Link each newsletter item to the page about that item, with the offer visible the moment the page opens. Tag each link separately, so your mailing service and Analytics show which items readers actually wanted.

Every link, one destination

A monthly newsletter goes out with three short stories and an offer. Each has a photo, a few lines and a button that says read more.

Every button leads to the home page. So does every photo, the logo and the offer.

A reader who tapped the offer lands on a slideshow and a welcome paragraph, on a phone, and has to work out where the offer went. Many give up quickly.

It usually happens because the stories were written only for the newsletter. There was no page to link to, so the home page stood in.

Where each item should lead

Getting the second wrong is the most expensive. A reader who tapped an offer has already decided they want it, and every step between the tap and the offer is a chance to lose them.

A small promise in every link

A link promises something: tap here and you will see this. Landing somewhere else breaks the promise, and readers learn the newsletter's links are not worth tapping.

Most newsletters are read on phones. On a small screen the home page shows a header, a photo and perhaps a heading, and the item the reader wanted may be four screens down or not there at all.

The offer page should repeat the email's words, price and end date near the top, so the reader can see straight away that the link kept its promise.

Write the page first

The fix starts before the newsletter is written. Put the story on the blog, the offer on a page of its own and the event in the events list, then link to each.

Each issue then leaves pages behind on the site, where search engines and later visitors can find them, rather than words that vanish after one send.

When an offer closes, mark its page as ended rather than deleting it. People open old newsletters late, and a short note about the next offer serves them better than an error page.

What the reports cannot see

Mailing services report clicks by link address. When every link leads to the same address, many of them show a single line: so many clicks on the home page.

You cannot tell whether readers wanted the offer, the story or the event, which is the main thing a newsletter report is for.

Analytics has the same blind spot. Everyone arrives on the home page, and what they did next is scattered across the site.

Tag each link separately

Campaign tags are a few extra words appended to each link address. Analytics reads them to record what sent the visit: for a newsletter, the source is the newsletter, the medium is email and the campaign is the month's issue.

Add a fourth tag, the content tag, with a different word for each item: offer, story, event. Analytics then shows which item each visit came from.

Many mailing services can add the first three tags automatically. The content tag usually has to be added by whoever builds the issue.

A worked example

A garden designer works mostly on small city lots and townhouse yards, drawing plans, choosing plants and overseeing the planting crews she hires.

Her monthly newsletter went to past clients and people who had asked for quotes.

A typical issue had a finished garden, a note on what to plant that month, a talk at a garden club, and an offer: a design consultation at a reduced fee if booked by a set date.

Every item linked to the home page, which opened on a slideshow. The consultation offer appeared nowhere on the site, so some readers replied asking how to book, and others simply did not.

Her mailing service reported one line: clicks on the home page. She had no idea which item people tapped.

The fix added about an hour a month. The finished garden became a blog post with more photos, the planting note a short post and the talk an entry on the events page.

The offer got its own page, with the fee, the end date and a booking form near the top. Each link carried tags with its own content label, and the next report showed which items readers had wanted.

Photos, buttons and the logo

Readers tap photos as well as buttons, so every photo should lead where its item's button does. A photo that opens the home page while its button opens the story makes two different promises.

The logo at the top can lead to the home page; that is what readers expect a logo to do.

Keep to one destination per item. Three different links in one short story split attention and muddle the report.

Test every link before sending

Send a test to yourself and tap every link on a phone, not a computer. Check that each opens the right page, that the offer shows without scrolling, and that the form on it works.

Check the links in the text version at the same time; they should lead to the same pages.

A link to a page still sitting in draft sends readers to an error, a common slip in a rushed send.

The counter-case

A very short newsletter with one message, such as a holiday closure or a reminder to book, can reasonably link to the home page or the booking page and nothing else.

A business sending personal notes to a small list, where replies are the goal, can ask readers to reply rather than click.

Whenever an item promises something specific, though, link it to the page about that thing, with the offer visible on arrival, and tag each link.

Before the next issue

  1. Give each item a page on the site.
  2. Put the offer's terms at the top of its page.
  3. Link each item to its own page.
  4. Point photos where their buttons point.
  5. Tag every link with a content label.
  6. Tap every link in a test on a phone.
  7. Read the report by item, not total.

Step one is what makes the rest possible. A newsletter can only link to pages that exist, and the home page fills in for every page nobody wrote.

The plain-text copy that goes out with every designed issue is covered in the text version nobody checks.

Frequently asked questions

Why not link everything to the home page?

Because readers tapped for one item and have to hunt for it, often on a phone. Many give up, and your reports cannot show which item they wanted.

Where should a newsletter offer link?

To a page showing that offer with the same words, price and end date as the email, near the top, with a way to book or buy.

What if a story only exists in the newsletter?

Publish it on your blog or news page first, then link to it. The page stays on the site for search engines and later visitors.

How do I see which items readers clicked?

Link each item to its own page and add campaign tags with a different content label for each item. Analytics and the mailing service then report them separately.

Where should photos in the newsletter link?

To the same page as their item's button. The logo at the top can go to the home page, since that is what readers expect from it.

What should I test before sending?

Tap every link in a test email on a phone. Check that each opens the right page, that the offer shows without scrolling, and that any form works.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Newsletter links all going home?

Send us your last issue. We will map each item to the page it should open and set up the tags.

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