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What size should my emails be?

We have been asked a lot about “What size should a email be?” Well you may think that as websites have got wider, due to screen resolutions getting bigger, emails would follow suit. Unfortunately this isn’t the case. Seeing as a website can only be viewed with a web browser, it is easier to know how much space you have to play with. Emails however can be displayed both online and offline, in a multitude of email clients & devices.

You’ve probably also noticed that the majority of email newsletters you receive these days are designed with a fixed width as opposed to a ‘fluid’ layout.

This is because the most email clients and web-based email providers don’t use the full width of your screen to display an email message. Whether it’s advertising on Gmail, a menu in Hotmail or your Inbox in Outlook, a chunk of screen real estate is often already being used.

Remember, your recipients are busy and impatient, so horizontal scroll bars are even more of a no-no in email than a web page. Because of this, it is a good idea to keep your emails to a fixed width of no more than 550-600 pixels. This should ensure that in the majority of cases, your subscribers can view your email as you intended.

What about height?

Obviously the height of each email you send will vary depending on the amount of content. At the same time, it’s good to keep in mind that a lot of your recipients may scan your email in a preview pane before they decide to read the entire thing.

The average preview pane is around 300-500 pixels high, so make sure you include any important bits of your email in this area. First impressions count. A good way to check how your email looks in a variety of email readers is to use our[intlink id=”2493″ type=”page”]design and spam testing tool[/intlink], which gives you screenshots of your campaign as it will appear.

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