Email Guidelines

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. 

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