Email newsletters are one of the simplest and most effective ways to stay connected with your audience — yet they’re often one of the most overlooked.

Over the years, I’ve helped many clients create email newsletters to share their knowledge, keep their audience updated, and promote their services in a helpful and natural way.

Some clients send monthly updates. Others share helpful tips or resources. Some use newsletters to stay top-of-mind or drive traffic to their website or offers. There’s no one “right” way to send a newsletter — and that’s part of what makes them so flexible and valuable.

Not Sure What to Send? Start Simple

One thing I often hear from business owners is that they want to send newsletters, but they’re not sure what to say or don’t have the time to create them consistently.

The good news is that newsletters don’t have to be complicated.

You can share as much or as little as you’d like. Some simple ideas include:

• A quick business update
• One helpful tip
• A recent project or success story
• A reminder about your services
• A seasonal message
• A blog post or helpful resource
• New services or offerings

You don’t need to include everything — keeping your newsletter focused often leads to better engagement. Even sending one email per month can help you build stronger relationships and remain visible with your audience over time.

Tips to Improve Newsletter Engagement

To create newsletters your audience enjoys reading:

• Keep it simple and focused
• Use short paragraphs
• Write in a conversational tone
• Include one main message
• Add a clear call-to-action (or two — but not too many)
• Optimize for mobile devices
• Be consistent (monthly is a great place to start)

Being consistent can sometimes feel easier said than done. Life gets busy, and tasks like newsletters can easily fall to the bottom of the list. Even so, showing up in whatever capacity you can is often better than not showing up at all. A simple, consistent touchpoint can help build familiarity and trust over time.

Technical Tips to Improve Your Email Newsletters

A well-designed newsletter doesn’t just look good — it should also load quickly and be easy to read across devices. Here are a few technical tips to keep in mind.

1. Keep Your Email Size Lightweight

Large emails can load slowly, reduce engagement, and sometimes even get clipped by email providers. For example, Gmail may clip emails larger than 102KB, which can hide part of your message and reduce engagement.

Here are a few helpful guidelines:

• File size – Aim to keep your email under 100–150 KB (HTML content)
• Image sizes – Compress images before uploading
• Layout – Avoid too many large images and watch your content length
• Formatting – Keep formatting simple and clean

Keeping your email lightweight helps ensure your readers see your full message while also improving loading speed and readability.

2. Optimize Image Size and Dimensions

Images can enhance your newsletter, but large images can slow loading times — especially on mobile devices. This can cause readers to abandon your newsletter altogether — not the result you want.

Here are some recommended guidelines:

Recommended Image Dimensions

• Full-width banner images: 600–800px wide
• Content images: 400–600px wide
• Logo images: 200–300px wide

Recommended Image File Size

• Try to keep images under 200 KB
• Ideally under 100 KB when possible

Recommended Formats

• JPG for photos
• PNG for logos or graphics (also useful for transparent backgrounds)
• GIF (use sparingly) for simple animation

Optimizing your images helps your emails load faster and improves the reader experience.

Have you thought about Email Deliverability?

Creating a well-designed newsletter is important — but just as important is making sure your emails actually reach your audience’s inbox.

This is where email deliverability comes in.

Email deliverability refers to whether your email lands in your subscriber’s inbox rather than being filtered into spam, junk, or promotions folders.

Several factors can influence deliverability, including:

• Spam trigger words
• Domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
• Sender reputation
• List quality
• Engagement rates
• Sending frequency

While some of these may sound technical or intimidating, exploring these areas and making small improvements can make a meaningful difference in the success of your broadcasts.

You can read a more detailed guide on improving email deliverability in this post.

Before You Hit Send: Email Newsletter Checklist

A clean, focused, and easy-to-read newsletter often performs best — especially since many readers view emails on their phones.

When creating your newsletter, try to avoid:

• Large images
• Too much content
• Too many topics
• Too many links
• Poor mobile formatting

Keep in mind that creating a newsletter involves more than just writing the content. Here are a few things to review before you hit send:

Need Help Creating Your Newsletter?

If creating newsletters feels overwhelming or time-consuming, you’re not alone. Many business owners want to stay connected with their audience but don’t always have the time to create newsletters consistently.

I offer support to help you:

• Create a newsletter template
• Design your email layout
• Format your content
• Set up your email platform
• Provide ongoing newsletter support

Whether you’re just getting started or looking to improve your current newsletters, I’d be happy to help. I currently offer setup and support using MailerLite, Kit (formerly ConvertKit), and Mailchimp.

If you’d like to explore this further, feel free to reach out — I’d love to chat about what might work best for your business.