Simple HTML Code Every Email Marketer Should Know
You don't have to be a programmer, developer, or graphic designer to be a good email marketer. You certainly don't have to be a wiz with CSS or Javascript. Good email marketing requires nothing more than an employee who understands their customers and who can provide valuable content. That being said, having a basic understanding of the technology you are dealing with can be a great help and it may just save you from some serious technology induced headaches.
When something goes wrong and your email doesn't look or function the way you want it to, what do you do? Many email marketers use HTML creation programs like frontpage, dreamweaver, or other template based systems to create good looking emails with little to no knowledge of HTML. These can be extremely helpful tools but they don't always translate perfectly to email. So when a problem does arise where will you turn?
By learning some rudimentary HTML code you could solve many of these problems yourself. I'm not suggesting you spend days or even weeks to become an expert or even to memorize any code. If you'd like you could simply print out this blog or any of the more complete HTML cheat sheets online, and use it as an instant reference. At any rate, understanding some basic HTML code and finding out how it all functions will give you a valuable tool set and make you a greater asset in the workplace.
I've listed and explained some of the most simple and common HTML tags here.
<p>: This indicates the start of a paragraph, as with all HTML code the tag must be closed after the element is complete. Therefore at the end of a paragraph you would complete the tag by putting a closing tag like so </p>
Example: <p>This is my newest email!</p>
<img src="insert location here" />: This is the appropriate tag to insert an image into html. Note that if you use a image location on your local machine others will NOT be able to view it. This problem occurs when using pictures from your computer in frontpage and then copying that HTML code. You will be able to see the pictures but no one else will. You need to use a location that is hosted somewhere on the web, in my example you will see that I used a image hosted on Admail.
Example: <img src="https://www.admail.net/thumbnail/154/"></img>
<a href="insert internet address here">link </a>: This is the HTML tag to create a link. The word or phrase in-between the opening and closing tag will be made into the link.
Example: <a href="https://www.admail.net">Visit Our Website!</a>
Other tags include <b>, this will make your font bold, and <i>, which will make your font italic.
These are very rudimentary tags but they will help you understand some of the more simple elements of HTML. For those interested in learning more, websites like www.w3schools.com provide an online knowledge base and free online training.
Armed with this knowledge you will have a better grasp of your medium and, with a bit of study and training, you may be able to troubleshoot your own problems, saving you and your company valuable time.
To recap:
<p>: Paragraph </p>
<img src="/>: Image
<a href=">: Link </a>
<b>: Bold </b>
<i>: Italic </i>