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
Minimal signature example
Signature with multiple phone numbers and links example
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