I think HTML email has issues. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned but hear me out.
HTML Email Problems
- I don’t want to open my email and see large red capital letters in some garish font.
- I don’t want to see pictures in my email.
- And…I don’t like the large file sizes when pictures ARE included.
- I don’t like to wait while the graphics load when an HTML email contains links to the picture. If I want to see a picture, I will use my web browser. And a plain text URL in your email will do just fine.
- I don’t want people tracking whether I have opened their email or not.
- I don’t want advertising companies to grab my email address if I visit a site mentioned in the email.
- I don’t want a virus to destroy my computer or read my personal data files.
HTML email can allow all of the above to happen, while plain text email does NOT allow ANY of the above situations to occur.
More HTML Email Problems
Sending out HTML email to mailing lists causes additional problems. For starters, not all email software can read HTML email. And even if their software CAN read it, that HTML email might not be received as you sent it. There is no “standard” for HTML email, so your HTML message may not LOOK the same on the receiving end. You send a beautifully formatted email that arrives garbled and out of order.
In addition, many of your subscribers are at ISPs that have various and ever-changing spam filtering policies. Some of the spam filter criteria are the size of the message, and whether or not an HTML message is being received. Did you know HTML email is 2 to 10 times the size of the same plain text message? That’s 1 reason spam filters often favor plain text messages.
And if having their ISP filter your email wasn’t bad enough, many people are now installing anti-spam software on their own computer, creating one more hurdle for your message to overcome.
There are trade-offs between sending a visually stunning email versus having your message delivered and read by your subscriber. In general, the more visual effects you add, the higher the probability that your email will be stopped short and never reach your recipient.
If you have valuable information to communicate to people, plain text email is the way to go. Find out more reasons why plain text email works the best.
All lists at Mail-List.com are set up to deliver plain text messages, even when an HTML message is sent. Our system automatically converts any HTML message to plain text before delivery.
Don’t worry though….we also have options to deliver your HTML messages, too!
