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Klyro Digital

Business Tools3 min read

How to Create a Professional Email Signature for Free

A good signature is short, readable and works in every mail client. Here is what to include, what to leave out, and how to get one into your mail app.

KLYRO TeamPublished

LAYOUTStackedBesideCompactPREVIEWABAlex BennettOperations Manager · Northgate Suppliesalex@northgate.exampleEscaped on the way out — a signature cannot carry a script into a mail client.Copy signatureCopy HTML

An email signature has one job: let the person reading know who you are and how to reach you, without getting in the way of the message.

Most signatures fail at that because they try to do more. Social icons, a quote, a legal disclaimer, a banner about an event that finished last year. On a phone, all of it pushes the actual reply off the screen.

What to include

Five lines is usually plenty:

  1. Your name, as people would say it.
  2. Your role and your organisation.
  3. One phone number, if you want to be called.
  4. Your email address, if you send from an address people cannot easily read.
  5. Your website.

Everything beyond that has to earn its place. A second phone number that nobody answers is noise. A row of social icons is a row of tiny images that half of mail clients will not load.

Choosing a layout

StackedBesideCompact
Stacked, beside and compact. All three are readable on a phone.

Pick on the basis of what you actually have. A stacked layout suits a photo or a round logo. The beside layout suits a wide company mark. Compact is text only, and it is the one that never breaks anywhere.

How to add it to your mail client

  1. Fill in your details and pick a layout

    The preview on the right is the signature exactly as it will appear.

  2. Press Copy signature

    This copies the formatted version, not the code behind it. That is the one your mail client wants.

  3. Paste it into your signature settings

    In Gmail it is Settings, then See all settings, then Signature. In Outlook it is Settings, Mail, Compose and reply. In Apple Mail it is Settings, then Signatures.

PASTE IT INTOGmailSettings → SignatureOutlookSettings → SignatureApple MailSettings → SignatureCopy signatureCopies the formatting, not the code.
Copying the formatting rather than the code is what makes it paste cleanly.

Common mistakes

  • Images that do not load. Most mail clients block remote images by default. A signature that is mostly image is a signature that is mostly empty boxes.
  • Pale grey text. It looks refined on your screen and disappears on someone else's. Check it against a contrast ratio if you are unsure.
  • A long legal disclaimer. If you genuinely need one, put it last and set it small. It should not be the largest thing in the message.
  • Repeating it on every reply. Set a shorter version for replies, or turn the signature off for them entirely. Nobody needs your address four times in one thread.
  • A photo that is 2 MB. Every message carries it. Run it through an image compressor first.

Questions

Will it look the same in every mail client?
Close, but not identical. Mail clients vary in what CSS they honour, which is why the layouts stay simple. The compact layout is the most predictable of the three.
Can I use it for my whole team?
Yes. Build one, then change the name, role and phone number for each person and copy each result in turn. The layout stays consistent because it comes from the same template.
Is my information stored?
No. The signature is assembled in your browser and copied to your clipboard. Nothing is sent to Klyro.

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