I have covered this topic once before on my other website but it is so important that I would like to mention it once again:

Photo Credit: jphilipg

There are always two sides to this spectrum. On one end there are the people who don’t even offer a small link back to their own website. On the other we have the people who have signatures that are 5x longer than their actual email. Like with most extremes, middle ground is where you really want your signature to land. You want something there, without all of the fluff you might be tempted to include.

The Do’s of Email Signatures

The basic, and most effective, email signature will include your name, the title you go by (i.e. owner, founder, CEO, etc), your business name, the link to your website, and your phone number. Keep in mind that is the basic. While this is a good starting point for an email signature, you will need to make a few adjustments to suit your needs. In some cases it also doesn’t hurt to restate your email address in the signature, especially if it is the kind of email that might be forwarded on to others.

You want to tell them a little bit about you but you don’t want to overload them on a bunch of useless information.

The Do Not’s of Email Signatures

While that is the basic and it covers the basic needs, it’s probably more important to know what you should keep out of your signature, like every award and public mention you have received. While those are some wonderful achievements, they are better left for your press page. If you insist on mentioning something anyway, limit it to the most recent one or the most famous. The person receiving your email is more likely to be impressed by the fact you received the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval than they are about the interview you did 5 years ago for a small local paper.

If you’re the type of person to have more than one website and you want to promote each one in your signature, be selective. Do not link to multiple websites you own, if it can be avoided. While your signature should always include the link to the website the email was about or to the corresponding site that goes with that email address (i.e. www.yourdomain.com fits with an email sent to yourname@yourdomain.com), limit your extras. You could also rotate the non-related link you use every week or so, that way each extra website will get its turn in the spotlight eventually.

Now that you’ve read this, it is time for a little fun. Why don’t you show us what your email signature looks like by posting it (or describing it) in the comments below.

Popularity: 100% [?]