Email marketing is an essential tool needed when building relationships with your customers. Often times, the subject line text is forgotten about until the very end, leaving business professionals scrambling to put just anything there in order to send out the email as soon as possible. Bad idea. Subject lines are extremely important if you want your email to be noticed. Here are seven tips to help you develop the best email subject line.

1. Keep it short

Your subject line should ideally be between six to ten words long, with the most relevant words placed first. You want to get to the point as quickly as possible. People are busy – they skim their emails for items of importance, so you have very little time and space to convince them to click on yours.

2. Be specific

Don’t be vague with your wording here. You want to catch their attention after all, and they need to know what the email is going to be about. It is wise to include your company name either within the sender’s email address, or in the subject line itself so readers know who the email is from. Studies have also shown that open rates increase if you include their first name in your subject line – so keep that in mind, too.

3. Make it searchable

Your subject line should include some easily searchable keywords in case your readers want to locate or read the email at a later time. This is where including your company name or a benefit to the customer comes in handy. Make it memorable.

4. Spend the time

We’re sure you’ve spent hours crafting an amazing email for your customers to read, but all of that work will have gone to waste if you don’t spend an equal amount of time working on the perfect subject line. Your email won’t get opened if you don’t grab their attention. Spend the time, think about what would catch your attention, test on your friends, etc. You don’t want your message to get lost in the clutter.

5. No spamming

If there is one thing you take away from this article, it’s this: DO NOT USE SPAM WORDS! We know you know what they are, but to refresh your memory, words like Free, Today Only, New, Latest, Exclusive, Act Now, As Seen On, Bad Credit, Fast Cash, etc. should be avoided. Think about it, do you open those spam emails? Your readers won’t, either. You don’t want to be that person, and your email will go straight to their spam folder if words like these are detected.

6. Proofread… Again

You have read your subject line over and over again. But that’s still not enough. Send it to friends, colleagues, relatives. Make sure your wording gets the right message across, while still being exciting enough to encourage a click-through. You should also look at your test email from different screen sizes like a tablet or a smartphone just in case any words get cut off. Edit and test one more time after that.

7. Don’t mislead

If your subject line is promising something to your readers, you better back that up in your email copy. Don’t hint at a huge sale if you don’t have anything to offer. If you lie to your readers once, the likelihood of them ever trusting you again has gone down the drain. Be honest and upfront – you’d want the same treatment in return.

Crafting the perfect email with an equally amazing subject line is hard and it takes a lot of practice. There are no perfect email marketers out there, but these general guidelines will ensure that you’ll stand out from your competition.