Klaviyo Email Design Best Practices: Layouts That Drive Clicks (Not Just Opens)

A good Klaviyo email design is something that looks natural and effortless. Not something you had to force yourself to come up with.

A good Klaviyo email design is something that never looks forced or tried-hard. The best ones feel natural. Effortless. Like the email layout knew exactly where your eyes would go before you even opened it.

That’s because in Klaviyo email designs, the layout isn’t just a frame for your message; it’s the backbone. It determines how your copy unfolds, which details receive VIP attention, and exactly where your subscriber’s attention flows next.

When your Klaviyo email layout has a clear hierarchy, it makes the path obvious: here’s the headline, here’s why it matters, here’s what to click.

However, when that doesn’t manifest in your Klaviyo email layout, your email fails to achieve the intended impact. A cluttered email design, for instance, gives vibes similar to a store aisle with products piled everywhere. You walk in, get confused, and walk right back out.

So, how do you make sure your subscribers glide through your Klaviyo email designs, from “open” to “click”?

It starts with understanding the layouts and content blocks Klaviyo puts at your fingertips and using them strategically, rather than randomly.

Let’s break down the Klaviyo email layouts that consistently work, and how you can bring them to life inside Klaviyo.

What Layouts Make Good Klaviyo Email Design (Besides Not Being Boring)?

Let’s not romanticize good email design as a vanity project; it’s a strategic pursuit. That’s why Klaviyo doesn’t just hand you a palette and brush and wish you luck.

The platform is packed with Klaviyo email templates and layouts that double as psychological roadmaps, guiding readers to your Call To Action (CTA).

Taking Klaviyo email layouts, there are three predominant email layouts: the inverted pyramid, the zigzag, and the single column.

These are the big three that act as a solid foundation for all the marketing tricks that you want to pull using email campaigns.

The Inverted Pyramid

Image Source: Klaviyo

Picture a triangle, its pointy tip pointing straight down, and imagine it gently—sometimes not so gently—siphoning your reader towards your CTA.

The Klaviyo email design in inverted pyramid layout with a wide top that contains a showstopper: a full-width image or logo that screams, “Hey! Look here!”

Below it lives a headline so clear and bold, your grandma could spot it without reaching for her glasses.

Next comes a concise snippet of copy—just enough to entice, never enough to bore.

Finally, your CTA button gleams at the bottom, ready to collect clicks like confetti after a wedding.

It’s simple, focused, and brilliant for emails with a single clear goal—such as announcing a sale or launching a product.

It’s a clean, no-frills design that excels at what it should: grab eyeballs with one message and nothing else. Brands using Klaviyo email templates rely heavily on such layouts for emails with a single mission—like announcing a sale, unveiling a new feature, or launching a product.

Zigzag Layout: Keep Eyes Dancing (and Fingers Clicking)

Image Source: Klaviyo

Now, the zigzag: It’s the sly fox of email layouts. Why? Because it doesn’t play by predictability. Still, it doesn’t disappoint in engaging readers.

This Klaviyo email design places images and text alternately left and right, guiding the eye in—you guessed it—a zigzag pattern. Each section can have its own mini-CTA, but the content still ties back to a central theme.

It’s perfect for showing off multiple pieces of content. Each one with their own shiny button, but not triggering information overload. The timely and appropriate breaks in content prevent potential monotony.

Zigzagging eyes don’t get tired. They get curious. As long as you tether every section to a central theme (think: “Flash Sale!” or “New Arrivals!”), you give your reader choices without chaos.

If you’re juggling a new product launch, an event, and a customer review all in one email—this is your ticket. Perfect for product roundups, newsletters, educational sequences, or brand stories.

Single Column: Simplicity That Sells

Image Source: Klaviyo

With so many options, why would anyone choose the humble single column? Easy. Because it just works.

Designmodo, in its Email Design Trends for 2025, points out that the mobile-first approach naturally leans toward a one-column structure. It embraces content, keeps it consistent across devices, and gives readers a clear, linear flow.

Plus, Mailjet’s Path to Email Engagement 2024 found that 71.5% of consumers most often check their email on a mobile device.

That’s more than a solid reason to pick Klaviyo email layouts with a single column.

Minimalist and mobile-friendly, the single column layout shines on smaller screens—where, let’s face it, most of your audience lives. Images take the spotlight; copy gets straight to the point. If you need your CTA to shine without distractions, this is it.

Adding Horizontal Content To Your Klaviyo Email Designs

Now, layouts give you the blueprint. But what if you need a little more flexibility—say, an image on the left and text on the right? Or multiple product features in one row? This is where Klaviyo’s content blocks come in handy.

Klaviyo armors you with three building blocks: split blocks, columns, and table blocks.

Split Blocks

When you want to showcase a product and its image on the left and a description on the right, split blocks are your go-to.

By default, it’s a straight-up 50/50 divide. Yet, you can adjust the ratio if you want to give more space to the image or the copy.

Two columns, image, text, and boom, your message comes through clean. Just don’t try to toss a button over there; split blocks keep it to images and text only.

Columns

Where split blocks set the table for two, columns invite extra guests.

Got a new launch with a hero image, product details, and three different CTAs? Columns let you stack up to four side by side.

Mix and match: image, text, button. You can even stack content blocks inside each column for that layered look. Everything synced up with pre-selected widths for break-free viewing.

Some limitations exist, though.

You’re locked into pre-set column width options, so you don’t get infinite flexibility.

But honestly, the structure helps more than it hurts.

Best use: product grids, multi-feature highlights, or email designs that need a little variety without overwhelming.

Table Blocks

Sometimes you need a real grid system, not just a few columns. That’s where table blocks come in.

They let you build rows and columns in unlimited numbers, giving you maximum control over alignment and spacing.

You can even adjust widths, decide which devices see which columns, and fine-tune how everything looks in both desktop and mobile views.

Best use: data-heavy emails, catalogs, or situations where precision alignment matters.

Strategy: Copy Context Is (Still) King

Now that you’re armed with layouts and blocks, don’t forget the bigger picture. Your email design is up against inboxes stuffed fuller than a Thanksgiving turkey. That means context, relevance, and a definite sense of purpose with every email should never leave your mind.

Klaviyo Email Template Best Practices

• Always test for mobile.
• Keep contrast strong and fonts readable.
• Use images as hooks, not just filler.
• Stick to one main CTA per email—multiple choices dilute clicks.
• Preview, test, and refine. Rinse and repeat.

Final Words

Klaviyo email designs are about aesthetic templates. But they’re also frameworks for performance.

So pony up to the template library and mix your layouts with intention. And whatever sorta email you are cooking up next, make it count, make it click. And maybe, just maybe, have some fun in the process.

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