Email design testing services and tools
If you worry about how your email looks in all the different places it might be seen, these services help.
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Related categories:
- Email marketing services (selection guidance)
- ESPs, consultants and software
- Email certification and accreditation programs
- Email deliverability and reputation services
- Email design
What recipients see when they view your email is of course critical to your email marketing. Unfortunately, what you design is not what they necessarily see. There are lots of issues at play that turn your careful design and layout into something entirely different. For example...
- Lots of people use web-based email services like Gmail or Yahoo Mail. Each one has its own unique way of displaying email.
- A lot of email software commonly in use block images from showing up on the screen
- Microsoft's Outlook 2007 has no support for background images, forms and many other email design elements
- Many people now read their email on the road on mobile devices, with tiny screens and text-focused viewing
Designing emails that look nice and do the job wherever recipients look at them is important. Simple text-only designs or those featuring basic HTML table layouts are pretty safe from unwanton destruction by some unfriendly viewing environment. But anything more complicated than that needs to degrade gracefully when the beautiful images don't show up or the clever CSS styling breaks.
To help you understand how your email might look in other display environments, several companies now offer a pre-testing service. You send them a copy of your email and they'll show you screenshots of the outcome when that email is viewed at a range of webmail services or in the more popular email software clients.
Note that your list host may provide email testing as part of your service package. But the following services are available to all, whether or not you have your email list hosted by the company in question.
Standalone Email testing services
Inbox Inspector
The above link takes you to a comprehensive user review of this design and deliverability testing tool from MailChimp.
Litmus
This service provides screenshots of how your email looks in the preview pane and when fully opened. Litmus recently expanded its reach to cover all significant webmail services and software clients, as well as testing against a range of spam filters.
Campaign Monitor
Currently $5 a pop, this service tests your design in numerous display environments (including selected mobile device displays) and also against a range of spam filters.
eDesign Optimizer
Tests your email in various desktop and web-based programs, with both preview-only and full-message screenshots. Also validates whether your HTML is compliant with standards and whether links work.
Email on Acid
Relatively new and free service offering previews in major clients and webmail interfaces, code analysis and a text version generator.
PreviewMyEmail
Relatively new service offering screenshots on 15+ clients.
Integrated services
The following all include tools to see how your email renders in various contexts, as part of wider deliverability service packages.
EmailReach
The Delivery Audit service includes rendering tests at major clients and webmail services.
Return Path
The Campaign Preview tool within the Deliverability Monitoring Suite tests your design at various webmail services and in various email readers. The Return Path application actual powers many of the display testing services offered by others.
Inbox Snapshot
The Inbox Snapshot feature is part of the Lyris HQ integrated marketing suite and shows you what your email looks like in 50+ different email clients.