The importance of an email subject field

Earlier this week, I published an article for CommPro. The content was the subject line in an email and how important it is for a recipient's first impression. Here is the same article...

 

 Well begun is half done.—Aristotle

Besides the sender’s name and company, the subject field in an email will be the first item a message reader will see. Therefore, this should never be blank. The action of not having a subject has only negative connotations. The least of these is that the author was lazy or neglectful. The worst of these is that the message is a possible spam (at least to the spam software). Either way, the initial reaction to any email omitting a subject will be negative. If it is indeed viewed this way, then the odds of the message being read by a first-time recipient surely decrease dramatically. If the message is important, such as a résumé, introduction, or emergency, the negative implications to the sender may be quite significant. So, always include a subject description. Provide proper punctuation, but do not include a period at the end.

Even when there is a subject description, it may not be adequate, appropriate, or accurate to the content of the message itself. Too short of a subject, such as “info,” can also discourage someone from opening and reading the message. Conversely, a long email subject line might have a negative effect either for lack of interest (because of the way it is described), lack of clarity, or because it gives away too much of the content. As a rule, it is best to restrict the subject description from three to ten words. Ensure that a subject line is not the whole message with blank text in the email body. In entering the subject-line content, it is best to accurately repeat content as well as present a bridge to something important to the recipient, such as “Schedule of your classes,” or “Recap of our meeting today.” Leave it to the body of text to explain attachments or provide expanded details.

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About the Author:  Paul Babicki is the author of a forthcoming book, “NetiquetteIQ – A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email”. He also authors a blog at http://NetiquetteIQ.blogspot.com. He can be contacted at www.netiquetteiq.com or paul@netiquetteiq.com   

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Also there will be an email "IQ" test on our website:

 www.netiquetteiq.com

There are discount coupons available on the website. There is no obligation and the savings will be up to 50%.

paul@netiquetteiq.com
Paul Babicki
paul@netiquetteiq.com
+Serkan Gecmen
serkan@netiquetteiq.com
"Good Netiquette Writing!"

 +emailiq

Censor levels of countries - one of our best posts (part one)

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 Our blog post of 5/24/2013 show the top ten worst countries in the world. The following list shows a country by country breakdown of censorship (by  ONI)  features political, social, Internet tools and conflict/security. Again this demonstrates how a person who sends to certain countries must be careful of the policies which that nation holds forth. The more important an email is, the more prudent a sender should be.     

       
              

Country Political filtering Social filtering Internet tools filtering Conflict/security filtering SOURCE: ONI Afghanistan no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Algeria no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Armenia substantial selective selective selective Australia no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Azerbaijan selective selective no evidence no evidence Bahrain pervasive pervasive substantial selective Bangladesh no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Belarus selective selective selective selective Burma (Myanmar) pervasive substantial substantial substantial Canada no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence China pervasive substantial substantial pervasive Colombia no evidence selective no evidence no evidence Croatia no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Denmark no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Egypt no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Ethiopia substantial selective selective selective Finland no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence France no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Gaza and the West Bank no evidence substantial no evidence no evidence Georgia selective no evidence no evidence selective Germany no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Guatemala no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Hungary no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence India selective selective selective selective Indonesia selective substantial selective no evidence Iran pervasive pervasive pervasive substantial Iraq no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Israel no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Italy no evidence selective no evidence no evidence Jordan selective no evidence no evidence no evidence Kazakhstan selective selective no evidence no evidence Kuwait selective pervasive pervasive selective Kyrgyzstan selective selective no evidence no evidence Laos no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence Latvia no evidence no evidence no evidence no evidence
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