How to Create a Professional Email Signature in 3 Simple Steps
Kelly is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and Apple Developer who has counseled businesses of all sizes and growth stages. You can find her expertise across Fit Small Business in marketing, business website, and business trend content.
This article is part of a larger series on Business Email.
In general, there are three basic ways to create a professional email signature: doing it manually using time-consuming steps through your email provider, employing a costly graphic designer to make a customized signature for you, or using an email signature generator. This last method is the best as you can create a powerful signature optimized for marketing and lead generation in as little as three easy steps.
1. Choose an Email Signature Generator
Creating one on your own by utilizing an email signature generator is definitely among the cheapest and most efficient options. All you have to do is to navigate to the signature generator of your choice. For this tutorial, we’ll be using WiseStamp.
The reason we are highlighting this option is it offers two templates you can use to generate an email signature for free. However, they also provide a low-cost paid service that helps you unlock even more templates and apps. Upgrading to the premium service also allows you to create your own customized design for those who want an even more unique signature.
WiseStamp’s welcome page (Source: WiseStamp)
Alternative Signature Generator Providers
While we will be featuring WiseStamp through the remainder of this article, there are other email signature generators choices that you can choose from that offer additional benefits for a fee:
Gimmio
Gimmio is another website that runs a free service for people who want to create a fast, impressive email signature. Free templates are also available and premium services are offered with more templates, fonts, and customization opportunities. There are more free templates to choose from compared to WiseStamp.
HubSpot
With six free templates available, you can easily create your own email signature with this generator. These templates provide professional touches, and you can stylize your signature and colors to match your branding. Moreover, the website’s generator is simple yet easy. It is important to note that HubSpot is an all-around content management system (CMS), and so more expensive than WiseStamp and Gimmio.
 |  |  | |
Starting Price per Year | $5.80/mo or $69.60/yr | Starts at $28.00/yr for 1 to $630.00/yr for 1,000 | $45/mo or $540/yr to $3,200/mo or $38,400/yr |
Free Templates | 2 | 7-day free trial | 6 free templates available |
Should you want a more personalized email signature template, hiring a professional designer from Fiverr or Designhill is a great way to work within your budget. Having a professional email signature designed for multiple people, however, can be quite costly depending on the terms discussed with the designer.
2. Input Your Contact Information & Design Elements
Once you have decided on which generator to use, the next step is to input all necessary professional contact details. This information consists of the following:
- First and last name
- Job title
- Company name
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Company website
Including more than your first and last name is essential, especially for cold emails, as it tells your recipients more about your role and introduces the company. But online generators allow you to make your signature an even more powerful marketing tool by allowing you to add trackable links or additional signature design elements such as:
- Business logo or user profile picture
- Call-to-action button
- Social media links
- Banner images designed to reinforce your brand
To complete this step using WiseStamp, you can get to the signature editor from the welcome page. There, you will be asked to input your signature details. You can also upload a photo of yourself or the logo of the company.
WiseStamp editor page (Source: WiseStamp)
After entering the necessary information, simply click the “Social” button on the left. Here, you can input your social media links. You can also make your links trackable so that you can acquire some user insights. This will tell you who clicks the links provided and when they click them, along with their interactions. To do this, you can make use of a free link tracker like Bitly or Attach.
WiseStamp editor page (Source: WiseStamp)
You can then go to “Template” and select one that you prefer. Pick one that will best sell the brand of your business, as an email signature is not only used to display vital information, it is also used to market your brand.
WiseStamp editor page (Source: WiseStamp)
You can also customize your own design by editing the font and color, images, details, social icons, and the decorative line.
WiseStamp editor page (Source: WiseStamp)
Besides that, you can enhance your signature or add a call to action (CTA) by clicking on the “Apps” button, where you’re provided with even more options.
WiseStamp editor page (Source: WiseStamp)
3. Connect the Generated Signature to Your Email
After completing the steps above, simply click the “OK, I’m done” button. This will then start the process of connecting the signature to your business email. Here, you will be asked to choose the email provider you will be using with your new email signature based on the addresses you entered during the initial WiseStamp account setup process.
WiseStamp My Signatures page (Source: WiseStamp)
When you are satisfied, click on the continue button. After that, the signature will automatically be linked to the email account that logged in.
WiseStamp My Signatures page (Source: WiseStamp)
To check, simply click the “Refresh your Gmail” button, or similar option. Go to your email and compose a new email to confirm that the signature has been linked. Your new signature should be within the dialogue box. When maximizing your email, there are a few professional business tools that allow you to launch a better email campaign, improve your brand image, and help make your work more efficient.
Compose an email (Source: Gmail)
Ways Email Signatures Can Be Used for Marketing
The design of your email signature can leave an impression on viewers. The blank space between your contact information and the bottom of an email is a great place to add a full-width image that promotes the kind of work you do and the services you offer. This is known as adding a banner.
For example, if you are in real estate, you can make use of the blank space by adding a banner that shows the locations that you promote or sell. This will give people a glimpse of your business to spark the interest of future clients and customers.
Professional email signature example (Source: Exclaimer)
Other ways professionals can use their email signature for marketing include:
Offers Social Proof
Images are catchy to the eye and can easily attract the interest of potential customers. Featuring certificates and awards as part of your signature helps generate trust in your business as well as strengthen your marketing claims. You can also make use of appealing images or an accolade for your banner. This style can make your business stand out from the rest.
Professional email signature example (Source: Velocity)
Promotes a More Personal Connection
Consider whether your face or your logo can be best utilized in your email signature. In various fields like real estate, where a person is the highlight of the work, an individual is typically the face of the business. Hence, their portraits are commonly displayed on their email signatures.
Email signature example (Source: Jasmin Makeup)
Reinforces Brand Awareness
As previously noted, other industries highlight the brand more than the person. In this case, the logo of the business is often prioritized on the email signature alongside the business details of the person.
Email signature with a logo example (Source: Fiverr)
Gives Recipients a Reason to Learn More
What’s incredible about an email signature is its capacity to include the essential details, including links of the most popular pages on your website. Including this information will help your audience navigate to the most interesting pages, promoting your business further.
Professional email signature example (Source: Gimmio)
Makes Emails More Eye-catching
You can play with simple colors to attract attention to your email signature too. Utilize the white background by means of adding a different color as contrast to catch the eye of potential customers. However, this technique works best when you have established a uniform color identity for your business that is then used by all staff members in their signature, as this helps people recognize your brand.
Eye-catching email signature example (Source: Fiverr)
For more tips on how to transform your signature into an eye-catching tool for marketing your business, check out our article on the best professional email signature examples.
Do’s & Don’ts When Creating an Email Signature
When making a professional email signature, not everything goes. There are a few absolutes that need to be followed in order to come up with a presentable, professional, respectable, and eye-catching email signature. Here are a few do’s and don’ts we recommend you follow:
Do create a strong signature
A well-constructed email signature will tell people that your brand is earnest and legitimate. Hence, a strong signature must also reflect the business, its representation, and what it stands for without being too distracting. Doing so will help your brand build recognition among the viewers of the emails that you send.
Do make a simple signature
Remember, email signatures don’t need to be flamboyant and complicated. It should be easy to look at and the details should be readable. Avoid adding design elements that are too excessive for a professional signature. Simple and minimalist designs are generally more suitable for certain industries (like design, art, or tech) to provide your business details and market your brand at the same time.
Do make signature emails uniform
As an organization, having a uniform design for the employees’ email signatures is essential to ensure consistency. It allows contacts to know that they are from the same company, carrying the same brand. On the other hand, having different email signatures might leave contacts with inconsistent impressions of the company.
Don’t use quirky fonts
Because the email signature reflects your business, it is essential to use fonts that reflect professionalism. Quirky fonts can make you look amateur and contacts may not take you seriously. Instead, use clean fonts that look academic and executive to effectively reflect the seriousness of the brand.
Don’t include any irrelevant information
Your email signature must be concise. It must only contain the necessary details that will tell your contacts about your business and how you can be reached. Don’t add out-of-place elements and quotes that do not matter to your brand.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I create an email signature in Outlook?
To create an email signature in Outlook, sign in, go to “Settings,” and view all the Outlook settings. After that, simply go to mail and compose and reply. You’ll find an email signature there where you can create your own signature.
How do I create a Gmail signature?
Go to Gmail and click “Settings.” You will see a “Signature” section there where you can add your signature text in the box. You may also edit the format of the signature by adding a relevant image or changing the font.
Why does my signature disappear in Gmail?
Make sure that you have not checked the “No Signature” box. Simply go to Settings to uncheck and disable the button.
Bottom Line
Having a good professional email signature—either by using email signature generators like WiseStamp or having one designed by services like Fiverr—helps in marketing your brand through your professional business email. This shows the credibility of your business, establishes trust, and represents professionalism. Keep in mind that it must reflect your brand with an ode to simplicity and effectiveness.
You Might Also Like…
- Learn how to maximize what you can do with your business email with the best email apps to help you leverage your business.
- Know which keywords to target through the use of the best keyword research tools and grow your business organically.
- Every business should have a website. Learn how to make your first WordPress website in 10 easy steps.
