Email Signature Best Practices: The Complete Checklist
A comprehensive guide to creating professional email signatures that look great across all email clients and devices.
The Anatomy of a Perfect Email Signature
A well-crafted email signature balances professionalism with practicality. It needs to provide essential information without being overwhelming, look good across different email clients, and reflect your personal or company brand.
This guide breaks down everything you need to know into actionable checklists that you can follow when creating or updating your signature.
What to Include (and What to Skip)
Not every element belongs in every signature. Here's a breakdown of common elements and their importance:
| Element | Essential? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Your professional name | |
| Job Title | Current position | |
| Company Name | With optional logo | |
| Phone Number | Direct line preferred | |
| Email Address | Optional | Often redundant since it's in the 'From' field |
| Website | Optional | Company or portfolio site |
| Optional | For professional networking | |
| Photo/Headshot | Optional | Builds personal connection |
| Company Logo | Optional | Brand recognition |
| Physical Address | Optional | Required for some industries |
Best Practices by Category
Layout & Structure
- Keep total height under 100 pixels for most contexts
- Use horizontal layout (information flows left to right)
- Maintain clear visual hierarchy (name most prominent)
- Include adequate spacing between elements
- Use a divider to separate from email body
- Align elements consistently (left-aligned is standard)
Typography
- Use web-safe fonts (Arial, Verdana, Georgia, Tahoma)
- Keep font size between 10-14px
- Name should be largest (14-16px)
- Contact info slightly smaller (10-12px)
- Avoid using more than 2 font families
- Don't use ALL CAPS except for acronyms
Colors & Branding
- Stick to 2-3 colors maximum
- Use brand colors for accents, not body text
- Ensure sufficient contrast for readability
- Black or dark gray for main text
- Test colors in both light and dark mode
- Avoid neon or overly bright colors
Images & Icons
- Profile photo: 80-100px width maximum
- Company logo: keep proportional, under 150px wide
- Use PNG for logos (supports transparency)
- Use JPG for photos (smaller file size)
- Keep total image file size under 50KB
- Social icons: 20-24px is ideal size
Links & Contact Info
- Make phone numbers clickable (tel: links)
- Make email addresses clickable (mailto: links)
- Link social icons to your profiles
- Include one clear call-to-action link
- Test all links before finalizing
- Use full URLs or tracking links for analytics
Mobile Compatibility
- Test signature on mobile devices
- Ensure touch targets are large enough (44px minimum)
- Keep width under 600px for mobile compatibility
- Text should be readable without zooming
- Images should scale appropriately
- Consider creating a shorter mobile-specific version
Technical Specifications
For optimal display across email clients, follow these technical guidelines:
Recommended Dimensions
- Total width: 400-600 pixels maximum
- Total height: 80-150 pixels
- Profile photo: 80-100px × 80-100px
- Logo: Up to 150px wide, maintain aspect ratio
- Social icons: 20-24px × 20-24px
File Size Guidelines
- Total signature size: Under 100KB ideal
- Individual images: Under 30KB each
- Use image compression: TinyPNG, Squoosh, etc.
HTML/CSS Considerations
- Use table-based layouts for best compatibility
- Inline all CSS styles (don't use external stylesheets)
- Avoid CSS grid, flexbox, or advanced CSS features
- Use absolute URLs for all images
- Don't use JavaScript (it won't execute)
Email Client Compatibility
Different email clients render signatures differently. Here's what to watch out for:
Gmail
- Generally good HTML support
- May strip some CSS properties
- Images may need to be "displayed" by recipient
Outlook (Desktop)
- Uses Word rendering engine (limited CSS support)
- Avoid CSS padding on table cells
- Use cellpadding/cellspacing attributes instead
- Background images may not work
Apple Mail
- Excellent HTML/CSS support
- Handles most modern CSS well
- Good for testing your "ideal" design
Mobile Clients
- Screen width varies (consider 320px minimum)
- Text should be readable without zooming
- Touch targets need to be large enough
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Too long: Keep it under 4-5 lines of content
- Too many links: Stick to 3-4 maximum
- Large images: Slow loading, may be blocked
- Fancy fonts: Won't display consistently
- Quotes/slogans: Usually unnecessary and distracting
- Outdated info: Review quarterly
- Personal email for business: Use your company email
- No testing: Always test before deploying
Testing Your Signature
Before finalizing your signature, test it thoroughly:
- Send test emails to yourself at different email addresses (Gmail, Outlook, etc.)
- View on desktop and mobile devices
- Check in both light and dark mode
- Verify all links work correctly
- Ask a colleague to review it
- Check how it looks in replies/forwards
Conclusion
Creating a professional email signature requires attention to design, content, and technical details. By following these best practices, you'll have a signature that looks great, works reliably, and makes the right impression on every email you send.
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