How to Ensure Your Emails Look Great on Any Device – Including Mobile

1. Improved User Experience: Emails that are displayed correctly across devices enhance readability and interaction, especially on mobile phones, leading to smoother user journeys and higher conversion rates.
2. Increased Engagement: A user-friendly experience across devices builds trust and encourages recipients to engage with your content, positively impacting open and engagement rates.
3. Elevated Digital Brand: Maintaining a professional and consistent brand image through strong visual design and a good user experience across all touchpoints enhances credibility and increases audience loyalty.

1. Use a Mobile-First Approach

Design your emails with mobile users in mind first, as many recipients check their emails on their smartphones as well. Mobile screens are smaller, meaning readability and ease of interaction are important.

To achieve this, focus on:

• A clean and simple layout with minimal clutter
• Concise messaging that delivers the key information in the first few lines
• Tappable buttons instead of text links, making it easier for users to engage without zooming in
• Optimised images and lightweight elements to improve load times on mobile networks

If your email performs well on a mobile device, it will naturally scale up and function effectively on larger screens, providing a seamless experience across all devices.

2. Keep Your Layout Simple and Scannable

A single-column layout enhances responsive design so that emails are easy to navigate on smaller screens, while streamlining your content to ensure users receive a clear and impactful message.

Tips for optimising your layout:

• Stick to a single-column layout for better readability on mobile devices, as it prevents horizontal scrolling, This ensures content remains structured and digestible across screen sizes.
• Use plenty of white space to separate elements and improve legibility, reducing cognitive overload for readers.
• Ensure your text is large enough to read comfortably on smaller screens and use good line spacing for optimal readability.

3. Use Scalable Images and Fonts

Optimise images for quick loading times without sacrificing quality. Large images can slow down email load speeds, causing users to abandon your email before fully engaging with the content.

To avoid this:

• Use compressed image formats to reduce file size
• Employ responsive image scaling to ensure images display correctly on all devices without distorting
• Implement ALT text for images to improve accessibility and ensure key messages are conveyed even if images fail to load
• Use fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana to ensure consistent display across different email clients. Avoid decorative or custom fonts that may not render correctly in all email clients, and instead, use fallback font stacks to maintain readability

4. Make Your Call-to-Action (CTA) Stand Out

Your CTA is one of the most important elements of your email, as it drives the viewer’s next action and directly impacts your engagement rates.

Here’s how you can do so effectively:

• Use large, tappable buttons instead of text links, as they are easier to click on touchscreens and more visually engaging.
• Choose colours that make your CTA pop against the background and attract immediate attention.
• Place your CTA above the fold so users don’t have to scroll to find it.
• Ensure clear, action-oriented copy such as “Get Started,” “Download Now,” or “Claim Your Offer” to make the next step obvious.
• Provide ample white space around the CTA button to prevent distractions and make it stand out within the email layout.
• Optimise the button design with rounded edges, making it more visually appealing and clickable.
• Use secondary CTAs sparingly to avoid overwhelming the reader and ensure the primary action remains the focal point.

5. Test Across Different Devices and Email Clients

Not all email clients display messages the same way. Before sending, test your email on:

• Various screen sizes (smartphones, tablets, and desktops)
• Multiple email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc)
• Different browsers to check for inconsistencies.

Email design plays a crucial role in how effectively your message resonates with readers. We know not every email marketer has a dedicated design team, so we’ve rounded up the top tips anyone can implement — ensuring your emails are user-friendly, responsive, and polished!

A well-designed, responsive email template is the foundation of a successful email marketing campaign. Following these best practices—or leveraging expert support from a team like Everlytic’s Creative Studio Team—can improve engagement, increase conversions, and ensure your emails leave a lasting impression.