To download HTML email templates is no simple task considering that a large part of your corporate branding and image goes into creating the emails from these templates, out to your prospective customers, corporate staff, and other recipients. When it comes to choosing a template, the three basic things that you have to bear in mind are aesthetics, technicality, and end users. Beyond this, there are some practical considerations as well like the possibility of a template being identified as spam by a spam filter. This should not be a problem to worry about if you are sending mails to recipients after they have opted-in for it but if not, then understanding the rules of spam filters is also necessary.
Aesthetics is the first and most contentious issue. By and large, your email template should be one that reflects your corporate colors, design guidelines, and image; unless breaking with conformity is something that you want to do on purpose. Always ensure that the template you are using has a consistent image to text placement as users like to deal with formats that are easily recognizable. Also avoid loud colors as much as possible because this can attract the attention of spam filters when they read through the HTML code.
When you download HTML email templates, the technical prowess at your organization's disposal and the time that you have to prepare each release should be borne in mind. If your objective is to send out emails every day, then do away with snazzy templates that are too difficult to decipher and stick to something that is simple. Or find a template that is a good marriage between the two. The rule of thumb here is that the less time and effort you can put into design, the less complicated your template should be and the less you should have to end up tampering with source files.
End-users or recipients are the final consideration. You might think that you know and understand your users well but there are so many aspects to consider here that you can't help but miss out the basic details. If you have chosen a media rich template that, perhaps, also has an embedded video, then, assuming that most of your recipients use email clients that block rich media and images or they have low bandwidth, your efforts go to waste. Therefore, when you download HTML email templates try and remember who you are sending the mails to in the first place.
A final tip is to understand spam filters. This is specifically required for those who still indulge in sending unsolicited mails. These mechanisms work by scanning the content in every mail for keywords and phrases that are suspicious. Therefore, ensure that the content that you write receives as much attention as design. Avoid keywords appearing more than a few times and do not use sales spiel in any of your commercial bulk email mailers. The newsletter style of writing always reigns supreme in this regard.