While the factors that determine opens are very easy to identify (From name, subject line and whether it actually landed in the inbox) the factors that determine the click-thru rate are more difficult to identify. While there are a few exceptions to the rule, generally an email campaign will not be successful without a high click-thru rate. This article looks at the factors that affect click-thrus and suggests improvements to your campaigns that can be made.

1. Opens
Clearly if no-one opens your email you will struggle to get any click-thru’s! Therefore your subject line does actually effect your click-thru rate.

2. High position of click-thrus
Email as a medium is considered top heavy – it is the top part of the email that will have the biggest impact on response. Include key links ‘above the fold’.

3. Multiple call to actions
As recipients scan chunks of the email put your call-to-actions in multiple locations to improve the click-thru rate.

4. Impact of link within email
Use colour, graphics and anything else that will make your click-thru stand out.

5. Relevance of content
If your click-thru rate is low one of the major reasons could be the content is either not appealing or relevant. Consider creating multiple versions for different target audiences as opposed to a single version for your entire list.

6. Number of different links
While the click-thru rate is a unique measurement (I.E. If someone clicks on the same link more than once it still only counts as one), if someone clicks on different links then this does increase. Therefore make sure your click-thru rate has not been artificially bloated – this can be achieved by looking at the respondants statistic in Maxemail (number of people who have clicked on a link in the email, no recipient will be counted more than once.).

7. Scanability
If your email is difficult to scan recipients will not gauge what your email is about and therefore not click on the links.