Signatures
Email Signature Best Practices: What to Include and Avoid
· 2 min read
An email signature is read thousands of times, so small choices add up. A good one is short, clear and works everywhere. Here is what to include, what to skip and how to build it so it holds up.
What to include
- Your full name and job title.
- Your company name.
- One or two ways to reach you, usually a phone number and a website.
- A small photo or logo, if it fits your role.
- Only the social links you actually use for work.
What to leave out
- Long quotes, slogans or multiple banners.
- Every social network you have an account on.
- Large images that slow loading or look cluttered.
- Long legal disclaimers, unless your company or industry requires one.
- Text that only exists inside an image, because many people have images off by default.
Keep it short
Aim for about six lines or fewer. The signature appears on every message in a thread, so a compact one keeps conversations easy to read.
Make it work on phones and in dark mode
- Use a readable text size, around 12 to 14 pixels.
- Avoid pure white or pure black backgrounds, since some apps invert colors in dark mode.
- Make links easy to tap by leaving space between them.
Use standard fonts
Email apps only show fonts the reader has installed. Stick to common fonts such as Arial or Georgia so your signature looks the same for everyone.
Host your images
Images must be hosted at a public web address, or recipients will see broken pictures. Our signature generator can bundle your images in a ZIP so you can upload them to your own site.
Add it to your email app
Once your signature is ready, follow the guide for your app: Gmail, Outlook or Apple Mail.