Have you made it as simple as possible for your audience to digest your message?  Remember, there is LOTS of competition for attention in their inbox.

Here are six easy ways to make your message more readable and increase the chances of winning the elusive click through.

1.  Keep it short and use short paragraphs

Probably the easiest way to make your email easier to read is to make is shorter and more compact.  Nothing says ‘hard to read’ more than opening your email and seeing a library book worth of text in front of them.

On the web today readers a just as likely to say to themselves, “Oh that’s too much stuff to read right now”, or “That’s a lot of important stuff, I’ll file it away for later.”  Of course, later never comes.

One rule of thumb we use around here is to try and avoid any paragraph that is more than three lines long or any paragraph which is one long sentence.

2.  Use sub-headlines

Enough usability studies have been done to show that people tend to scan pages on the web.  They’re looking for something and they want to know quickly if they can find it there or if they need to keep searching.

Sub-headlines break a long message down into bite-size pieces and make it easier to scan the message without reading the whole thing.

3.  Use bullets points or numbered lists

Most of the emails you receive do NOT use bullet points or numbered lists to showcase their message so right away you get a marketing boost by doing something that others are not.  Good marketing means being different not being the same.

Besides your eye being drawn right to the bullets or numbers your copy will stand on it’s own and is more likely to be read this way.

Best to keep your points short and to the point.

4.  Create action oriented links

Most often you’ll see a link in an email that says ‘click here’, click here to do something.  It seems like the most logical thing in the world to do.

But, in reality click here is so overused, it’s almost blinding to people.  What you want to do is use an action oriented or benefit oriented link like some of the following:

  • Read more >
  • Read the full article>
  • Read how to stop those dreadful…(fill in the blanks)
  • Start saving now>
  • Get your free (whatever you’re giving)
  • Get your 20% off coupon>
  • Book your trip>
  • Be the first to join the program
  • Find your soulmate here

You’ll notice I could have used a click here start to any of those but again, enough testing has been done to show that these types of links will outperform a simple ‘Click Here’.

***Notice how I used bullet points to showcase the examples***

5.  Bold, italics, or upper case

Plain old text is just plain old text, but it can really jump if you highlight it.

Plain old text is just plain old text, but it can really jump if you highlight it!

Plain old text is just plain old text, but it can really jump if you highlight it.

Plain old text is just plain old text, but it can really jump if you highlight it.

Plain old text is just plain old text, but it can REALLY jump if you highlight it.

Notice how each of those treatments make the sentence sound different in your head?  That what YOU want to do with YOUR reader!  Look for opportunities to highlight or emphasize your text so it sounds more like you would say it.

6.  Read it and scan it!

The final test is the moment of truth.  Take your email and send it to yourself.  Then read it through with an eye to see which of things techniques are being done well and which ones you could use to make your message more effective.  This is the job of a copy editor.  They make your messages better.

So be a copy editor and take a look at your message with a critical eye.  You’ll most likely make changes to make your message easy to read and understand.