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When you download HTML email templates, the first consideration that you pay to the templates are how well they appeal to you visually. This can be a challenging task to the non-graphical eye. There are many design elements and principles that go into proper visual design. These are applied in all forms of art and are especially true in the field of web design. However, there are just a crucial five that it fundamentally comes down to.
1. Color. There are many elements of color that go into an email template and many of these can be changed as well. In most likelihood your will have to change some of these colors. This can be done by a small change in the style sheet or in the HTML code. Ideally, all you have to do is to use your corporate branding colors or replicate the colors from your website.
2. Elements on screen. This can mean anything from the text to image ratio and even go on to encompass the interactive elements on your screen. However, fundamentally, it falls in the category of image to text. In a newsletter format, the image to text ratio is skewed 70:30 in favor of imagery. This is because your objective is to drive users back to your site and not present to them complete articles. In the case of bulk email for marketing, download HTML email templates that are the exact opposite with a bulk of the information as text.
3. Contrast. You will find many templates that are too well endowed with color. These can include clashing borders and watermarks. In general, try and avoid templates with some kind of watermark or background design as this will only serve to distract the reader. Additionally, use a white background as this is easier to read than white text on a black background.
4. Clutter. Clutter is a problem that most newsletters and bulk email marketing material face. Plan out your releases in such a way that you do not end up having to jam in too much information into one mail. At the very worst, send two mails if necessary.
5. Multimedia. Images speak a thousand words and moving images a thousand more. This simply means that the more animated gifs and movie clips you use, the more the chances that you can reduce unnecessary text and imagery in your mail.
Most other elements of design are intuitive to judge when you download HTML email templates. These include placing the more priority items on the left side. For example, if the mainstay of your mail is an image place it on the left and text on the right since most cultures read from the left to the right. Then there is the question of using images at all. This is a call that you have to make if you think that most of your users do not have broadband connections or email clients that will block out images or HTML.
When you decide to download HTML email templates, it is usually a no-brainer situation that you are in. This is because this is probably the cheapest method of creating HTML pages for mass dissemination. Templates are basically layouts that are available and modifiable but are largely a schematic that you can follow to ensure that you are able to just plug in your content with minimal effort. Templates are so popular that when it comes to even making websites, rarely do people have to bother with a month long website creation exercise that involves dealing with a cantankerous team of creative people. Rather, a novice with the right software can also design and modify existing templates.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't put some serious thought into the exercise and you must consider the following aspects.
1. Cost. This aspect might seem like a straightforward decision in favor of using templates. However, consider that you are using an HTML template. If your team or you are not adept at using tools like style sheets, using downloaded HTML email templates can be a bigger headache for you and end up costing you more to rework than a regular from-scratch creation.
2. Range of designs. When you download HTML email templates, consider where you are acquiring them from and how many designs are available. It may seem like a tedious task to window shop for templates but this is also a good sign that you are with the right service provider who has invested time and effort in a good product range.
3. Technical expertise. Most templates would appear to be a simple case of download-modify-deploy. However, the fact is that many templates require modification in a style sheet called a .css file. This is a file that contains the entire layout and format instructions, which have to be repeatedly called on by the main HTML file. A css file is usually written in xml. This combination already complicates things. Therefore, you need to have some level of expertise on call to review the pages you end up creating.
4. User profile. It is a common mistake that most people make in that they choose the snazziest and most media rich templates available. While this may seem like the natural way to go to gain user attention, you must consider the fact that some of your users might have mail clients that block media display. Additionally, you must also consider the fact that some of your recipients might just not have adequate bandwidth either.
5. When you download HTML email templates, especially for a bulk email marketing campaign, you will come across some service providers that can offer you another bouquet of services like email tracking and other tracking statistics. Take the time to look and size up the product bouquet of different service providers before evaluating on one. When you create newsletters, you should also consider templates that are high in image content rather than text content.