Five HTML E-mail Design Tips, Part 1

2. Follow best practices for images. Images face unique rendering challenges because many ISPs turn them off by default. E-mails should be designed to look good with or without the images turned on.

When adding images, try the following:

* Use alt tags for every image. Be as descriptive as possible so recipients don’t have to turn images on to know what they’re missing. You may even include your offer or call-to-action in the alt so it remains visible at all times.
* Optimize images using GIF or JPEG formats and include height and width parameters so the sizing remains correct.
* Store images on a Web server and link them in the message using the full URL. This is the only way graphics will show up in e-mails.