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High click rate on link to online version of the email - why, oh why?
I've recently noticed that a lot of our readers click the 'Check the online version of this email' link. The stats can go as far as 25% of the total cliks, sometimes more. My colleagues and I (Marcom department, including Webteam) really wonder why. None of us ever clicks this link in the emails we receive personally.
We place this link on top of the email. Is it just because it's the very first link they can see? Or because some don't want to activate images? Or does it really mean they cannot read our emails?
Do you experience such high rates for this link? How would you interpet this behaviour? is there anything we can do about it?
Thanks for your help.
I had a related conversation earlier this week. A few possibilities:
Question: Is it a problem that they're viewing your email in a browser rather than an email client? Why do you feel the need to do something about it?
A related article
Hi Ted
Well, now that I have read about possible explanations and other people's habits, I don't necessarily see this as a problem. any more. My colleagues and I were a bit worried as we interpreted this as a sign our emails don't display well for quite a few readers.
It's the first link in the email right? If you pull the list of who clicked the link I think you'll find that a small number of domains dominate the clicks. It's definitely automated; I'm pretty sure it's either an anti-spam or anti-malware that for whatever reason grabs the first link it sees and "clicks" it. Probably to see where it redirects to.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check this data.
Hi Myriam,
Have you noticed any pattern around these clicks? e.g. same domain clicking the same link?
I'm assuming you're testing your emails through Litmus or similar product? It's possible that your designs are breaking in a certain client. If that client is used by a high percentage of your mailing list, then you could be seeing a high click rate on the "view in browser" link than what would be considered normal...
Do you have any data on those that are clicking on that link? Like demographic data?
Some unfair guesses follow this point:
It might be an older demographic? Or a less technically inclined demographic?
Unfortunately we don't have this data. Thanks any way!
Do you hide the view online link in mobile devices? As Ted has mentioned i wouldn't see desktop view online clicks being a problem, bit if it was from a mobile device that might be a little concerning.
It might be an interesting exercise to drill down into the segment of users who click the view online as Michael mentions above - do they share similar attributes such as email client, domain, click time (E.G. during work hours)
Have you tried A/B testing the placement of the link? Perhaps it grabs a lot of clicks because it's the first link on the top of your email. I'd try testing the same email with the link placed just above the footer to see if this impacts your click number.
I get a really high click-through rate on this link, too. I assume it's because someone wants to leave it open in their browser and save it for later.