5 Reasons to Test Every Email Before You Send
1. Email clients may drop
2. Broken or incorrect links
3. Subject line
4. Broken images
5. Grammar mistakes
Every email, whether written from scratch or by means of pre-made templates, needs to be tested before the “send” button is pushed. Even if you are using a template that you’ve used hundreds of times before, there is always a risk that an email program or application will break your design, images, subject line or links.
So before sending an email, take the trouble to double-check it for these 5 critical mistakes. Without doing this, you risk to seriously affect your conversions, opens, links and consequently your brand name.
Email Clients May Drop Support Without Notice
It sometimes happens that email clients drop support for CSS attributes and HTML without notice. Even if the pre-tested template has been rendered correctly before, we should not forget about the unannounced changes and updates that may significantly affect it.
Broken/Incorrect Links and Social Media Sharing Buttons
All links attached to the email should work properly. Indeed, what’s the point of sending an email with links that direct you to nowhere? So before sending an email it is highly important to check that all links are working. Make sure they direct to the right pages and do not display a 404 error. Extra attention should be paid to images used as call-to-action buttons. Check them for the presence of clickable links and make sure that everything that should be linked (e.g. anchor text or sharing icons) is inked. Social media sharing buttons on sites like Twitter or Facebook should also be clickable and lead to the right sites. To make sure that all links/buttons are working properly, just click them or use special link checking tools.
Subject Line
On average, a recipient decides whether or not to read your email within the first three seconds. So never leave the subject line blank and make sure it describes the main idea of your email. To interest the recipient, the title of the subject line should be short and informative. Do not make it too long, as an average email inbox shows about 60 characters of the subject line, while an inbox on a mobile phone shows 25-30 characters. When using special characters, make sure they are supported by various email clients.
Broken Images
If an email contains images, you need to check that they are loading and displaying properly. Some email clients block images by default, so it is recommended using ALT text (or alternative text) that appears in place of an image.
Spelling and Grammar Mistakes
No one will enjoy reading an email with numerous spelling and grammar mistakes in it. Take time to proofread your letter and make sure it is not just free of mistakes but is also informative and easy for understanding.
