Signatures are important as they are a part of every email correspondence. They give pertinent information, set a tone and imply that the email is from a real business. They should include only the most important information.

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Scott Hastings
Executive Producer | Boomcity.Biz
techsupport@boomcity.biz || http://www.boomcity.biz

Plain is better

Signatures can be creative, but simple text is enough, rich text if formatting is necessary. If you can, stay away from HTML formatting. Many email clients will strip away the formatting, in these cases the best looking signatures are plain text. Skip colors, special fonts and graphics.

Monospaced typefaces are recommended. Courier New is a decent typewriter like font that all computers are equipped with.

Keep it short and simple.

They should be concise. 2-4 lines, Maximum 72 characters per line. Separate content with || pipes or :: colons if needed. Only provide one email address, and as few phone numbers as possible. Create a secondary signature with more information if needed for special uses.

Syntax

Use proper syntax for information. Phone numbers should be represented properly. Traditionally numbers in a phone number are separated with brackets and dashes (not dots).

Hyperlinks should be written out in full: “http://www.website.com” and not a shortened version that is hyperlinked "website". This way the client can always copy and paste the address.

The standard method to separate signatures from the content with two dashes. --

Social Networking

It is recommended you do not include Twitter, IM, or Facebook info. If ryou do then limit them to 2 or less. Do not use images, use standard links prefixed with “http://”.

Best practice is to use the company website to inform your associates of your social network links and to have the website address in the Signature.

The same applies to phsical addresses, slogans, logos, etc. Leave all of that on the website and keep the emails as short as possible.

Personal Information

Things like home phone numbers or your personal website should not be included in a business signature. Favourite Quotes are not always appreciated by all and in some cases could be offensive or tiresome. Your CV or skill set need not be included either.

Images

Signatures should not be an image. Images should be avoided in general. Images are usually blocked or converted to an attachment by most email clients. They bulk up the size of the email. Nor can information on an image be copied and pasted.

If an absolute must, images should be 50 pixels and as small a file size as possible (and never an animated gif). The best way to include an image is to host it on a server and link to it there. Keep in mind that some email programs display all emails in plain text. In these programs images will not show, instead the html code appears.

Virtual Business Cards

Vcards (virtual business cards) should be sent manually the first time you contact a client, not ever used as a signature. They add bulk, and or only useful once if that client even uses them.

Fine Print

Including a non-disclosure agreement doesn’t make much sense if you do not send sensitive information and one should never email sensitive information as it could be extracted by a third party or forwarded by recipients to other people. Asking people not to print emails isn’t all that necessary either.

Programs that support Signatures

The following programs and websites provide a method to include a signature. Outlook, Entourage, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail, Palm Pre, iPhone, and BlackBerry