Creating an e-mail signature may seem like an easy task, but when you sit down to actually get to it you find out that it can be rather confusing. You may start adding so many things that you end up having a signature that could be even longer than some of your e-mails. Having such a signature would be detrimental to your career as some people would rather not look at long e-mails, and that would have them not seeing the information you would want to provide, such as a sales quote or a partnership request.
To help you avoid the above scenario, here are a few tips that you can use when creating an e-mail signature:
1. Keep it short:
The acceptable number of lines for a signature is 4 lines. You may do less, but do not do more. Remember that you can use colons or pipes to separate text and indicate that the next set of words are a different idea or item already.
2. Use HD graphics:
If you do decide to use a logo, do your best to find the best copy. If it is to be scanned, go for the higher dpi and then just scale it down to size. This would make the logo look sharp and you would be able to avoid pixilation should that logo to blown up somewhere.
3. Contact information:
A lot of people get confused in this area, so there would be a few sub tips under this:
- Do not add your actual mailing address unless absolutely necessary. In this day and age, not all people would go to your office for a face to face meeting. Your contact information would suffice.
- Do not place multiple phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as this could confuse people. They would want to have the contact information that would get the fastest reply. Choose the best way to contact you for each medium (if you have multiple e-mail addresses, get the one you monitor the most. The same goes for phone numbers).
- Some people include their Skype and IM details in their signatures. That is fine only if you monitor those two methods of contact constantly, and you expect to get calls through them. If not, then do not include them in your signature.
4. Web addresses:
Avoid hyperlinks, as they would no longer work in some instances. There are mobile devices that would not recognize them, and you would want these “clickable” by anyone. Expand to the full URL as much as possible.
5. Formatting:
Be careful when you use special formats, even HTML. These do not translate properly on some devices. You can stick with plain text (though most prefer not to). If you do go for HTML, be sure to test out your signature on multiple e-mail clients. What translates well on outlook would not necessarily look good for others.
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6. Quotes:
you might want to attach an inspiring quote or one that helps you get through the day, but it would not be recommended. Although you find the quote really positive, others may take offense for one reason or another. To avoid that, just skip the inspiring message.
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Do note that in the age of the Internet, lengthy does not necessarily translate into something positive. With the number of mail that people send and receive daily, they would be really appreciative of concise messages. The same would definitely go for the e-mail signature. One glance and they would see all they need to see. The experience would just get better when they find out that all the information they see on the signature, they can use. So think things through, have the best signature and impress your clients and colleagues.
