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Differences Between Email and Web Design: Key Distinctions

Learn the key differences between email and web design. Why web rules don't work in email and what errors occur when transferring approaches. Complete guide for designers.

#css-in-email#design-differences#design-for-email-clients#email-design#email-layout#email-marketing#web-design
Question

What are the key differences between email design and web design? I’ve heard that web designers sometimes don’t account for the specific characteristics of email design and create layouts following website standards, which leads to problems. Is this true? What are the main differences between web design and email design? What errors can occur in an email if it’s created according to the rules applied to websites?

NeuroAgent

Email Design vs. Web Design: Fundamental Differences and Best Practices

Email design and web design really have fundamental differences, and applying web design rules to email design often leads to serious problems with rendering and functionality. The key difference is that emails must work in the limited environment of various email clients with their unique rendering rules, while websites are displayed in modern browsers with full support for modern CSS and HTML standards.

Table of Contents

Basic Technical Differences

Emails and websites fundamentally differ in their technical basis. As noted by Litmus, email design has limited CSS support, where many properties that work flawlessly in browsers are either not supported at all or work incorrectly in various email clients.

The key difference lies in the approach to styling: while web design prefers external CSS files for better performance and consistency, email design requires the use of inline styles. According to iMedia, many email clients remove styles from the <head> tag or linked external style sheets, making inline styles the only reliable way to ensure proper display.

Key difference: Web design uses modern technologies to create dynamic and interactive interfaces, while email design is limited to static content with minimal interactivity.

Layout and Composition Principles

Layout in email design is radically different from web layout. As explained by Adobe, web design has modern layout methods available such as CSS Grid and Flexbox, while email design relies heavily on tables for creating layouts.

As noted by Smaily: “Different email applications support different subsets of HTML and CSS. This support in some cases is at opposite ends of the spectrum”. This leads to the need to use more conservative approaches to layout.

For creating responsive email templates, it is recommended to use “fluid-fixed” table structures, as indicated in Adobe’s recommendations. This approach ensures proper display on both mobile devices and desktops.

CSS Support and Styling

CSS support in email clients is extremely limited compared to modern browsers. As pointed out by Email on Acid: “If you’re used to developing websites, you’re probably accustomed to avoiding inline CSS whenever possible. For faster page loading and for maintaining stylistic consistency across the entire website, referencing a style sheet is best practice”.

However, in email design, it’s the opposite: as emphasized by iMedia, “using inline styles is best practice for email to ensure the highest percentage of clients will display your emails correctly”.

An additional limitation is the lack of support for many modern CSS properties that work flawlessly in web browsers:

CSS Property Email Support Web Support
Flexbox Partial/None Full
CSS Grid None Full
Position: absolute Limited Full
CSS Variables Partial Full
Font-face Limited Full

Rendering Issues in Different Clients

One of the most serious challenges in email design is rendering inconsistency across different email clients. As noted by Litmus, “email is different from web design and print design” due to the need to consider many different platforms.

Rendering in Microsoft Outlook is particularly difficult, as it has its own rules for processing HTML and CSS. As indicated by MailPoet, “when forwarding or replying to this email, the conditional check of these rules is ignored by Outlook, which can lead to duplication of some content, especially buttons and images, as well as alignment issues, especially with 2- and 3-column layouts”.

Other common issues include:

  • Text breaks in buttons and interface elements
  • Incorrect font display and sizes
  • Responsiveness issues on mobile devices
  • Image blocking by default in many clients

Common Mistakes Web Designers Make in Email Design

Web designers transitioning to email design often make a series of typical mistakes based on familiar web principles:

1. Using external CSS files

Instead of inline styles, web designers often try to use external style sheets, which causes email clients to either ignore them or remove them completely.

2. Complex modern layouts

Using CSS Grid or complex Flexbox layouts instead of tables leads to complete layout breakdown in most email clients.

3. Lack of “bulletproof buttons”

As noted by Litmus, “if you put your call-to-action inside an image, it will become invisible when images are disabled. A bulletproof button uses HTML and CSS instead of image formats like JPG and GIF”.

4. Ignoring Outlook rendering issues

Outlook has unique rendering issues, including content duplication when forwarding and column alignment problems.

5. Insufficient testing

Web designers often test designs only in a few browsers, while email requires checking multiple clients and devices.

Example of problematic web designer code in email:

html
<!-- WRONG: Modern web approach -->
<div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between;">
  <div style="flex: 1;">Content 1</div>
  <div style="flex: 1;">Content 2</div>
</div>

<!-- RIGHT: Email approach with tables -->
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%">
  <tr>
    <td width="50%" valign="top">Content 1</td>
    <td width="50%" valign="top">Content 2</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Recommendations for Adapting Web Principles for Email

Despite all the differences, some web principles can be adapted for email design:

  1. User-oriented design: As emphasized by HubSpot, “great email design supports your strategy by increasing open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, as well as improving user experience and strengthening your brand”.

  2. Intuitive navigation: Email structure should be as clear as a website, with a clear information hierarchy.

  3. Visual separation of logical blocks: Even when using tables, it’s important to visually separate different sections of the layout.

  4. Testing on various platforms: Using services like Litmus or Email on Acid to check rendering in different clients.

  5. Mobile responsiveness: Email should display correctly on mobile devices, taking into account their specific features.

Conclusion

Email design and web design really have fundamental differences, and applying web rules to email design often leads to serious problems. Key takeaways:

  1. Technical limitations: Email clients have limited CSS and HTML support compared to browsers
  2. Table-based layouts: Unlike modern web layout, email requires the use of tables for proper display
  3. Inline styles: External CSS files are not supported, all styles must be inline
  4. Rendering issues: Different email clients (especially Outlook) have unique display problems
  5. Testing: Email requires more thorough testing across various platforms and devices

For successful email design, it’s necessary to learn its specifics and apply appropriate layout and styling methods, rather than simply transferring web approaches. Remember that emails must work in a limited environment with many technical limitations, and adapting design to these limitations is the key to success.

Sources

  1. Web vs. HTML Email Design: 10 Key Differences to Know - Litmus
  2. The Differences Between Email Design and Web Design - Adobe
  3. Web vs. Email Development: The Biggest Differences - Email on Acid
  4. Email vs Web HTML – Learn the Key Differences - iMedia
  5. Email Coding & Web Coding: It’s Not The Same - Smaily
  6. Email Marketing Design Best Practices: 17 Key Things to Know - Litmus
  7. Email Design: The Ultimate Guide with Examples - DesignModo
  8. 16 best practices for email design, according to an email marketing consultant - HubSpot
  9. 19 Big Differences Between Email and Web HTML - MailBakery
  10. #NoFailMail: The 5 Most Common Email Design Fails (and How to Avoid Them) - Litmus
Which CSS properties are supported in email clients and which are not?How to create responsive email design that displays correctly on all devices?What email testing tools exist and how to use them properly?What alternatives to tables can be used in email layout for more complex designs?What modern trends exist in email design and how to implement them considering limitations?What are the best practices for creating email templates for different purposes (newsletters, transactional emails, welcome series)?
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