Email Protocols for Business

Email in Business

As a new website owner or a current website owner whose site has been expanded to include greater email interaction you’ll want to get a good understanding of how businesses use email effectively. Email has grown to be a large part of modern communication, especially in business. The globe has become a great deal smaller now that we have the capacity to send and receive email messages over great distances at an astonishing rate. As a result of the accessibility it has the potential to be abused and you should try to keep the following points in mind when writing email.

How much should you write in an email?

Email was conceived for fast, straightforward communication. As a broad rule that suggests approximately 1 to 5 paragraphs at utmost. Due to the confines of design, anything a good deal longer than that is in all probability best transmitted as a separate attachment. Most people have a limited attention span with email – and in business are receiving over a hundred emails a day (not including spam) and you want to get the main message explained in the shortest possible space. Additionally, computer screens were never intended for reading lots of small text and many people, especially those with vision deficits will experience problems with long emails.

Do spelling and grammar matter in email?

Yes; in business spelling and grammar count! Poor spelling and grammar show a lack of attention to detail and sends the wrong message about yourself and how you do business. Most email programs today have built-in spell and if not Firefox has a good one. You wouldn't send a letter that was poorly punctuated and uses no capital letters - why not make sure your email messages look professional too?

What do cc: and bcc: mean?

There is a certain protocol with email, particularly in the use of the carbon copy (cc:) and blind carbon copy (bcc:) fields. It is courteous to add addresses to the 'cc:' field if those people need to know about the subject but are not required to act on the contents.
The 'bcc:' field is useful where discretion is required. People in this field are concealed from other recipients in the 'To', 'cc:' and 'bcc:' fields. They can themselves see others in the 'To' and 'cc:' fields but not the 'bcc:' fields.

What are plain text and HTML format email?

Plain text email is exactly that - plain. There are no formatting using different fonts or colors. Email messages can only contain characters typed on a keyboard, known as the ASCII character set.
Most plain text email is written using a character set like Courier which is a fixed width font (characters are all the same width). This is useful for perfectly aligning characters between rows, as shown below. Note the headings and separators in use here as well:

HTML email allows you to add formatting to your text as well as images or links using HTML code. Many online newsletters are written in this format as they provide a more visual medium and are pleasing to look at. The example below is the same message as shown before, including some basic formatting such as different fonts, colors and underlining as well as a hypertext link.

So which email format should you use? Increasingly, email is being read on devices such as mobile phones or PDAs. Plain text email can be easily interpreted on these whereas HTML email often won't display and is usually too large to download anyway.
If you want your email to be readable at all times, plain text is the way to go. It doesn't always look the best but it has other advantages as already mentioned.

Email Accounts

For personal email Gmail or hotmail is fine. However in the business world always use your domain email for communication. Using your domain email provides the recipient with a sense of confidence and continuity of service. Using emails such as Gmail as your business email account can create confusion, possibly distrust and an increased risk of phishing attacks.

Signature File

In business signature files must be attached to every outgoing message you send, usually containing contact details and other relevant information. It is a great way to draw attention to products or services you offer, and you are making yourself easier to contact as well. It also gives the email an official and professional feel.

Other uses for an email signature include:

• Confidentiality/privacy statements
• Drawing attention to web site addresses
• Promoting a newsletter
• Emails & Phone numbers
• Company Hours
• Adding other contact details such as Instant Messaging

Sample Signature:

Sincerely,
John Doe, SEO
Any Company
P. (123) 456-7890
C. (123) 456-8999
F. (123) 456-8990
johnd@anycompany.com
AIM: johndanycompany
www.anycompany.com
Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST
Address: 123 Main Street, Anywhere, 11111 USA
Read our privacy statement here

In today’s electronic world email has become an indispensible communication tool. As such it must be formatted just as traditional written communications to be considered worthy for appropriate business communication.