Email signature: template and guide
The email signature template
Copy this block and adjust the placeholders:
``` Kind regards,
[First name Last name] [Job title], [Company name] [+44 20 0000 0000] [www.yourdomain.com] ```
Want it more compact? Then drop the job title and keep your name, company and one contact detail. A signature is allowed to be short; readability always beats completeness.
How to customise it
Each line has a clear role, so fill them in deliberately.
- First name Last name: your full name, as clients know you.
- Job title, Company name: your role and your business, kept short; drop the job title if you work solo and it adds nothing.
- Phone number: the number you're really reachable on, with country code.
- Website: your own domain. If you use an email address on that same domain, the two reinforce each other straight away. Unsure about a term? Then check the glossary.
Short best practices
A good signature is above all calm and trustworthy. Stick to these points:
- Keep it short. Four to five lines is enough. A long signature distracts from your message.
- No heavy images. Large pictures make your mail slow and sometimes end up as a separate attachment. Text works everywhere and on every device.
- One logo, optional. If you do want an emblem, use one small, light logo and no more than that.
- No legal disclaimers, unless you really must. Almost no one reads long footers. Only add them if your sector or situation requires it.
- Consistent across the whole team. If you work with colleagues, agree on one layout so all mail looks the same.
Text over images is deliberately the safe choice. A plain-text signature stays readable in every mail program, on every phone and even when someone turns off images. A signature made entirely of an image, by contrast, then disappears, and that's exactly at the moment you want to come across as reachable.
What you're better off leaving out
A crisp signature is often a matter of cutting. These things are usually better left out:
- A row of social media icons. Rarely adds anything and makes the mail cluttered.
- Inspiring quotes or sayings. Well meant, but it distracts from your message.
- Your personal mobile, unless clients really may reach you on it.
- Multiple addresses and numbers. Choose the channel you respond to fastest and stick to it.
- Large legal footers. Only add them if your sector requires it; otherwise no one reads them.
Download or save
Handy to keep close by: save this page as a bookmark or print it, so you can reuse the template whenever your details change.
Next step
Got your signature ready? Then add it to your mailbox with the guide setting up an email signature. Still working on the basics? Then the checklist for a professional email address will help you further along.