Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 11:10 PM

Groom Your Boring Links!

When we think about email, we don’t usually think about the small delicate design details. But one area we could groom a little is our basic, default links in a newsletter. Personally, I love it when they do something interesting with the unsubscribe link. Even if it’s just slightly different or shows a little personality.

When an email is setup like this (see below), I think they really do a good job of making unsubscribing not so…well, dramatic. They even throw some humor in there. They openly ask for feedback on the very open Twitter. It’s obvious that they’re not afraid of everyone knowing just how customers feel about them, even the angry ones. This truly gives Twitter an interesting position.

In the example below (which has a nice sized, neat and clean header), it’s obvious that they used pretty basic links to keep a nice balance between the header and the links. When they lay it out like this, it feels like you can trust the sender. It’s serious.

In this example they’ve made a little icon of its own for the “Forward to a Friend” link. More than likely the designer understands how important it is that people forward the email.

This one below is a great example where they used the same “icon-ish” style for the “Forward to Friends” and “Unsubscribe” links. I really like it when they are equally as noticeable and prominent. No link feels lonely and left out…

Here’s something to think about. How many of you include a standardized link that takes care of the people who have been tipped off by a friend?


Small icons, and at the same time, text….are good things to keep in mind because a lot of images are blocked.

But, why put so much time and energy into this? Well, believe it or not, you don’t have to. But if you want your readers to see that you care about the appearance and style of the newsletter, that it’s harmonious and makes sense to look at, that you really appreciate that you have their email address, that you put just as much time and energy into email marketing as any other avenue, and that you meticulously went through every detail to make sure it’s something simple, elegant, and easy to comprehend, then maybe you should think about these things.