The 10-Point Checklist Before You Hit Send on Any Newsletter
Subject lines, preview text, links and plain-text fallbacks — everything we check before a single email leaves our account.
Email is where small audiences behave like big ones. One sloppy send to 1,000 people can quietly cost you dozens of future opens. This is the checklist we run before every newsletter — including the one announcing this blog.
1. The subject line passes the lock-screen test
Imagine your subject line rendered on a phone lock screen next to a Slack notification. Would a human tap it? Run it through the Email Subject Line Tester and get a score plus concrete fixes. Aim for 60+, and never ship a subject line that hits 40 or below.
2. The first 40 characters carry the hook
On mobile, most inboxes show roughly 40–60 characters of the subject before truncating. Put the reason to open in the first half, not buried in the tail.
3. Preview text is written on purpose
The preview text is your second subject line. Treat it that way — write it explicitly, don't let the client auto-pull the first body sentence ("If you are unable to see this email..." is the fastest un-subscribe trigger in existence).
4. One goal, one link
A newsletter with nine links is a newsletter with no direction. Pick a single primary action and make the others secondary.
Ask yourself: if a reader only does one thing, what should it be?
5. Links are tested in a sandbox
Tracked links with broken tokens fail silently. Open a copy of the email in a test inbox and click everything before the real send.
6. Plain-text version exists
Some of your subscribers use clients that strip HTML. If you skip the plain-text version, they get garbage. Most email tools generate it — just review it instead of shipping it blind.
7. Images never carry the meaning
If your announcement only works when images load, it doesn't work. Keep critical copy as real text, and set a sensible alt on every image.
8. The preview pane on desktop
Force a narrow window and read the top of the email. Wide desktop templates that ignore the 600px standard look broken to half your audience.
9. Segments are double-checked
Segments are where unsubscribes and spam complaints are born. Verify the audience filter returns who you think it returns.
10. You clicked "send" knowing the goal
If you can't state the one outcome you want in a sentence, the email isn't ready. Do that first, and the checklist above mostly takes care of itself.
Keep this list handy. If you publish regularly, print it. The Subject Line Tester covers step one — the other nine are on you.