How To Design a Business Email Signature (With 10 Examples)

An email signature is a vital element of professional communication, helping you to introduce yourself and your company to others in business correspondence. Understanding the impact that your sign-off can have on recipients can help you craft a memorable signature. 

In this article, we explain how to create business email signatures, discuss why they’re important and provide examples to help you write your own.

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What is a business email signature?

A business email signature is a block of text at the bottom of emails, blogs and articles that identifies the sender's contact information and title to clients, customers or colleagues.

Email signatures benefit the sender and the recipient in the following ways

• Shows professional courtesy

• Boosters sales and promotions

• Creates consistency in branding

• Establishes clarity and consistency in communication

• Provides quick and easy access to contact information

• Drives traffic to websites and social channels

A business email signature helps establish credibility with the recipient. This helps build trust among consumers and colleagues, leading to repeat customers and a more efficient work environment.

Related: How To Use Proper Business Letter Format in Email (With Steps)

How to design a business email signature

Many email providers allow you to create email signatures that automatically display at the end of each email. Others allow you to create multiple versions where you can choose which signature displays online. 

To create an effective email signature, include these elements:

1. Start with your contact information

Your email signature is a presentable way of displaying your contact information. It establishes your company identity and indicates your duties. Further, it lets the recipient know if they are communicating with the correct individual.

A standard professional email signature typically includes:

• Your full name

• Job title—and department if applicable

• Company name and address

• Your company phone, fax or mobile number

An email signature is basically an electronic business card. Whatever contact information you put on a business card should be included in your email sign-off.

2. Link your social media and websites

Social media is the newest way of connecting at every level of an organization. Consider adding social icon badges to your email signature. They are small, clickable elements that navigate to your social pages. Also, consider adding your website. This gives email recipients an easy way to answer questions they may have about your services. If you’re an entrepreneur, adding a website or portfolio is essential because it brings more awareness to your brand and what you offer.

Related: 20 Do's and Don'ts of Social Media Marketing

3. Add visual and call-to-action elements

While business emails are simply black text, signatures commonly use colorful text, photos or logos. Photos with people in them are generally more effective. A headshot is a great choice for an email signature. Other elements include animation, videos or sales and promotional links. Including a call to action to help increase traffic to your website and improve sales.

Related: What Is a Call to Action? (Definition and 17 Examples)

4. Add privacy information

Some industries, like banking and insurance, are highly regulated. Emails communicating personal information should include a disclaimer that the information contained within the email is intended solely for a certain recipient. Consult with your supervisor or a legal adviser about the requirements of any email disclaimers or privacy notices.

Related: Tone of Emails: Definition and Examples

How to create an email signature

On most email messaging platforms, you can create a personalized signature and set it up to appear automatically at the end of each message. Each email service is different, but here are the general steps to do so:

1. Open the email platform.

2. Navigate to "Settings."

3. Find and select the "Signature" option.

4. Add your signature to the text box.

5. Add a photo or graphic if appropriate.

6. Adjust the font as needed using the formatting options.

7. Save your signature.

Related: 16 Best Practices for Email Etiquette in the Workplace

Examples of business email signatures

There are many different ways to format an email signature. Experiment with different styles to find the format that fits your business model. For organization-wide email signatures, ensure they’re consistent by creating guidelines for employees. If you want an individualized signature, consider using a generator service or hiring a graphic designer to create one consistent with your personal brand.

Here are 10 examples of email signatures you can try:

1. Standard

The standard email signature highlights important areas such as name, title and website. You may use colors or a bolded font to make certain areas stand out, such as your name.

2. Logo

Your logo can be placed anywhere in the signature depending on its shape and size. Wider, more rectangular logos may be placed underneath the contact information while more square or round logos fit neatly to the right or left.

3. Photo

Standard placement for your photo is typically to the left of your contact info. You may also choose to place it above or in the center beneath your name and job title.

4. Photo and logo

You may choose to use both a photo and a logo. In that case, the logo might fit better at the bottom of your signature.

5. Call to action

Your call to action may be a single line of text with a clickable link or a graphic element below your contact information.

6. Standard with linked social media

The social media icons can appear in any location. Some choose the end of the contact information, while others choose to place them under their name and job title.

7. Photo, logo and social media website

You might consider adding your photo, company photo and social media links. Keep in mind that you don’t want to overwhelm the recipient with too much information, though.

8. Most recent blog post

You may also include a link to your most recent blog post by adding it at the bottom of your signature.

9. Company information

An email signature can be an opportunity to promote company achievements. It is typically placed below the company logo or in place of it.

10. Company information with disclaimer

Some businesses require a disclaimer for all business emails. The message is typically added before the business signature for easier reading and compliance. Check with your human resources department or manager for proper wording.

Tips for effective email signatures

Here are some tips to consider as your craft your business email signature:

Keep your design simple and uncluttered

Direct where the recipient’s eye goes by providing a simple design without excessive elements, colors, fonts or images. Try to limit your signature to three to four lines. The recommended size for an email signature is up to 650 pixels wide and 80 to 150 pixels tall. 

Choose an appropriate font

Ensure that your font selection aligns with your logo and brand and displays properly across different devices. Serif fonts are popular choices, including:

Use your company’s color scheme

If you can’t decide on a palette of colors, consider using your company’s color scheme. However, keep in mind that muted colors often are more appealing than bright ones. Aim for consistency, especially when you use an email signature as a marketing tool.

Consider your priorities

You want to design your email signature to garner attention, so think of what you want the recipient to notice more. Ask yourself what’s most important, such as:

• Recognizing your name, title and company

• Responding to a call to action

• Connecting on social media

• Visiting your website

• Reading your blog

• Registering for an event or webinar

Design your signature to match your needs concisely and consistently.

Ensure it’s mobile-friendly

More people are reading emails on smart devices, so you want to ensure your signature is easy to read and clickable for mobile users. Make sure the text is large enough to read on small screens and that links are spaced out enough for readers to tap on them.

Use an email generator

Creating an effective email signature can be challenging. You might consider a free email signature generator to take the guesswork out of your creation. They usually give you several combinations to choose from.