Creating a Newsletter and Making Your Website Magnetic Creating a newsletter is an ideal way to drive repeat traffic to your website but its design, format and implementation need to be carefully considered in order to achieve desired results.
Signing Up
Before you begin creating a newsletter itself attention needs to be paid to way in which your website will facilitate capturing of customers' email addresses and other information. Though many sites opt for quick and simple approach of placing a "Name & Email Address" box on their homepage this is not always best solution.
Although such an approach makes it extremely simple for users to provide you with their basic details it leaves little scope to sell newsletter's benefits. Neither does it provide your business with opportunity to simultaneously capture vital demographic information from its customers. A balance needs to be determined between ease of signing-up for user and quality/quantity of information captured by you.
Format and Frequency
You website visitors need to be made aware in advance how often they are going to receive a communication from your business. Failure to provide such information may deter people from giving their permission to be contacted in first place. Stating newsletter's frequency up front will also benefit your business in long-term as customers signing up to receive it will all share a common understanding of expected volume of email they are going to receive - this will lower number of customers who unsubscribe.
The format of your newsletter is also important - you should either state format during sign-up procedure or provide an option for your customers to choose their preferred delivery format. Most newsletters are delivered in standard text format though HTML is being favoured more and more as it enables greater use of images and links but beware - not all Internet users can view HTML newsletters. There are various ways to combat these issues of compliance including delivering a newsletter in both formats based on customers' chosen option at sign-up stage.