If you publish your ezine through one of the emailing list services then
you will also be provided with tracking stats for each issue. Are you
happy with the open rate, or does it seem exceptionally low for each
issue? Not only is it important that you publish your newsletter
regularly, but equally important is that your subscribers receive it.
If you have answered NO to
one or both of these questions you could be sabotaging your own
newsletter efforts!
Why do I need a double opt-in list?
Double opt-in is the process whereby when someone signs up to receive
your newsletter via your website they receive an email from your email
list provider, which asks them to confirm their subscription by clicking
on a link in the email. Once they have clicked on this link they are
then confirmed as a subscriber to your list.
This process is known as double opt-in as:
It is very important that you
have this process in place as it avoids a subscriber being signed up to
your newsletter by a third party, and therefore reduces the number of
spam reports that you are likely to get. Your subscriber has had to
confirm for a second time that they want to be on your mailing list.
The downside to this is that your subscriber may not confirm their
subscription, in which case you would lose the subscriber. But if they
really do want to receive information from you they will be on the
lookout for your confirmation email. And isn’t it better to have 100
subscribers who really do want to receive your information rather than
1,000 subscribers who aren’t that interested?
Just recently I had a conversation with support at 1 Shopping Cart and
asked them about their double opt-in process. They told me that those
lists that are set up as double opt-in lists are sent via a secure
server that has been approved by the ISPs thereby resulting in a higher
deliverability of your ezine. Lists that are not set as double opt-in
get sent out on a different server and could result in your ezine being
blocked by the ISP.
So even if your subscriber has you on their white list (or friends list)
if your list is not
a double opt-in list they may not even receive your ezine as it could be
blocked by their ISP.
Check with your emailing list service as to their policies on double
opt-in.
Why do I need to send both Text and HTML versions of my newsletter?
Again sending both versions of your newsletter ensures that it will get
through to your subscriber. Some subscribers have their email programs
set up to only receive text emails, and if you only offer a HTML version
of your ezine they are not going to be able to read it.
For a more detailed explanation of why you need to send both Text and
HTML versions, and for some extra tips on newsletter deliverability, I
enlisted the help of my good friend and colleague, Jessica Albon of The
Write Exposure (www.thewriteexposure.com) – a newsletter design company
that offers email and print newsletter services. Here's what Jes had to
say:
To fix low deliverability, there are a few things publishers must do:
-
Publish in plain text
and HTML (as multi-part MIME). This results in a lower overall spam
score as spammers don't take the time to generate both versions (and
typically send their messages only in one or the other). It will
make your newsletter file size a bit larger, but not significantly.
If your system only sends one or the other to subscribers, though,
it won't effect your spam score. It's still a good idea to publish
both, because you'll have subscribers who prefer one or the other,
but offering both won't reduce your spam points. (When it comes to
filters and deliverability, you want as few points as possible--and
a negative score is even better.)
-
Run the HTML through
the W3C Validator and ensure there are absolutely no errors.
http://validator.w3.org/
-
Remove bounces
regularly. If you keep sending to email addresses that don't exist
any more, your email account is more likely to be flagged as one
that's sending spam. You can ignore some bounce messages for a
while (mailbox full and temporarily unavailable messages), but don't
ignore the hard bounces.
-
Grow your list! Every
list has an attrition rate and the only real thing you can do about
it is to keep attracting new subscribers.
-
Let readers know how to
update their email addresses--post a message in every issue, and if
it's at all possible, link directly to their personal profile so
changing their address doesn't require unsubscribing and then
resubscribing with the new address. (It keeps your records cleaner,
too.)
Thanks Jes!
Conclusion:
To fix low newsletter deliverability there are two things you can do
right away:
1. Ensure your list is set to double opt-in.
2. Send out both Text and HTML versions of your ezine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author:
Online Business Manager & Virtual Assistant, Tracey
Lawton, supports professional speakers, coaches, and authors to operate an
efficient, organized, and profitable business. Learn how to create an efficient
and organized office in 7 EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at
http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com
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