186. Email Marketing › how it works › getting startedMeasurementThe design should be tested to ensure that it renders clearly in as many clientsas possible. Make sure that images line up, that copy is clear and that all thelinks work.Emails can be tested for platform compatibility at: notewww.sitevista.com/email.asp. An email client is the software or programme a person uses to accessEmail for Mobile Phones their email. Some ofWith the adoption rate of smartphones increasing, more and more people are these are web-based, likeviewing their emails on mobile phones. About 38.5% of mobile Internet time is GoogleMail and Hotmail,used for checking email in the US (Nielsen). but there are also plenty of software clients. As well as many versionsThis is a challenge. The mobile screen is obviously much smaller than desktop of Outlook, there is alsoscreens, and so the way an email is displayed differs vastly as well. Not only Thunderbird, Eudora andthat, but different mobile devices also make use of different mobile operating Lotus to mention just asystems, meaning they each have different standards and default settings, and few. And yes, your emailas such, also all render emails in a unique way. could look different on each one of those.To make things even more difficult, very few people view an email on onlyone device. They switch from their smartphone to their laptop to their tabletand back to their mobile phone during the course of a day. This means that,although sending two versions of your email is an option (one for mobile, onefor desktops) it’s probably not the best solution. You want an email that displayswell across as many different clients and operating systems as possible.Some smartphones do render HTML emails and even autofit them to fit themobile screen, however not all handsets do this.The most important things to keep in mind when designing an email formobile is: • The screen is a lot smaller, and • Mobile users are often checking their email on the run.So, your content must be easy to skim, with clear Calls to Action.Here are some common best practices to follow when designing your emails,to ensure optimal rendering on mobile devices: • As previously stated, an email width of 600px is ideal. Mobile device display ranges from 320px (iPhone) to 480px (Android) and so when you keep the header image width under 600px, it still displays well on web browsers (without the need for horizontal scrolling), but also scales down to fit mobile devices quite easily. Note that, for some mobile devices, horizontal scrolling is unavoidable. 183