You've got your website presence established and you're now looking for ways to drive more traffic to your site. An e-newsletter is an excellent vehicle for this purpose. It's well-known that a typical customer will visit your website seven times before they finally decide to make a purchase.
If your content is well-developed, your rankings in the search engines are good and you have plenty of reciprocal links and affiliate programs in place, you may be doing well. However, any move you can make to target more potential customers is a plus. An e-newsletter just makes good sense. While some customers may prefer a simple text newsletter, many others enjoy the visual elements provided in an HTML version. A text newsletter layout requires little in the way of design, beyond a consistent format of the contents. HTML newsletter layouts are a bit more complicated.
HTML newsletters are compositions similar to a picture or a website design. You need to consider color choices, margins, white space, graphics, fonts and ad placement. You need to think about how to design a newsletter layout that's visually attractive, balanced and focuses the reader's attention in all the right places.
Here are some pointers to guide you in the design process:
Your newsletter layout should mimic colors and themes expressed in your website design. For example, if your site uses green and gold tones, use those colors in your design. You may include your logo or photographic elements used on your site. This makes it easy for your customers to remember you and your site.
Make your newsletter an easy read. One of the most effective layouts divides your page into thirds, with the center panel being the largest, used for placing editorials, a table of contents and articles. The smaller side panels can be effectively used for ads or photos pertinent to the adjacent text. It's often best to use color in the side panels and white space in your center panel text portions. Reserve space at the top for your colors, company name or logo, and photo or graphic elements.
The side panels also serve as your margins. Making the left and right panel margins of equal size tend to focus your reader's attention on the newsletter contents.
Alignment is an important component of newsletter layouts. If you're running a feature article on a how-to project, place associated ads aligned with the top of that article in the side panel.
Don't overdo the ads. Your layout will suffer with a cluttered look. Your customers may then ignore the ads, which is counterproductive to your objectives. The same goes for fonts and graphics. Strive for a clean, balanced look.
When you're happy with the look of your newsletter, get ready to publish. Increased sales are yours!
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