How to write a table of contents

/

Help email newsletter subscribers find stories without scrolling

When you have a longer email newsletter, add a table of contents to help subscribers see all of the stories available without having to scroll.

How to write a table of contents
Table it When you have 5 or more pieces in a newsletter that covers more than 2 printed pages, add a table of contents. Image by nomadFra

Here’s how:

  • Add a table of contents when you have 5 or more pieces in a newsletter that covers more than 2 printed pages.
  • Place the table of contents so that it’s visible, along with some content, on the first screen.
  • Consider mobile readers. How does your table of contents look on the small screen? Don’t make readers zoom to read.
  • Include brief headlines. That’s full headlines, not just Case study.
  • Avoid redundancy. Don’t include a blurb if it just repeats the headline.

___

Source: Kim Flaherty, Amy Schade, and Jakob Nielsen; Marketing Email and Newsletter Design to Increase Conversion and Loyalty, 6th Edition; Nielsen Norman Group, 2017

[widgets_on_pages id=”MC-EMAIL-SCANNABLE”]

Read More

Draw readers in and move them to act

1

81% of ‘readers’ don’t read

67% skim vs. reading word-by-word How do people read news online? They don't, according to the latest Harris Interactive poll....
Channels / Persuasive writing / PR / Skim, scan, read
Write about the impact

Write about the impact

Not about the event Friends! I once helped an employee communicator edit an intranet article that started like this: On...
Persuasive writing / Reader-centric writing
3 more writing resolutions

3 more writing resolutions

Build a bridge, not a wall — and more Friends! Thanks for the great feedback on last week's writing resolutions...
Channels / PR / Writing structure

Reach more
readers with
our writing tips

Never miss a tip!

Newsletter