz can help you analyze the quality of domains you plan on linking to. Use them to check metrics like spam score, domain authority, and number of backlinks from reputable sites. Only link to high quality domains with good reputations.
Vetting your links properly and optimizing your anchor text will ensure your emails reach the inbox and avoid the spam folder. Don’t sabotage your campaigns with poor quality links.
Summary and Checklist
Getting your emails to the intended recipient’s inbox is critical for successful email marketing campaigns. In this article, we covered several best practices for optimizing images, fonts, and links to avoid issues that could flag your email as spam.
Let’s do a quick recap of the key tips:
- Compress and optimize images to reduce file size – JPGs under 1MB are ideal.
- Host images on your own server instead of linking to external sites.
- Use common, web-safe fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia. Avoid fancy cursive and script fonts.
- Ensure font sizes 16px and up for maximum readability.
- Avoid underlined links – use color and hover effects instead.
- Use descriptive, relevant anchor text for links.
- Only link to high-quality, relevant resources. Avoid linking to unrelated sites.
- Check links for reputation and validity before including.
To optimize your next email campaign for deliverability:
- Compress and optimize all images
- Stick to standard, web-safe fonts and readable sizes
- Carefully vet links and use descriptive anchor text
- Host images on your own server
- Avoid underlined links
Following these best practices for images, fonts, and links will help your email reach the inbox! Let us know if you have any other questions – we’re happy to help you improve deliverability.
