Ensure your HTML is clean and coded correctly.  Spam filtering is more likely to occur because of HTML coding than the words you use in your email.

  • Use simple tables with a fixed width between 500px and 600px.

  • Use fixed widths for table cells instead of percentages.

  • Email readers use the preview pane to initially view the email. An email preview pane is commonly a width of 600px and height of 300px – aim to place some copy (at least three lines) in this area.

  • Use frame table which contains all internal layout tables (header, content and footer).

  • Use <bg color> in <td> cell or <table> tag instead of CSS.

  • Use ‘padding style’ to control margins in <td> cells. Set padding style to 10px so that the text does not smash against the left and right edges (margin style does not work).

  • Do not use <div> or <span> tags.

  • Add the height and width to <img src> tags to ensure that the blank placeholder image doesn't throw your design out.

  • Build your HTML email in HTML 4.0 syntax not XHTML.

  • Do not place a Doctype Declaration at the top of your HTML Code.

  • Do not place a Title tag or Meta data in <head> tags of the emails.

  • Do not link to external CSS sheets as this reference is ignored or deleted.

  • Keep the <head> tag empty as most email clients do not support code which is not in the <body> tags.

  • 3 extra line breaks after final </html> tag.

  • The total email size (HTML plus all images therein) should be under 100kb.

  • Treat the use of images carefully. An image heavy creative increases both its weight and chances of being picked up by spam filters.

  • Ensure image names are simple and are generically named. Do not relate them to the offer or promotion within the creative. e.g. "win_a_car.gif" as browsers will filter these by default.

  • Do NOT use a single image as a creative.

  • Do not include more than 20 images per creative.

  • Do not use background images.

  • Do not embed large block of text within images - use standard HTML text.

  • JavaScript, ActiveX, Flash, or any other plugins (streaming media) should be avoided, as most web-based email browsers will filter these out. Most corporate email systems (Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc) will also apply a filter on the content.

  • Please ensure the use of ALT tags. Many email clients prevent images from loading within html email by default, thus user intervention is required to display images. If this is not done the creative will appear as broken images. By adding ALT tags you can display relevant text in the absence of these potentially broken images.

  • Avoid using CSS where possible. If completely necessary, use inline CSS. It should be applied to the “style” attribute of the relevant HTML tag, e.g. <div style=”…”>. This is due to popular web based clients filtering out the <head> of a document, thereby removing the <style> tag.

  • Do not use absolute positioning of elements with CSS.

  • All special characters such as £, € symbols should be defined using the HTML escape codes, e.g. &pound; &euro;. Avoid using symbols in the subject line as they increase the chances of the creative being treated as Spam. Do not include telephone numbers and extensive numerical information in the creative; instead provide a link to a landing page with this information.

  • Do not use forms as they will be stripped out by the popular email clients.

For more information on our email marketing services, call or email us: 09 579 4269 or email@steer.co.nz

Useful Email Marketing Information

Optimising your Emails >>
Personalising your Emails >>
Top 20 Tips for Email Marketing >>
Top 5 Tips for Email List Building >>
Email HTML Creative Guidelines >>
SPAM Words & Phrases >>