SignatureAI

Email signature best practices

A signature is read in two seconds, often on a phone, often with images blocked. These rules follow from that.

Content

  1. Lead with your name. Make it the largest or boldest text; use the name people should call you.
  2. Title and company on one line if they fit. "Head of Partnerships · Lumen Health" beats two lines.
  3. One or two contact routes. A direct phone and your website are enough. Your email address is already in the "From" line, though including it helps when messages are forwarded.
  4. Label phone numbers. "T" and "M", or "Office" and "Mobile".
  5. At most one call to action. A booking link, a webinar or a new case study; not all three.
  6. Only social profiles you keep up. A stale Twitter account is worse than none. LinkedIn is the usual one for work.

Design

  1. Web-safe fonts at 12–14px. Arial, Verdana, Georgia or Trebuchet MS render the same everywhere.
  2. One accent colour. Your brand colour for the name, a divider or a button. Keep body text dark grey for contrast; WCAG asks for at least 4.5:1 against the background.
  3. Everything important is text. If images are blocked, the signature should still tell people who you are and how to reach you.
  4. Keep images light and hosted. Under 50 KB each, loaded from a public https:// URL. See the size guide.

Housekeeping

  1. Use a shorter signature for replies. Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail let you set a different default for replies; a Compact two-liner stops long threads filling up with logos.
  2. Test before you roll it out. Send it to a Gmail address, an Outlook address and a phone, and view it with images off.

Accessibility

Screen readers read signatures aloud. Tables used for layout should carry role="presentation" so they aren't announced as data tables, every image needs alt text (your name for a headshot, the company name for a logo), and link text should make sense on its own. The generator does all three automatically.

Legal details and disclaimers

Some countries require company information on business email, not a disclaimer as such. In the UK, the Companies Act 2006 and the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 require companies to state their registered name, number, place of registration and registered office address. Germany's Commercial Code (HGB) and Limited Companies Act (GmbHG) require similar Pflichtangaben. Regulated professions such as law and medicine may have their own rules; check with your regulator.

Confidentiality disclaimers ("If you are not the intended recipient…") are a different thing: generally not enforceable against the recipient, but many organisations require them. Keep them short and in small grey type, and use your organisation's approved wording.

Mobile first

Much business email is opened on phones. Narrow layouts (the Compact and Classic templates) hold up best, phone numbers should be tappable tel: links, and anything wider than about 350px will be scaled down. You can check this in your browser: open the generator on your phone and look at the preview.

See the principles applied in real email signature examples.

Questions people ask

How long should an email signature be?

Four to six lines for the core block is plenty: name, title, company, one or two contact routes, and maybe one link. A legally required disclaimer can sit below in smaller type.

What font should I use in my email signature?

A web-safe font such as Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS or Georgia, at 12–14px. Custom fonts don't load in Gmail or Outlook and fall back unpredictably.

Do I need a legal disclaimer in my email signature?

Disclaimers themselves are rarely legally required, but company details can be. UK companies must show their registered name, number and office on business email under the Companies Act 2006 and related regulations, and Germany requires similar details (Pflichtangaben) under its Commercial Code.

Should I put my pronouns in my email signature?

It's your choice and increasingly common. Put them after your name in the same or slightly smaller type, e.g. "Maya Okafor (she/her)".

Should I include a quote?

Generally no in a professional context. It adds length, and recipients may read it as your company's view.