Email Signatures
Use these email signature guidelines to present a more unified, professional appearance for official University communications.
These are recommended for all faculty and staff.
Do's and Dont's
- Do keep it simple, including only essential information in three to eight lines.
- Do use common fonts such as Helvetica, Calibri, or Arial, sized 12–14 points. Other fonts may not display correctly.
- Do use a single color, such as black or dark gray.
- Do include simple URLs (without “http://www”).
- Do include social media links in plain text without icons.
- Don’t include logos or graphics; they increase file size and appear as attachments.
- Don’t include vCARDS; they increase file size and appear as attachments.
- Don’t include tag lines or quotes; they may be perceived as University-wide statements.
- Don’t include a street address unless you frequently host visitors.
Minimal Signature
John Smith
Assistant Director of Email Guidelines
San Francisco State University
Strategic Marketing and Communications
415.440.4444
![Email of minimal signature example](/sites/default/files/images/min-sig-ex.jpg)
Minimal signature example
![Example of email signature with multiple links and phone numbers](/sites/default/files/images/sig-mult-links.jpg)
Signature with multiple phone numbers and links example
![example of email signature with mailing address](/sites/default/files/images/sig-mail-address.jpg)
Signature with mailing address example
Email Best Practices
HTML Email Tips
- Use static table-based layouts
- Keep template width to 600px or 680px
- Use simple, inline CSS
- Images need to be uploaded to your own website and referenced back to BlackBoard Connect
- Always resize your image to the exact dimensions as displayed in your email
- Do not use:
- Background images
- Custom fonts
- Embedded CSS
- Javascript
- Iframes
- <div>
Subject Line
- Be descriptive
- Keep it short
Content Guide
- Focus on your key message
- The most effective email has one clear message. Consider multiple emails or a series if you have multiple messages.
- Keep it short
- Always reduce the length of your email to be as simple as possible. Most people spend less than 15 seconds reading an email
- Be strategic with your content
- The most important information should appear at the top
- Read More
- If you have too much information, link to a page on your website where your audience can read more
Proofing and Review
- Don't forget to proof your content and your design. Using a spellchecker on word can catch many common mistakes
- Check all links for validity
- Send a test email to yourself
- Test the email in different email clients
- See how it looks on a mobile device