Guide to Creating HTML Emails
This guide is intended for communicators, marketers, developers, and campus partners who design or want to send WVU-branded emails.
Purpose and Goals
University email communications should be clear, accessible, and easy to read on any device, reflect the University’s brand and voice, and reach audiences reliably across email clients and platforms.
Resources and Tips
- Email Design Best Practices
- How to Design Eye-Catching Marketing Emails
- Tips for Writing Effective Emails
- A Blueprint for Writing Effective Emails
- Tricks for Optimizing Your Emails for Screen Readers
Using Litmus to Build and Test Emails
Before sending any HTML email, you should test on mobile and desktop, test major clients (Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail), check links and buttons, verify alt text and image loading, and proofread content carefully.
Litmus is the University’s primary tool for building and testing emails. If you have access to a Litmus account, you can use a number of WVU-branded components and templates. See the Litmus Builder documentation for general info, and contact Kim Duong with questions about using WVU’s branded templates.
Sending Platforms
Below are some commonly used platforms to send WVU-branded emails.
Mailchimp
Best for smaller campaigns, external or alumni audiences, simple segmentation. Available to anyone with their own Mailchimp account.
Contact Kim Duong to gain access to WVU’s shared templates.
WVU LISTSERV Website
Best for plain-text or very simple HTML announcements or internal notifications. Available to all WVU staff. Below are some helpful resources:
- Create an account to get started (requires WVU login)
- Listserv FAQ (requires WVU login)
- Creating a listserv list (requires WVU login)
Outlook + Designmodo
Best for one-off or small internal sends, for senders without access to other marketing platforms.
Questions
If you have questions about sending HTML emails through one of these methods or need help, contact Kim Duong.