When your work has many people constantly seeking you out via emails, you end up observing a wide variety of email sign-offs, signatures, or witty disclosures. 

Here’s one that cracks me up every time. 

"Truly Humane Disclaimer: Don't ya worry about replying to this email outside of your workin' hours. We be sailin' in a digitally-enabled relentless space that can warp our perception of time, just like how the Kraken warps the hull of a ship! I replied when I was free to do so, and you can do the same! Hasta la vista, and may the winds be at your back!"

While these email signatures can range from hilarious to super formal, each of them lends a level of credibility and professionalism to your communication. 

This is why if you don’t have an email signature yet, it’s time you got one! 

But instead of creating one yourself, check out a few templates here, and pick one that speaks to your style. 

What is an email signature?

When we were in school, we were told how important a part our signature was in a formal letter. 

“Yours sincerely” or “With regards”, is one question that stumped us all. 

And it made sense, didn’t it? 

How someone ended the letter set the tone for your own reply. 

The same goes for emails as well. 

Email signatures are your sign-offs that include your name, your company name, your designation, and all the links you might deem important for the readers to peruse through. 

Great, but why should you have an email signature?

Email signatures are an essential part of professional communication, and a well-designed signature can do much more than identify the sender appropriately. A good email signature should be simple, and professional, and provide all the necessary information you would like to convey to your recipients.

Here are all the benefits you get out of a well-designed signature. 

1. Lends the sender a human face

Let’s face it. Most of the emails sound like they’ve been written by robots. With ChatGPT in the scene, many of them would very well be. 

Now confront me with a robotic email and not so much as the details of the sender and I would definitely pass. 

With a well-designed signature, at least the sender gets a face next to their name. And no one needs to tell you how effective that can be. 

A good signature helps the readers identify you beyond your name and email address. It shows who you are, where you work, and how to reach you. And that lends your email a higher degree of power and authority. 

Recommended reading: How to write human-sounding emails to close more deals

2. Packs an information punch

A well-designed signature can provide a range of informative links — a website, social media, a video, or a landing page. These links, inserted as text into the email, would have ruined the carefully crafted message sent and turned it into multiple lines of links that would serve no other purpose but turn the reader away.

Crafting a delightful signature with strategically placed links keeps all the links handy, accessible, and most importantly there, neatly stacked all toward the end.

3. Leaves a lasting impression on the readers

A signature that is designed well and cleverly put in the email breaks the monotony of the email, makes you look more professional, and leaves a lasting impression on the recipient. 

It allows the reader to remember clearly the important details about the sender, and in turn, reach out to them when required. 

Now that we’ve established why you need an email signature, let’s dive right into selecting the one for you. 

A strong email signature is attention-getting but professional. It’s not flashy, but it’s not bland either. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the best business email signature examples (plus templates) so you can see exactly what you should and shouldn’t include in yours.

Top tips for creating a great-looking email signature

• Don’t overload it with information. A signature is not your mini autobiography. Instead of jamming information that makes the signature bulky and long, keep the signature to the point.

• Don’t hotchpotch it with multiple colors. When it comes to designs and creatives, less is definitely more. Regardless of how many colors your company logo contains, keep your signature color palette restricted to a very few. ‍

• Don’t mix multiple fonts. Just like many colors, using multiple fonts can quickly overwhelm your signature and make it too distracting to read. A good way to go about this is to select one font and use highlight colors, different weights, and sizes to create a myriad of different typographical effects while maintaining a simple, clean design. 
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• Use a strong hierarchy. Design your type in a way that visually signals to your email recipients which elements of your signature they should read first using scale, color, and font-weight. Perhaps it’s the email author’s name, or perhaps the brand/company name, either way, be sure to put this key piece of type in the top hierarchical position.
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• Keep the graphics simple. Continuing with our “less is more” tirade, use 1-2 graphic elements in the signature to avoid a cluttered design. 
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• Use social media icons, not links. If you or your brand has a good handle on all things social, you can avoid clunky URLs and add social media icons that are identifiable anywhere. 

10 best email signature templates to help you create a professional email signature

1. Minimalist Signature

Want to keep your signature clean but stylish? A minimalist signature would be perfect for you. This type of signature includes your name, title, company, and contact information such as your phone number and email address.

Include all of this

- Your name

- Title, Company Name

- Phone number

and sign-off! 

Here’s what it would look like

John Doe
Communications Expert, Netflick
855-678-888

2. Classical Signature

Don’t feel like wearing your artistic hat and wish to stick to the tried & tested? A classical signature would work best for you. It can encapsulate traditional details such as your name, title, company name, website, and other relevant links. 

3. Simple branded signature

When you represent a brand, it’s easy to customize your signature so that your company takes the limelight. 

This can be as simple as adding brand colors to your signature to spice it up.

4. Basic email template

This signature here is a prime example of what a great signature should look like and cover.

It has the humane element in the form of the image of the recipient. It has all the necessary information — email ID, phone numbers, address, website address, and social media links. The best part? All of the information has been provided using brand colors.

5. Small business owner signature

A great way to bring the attention of the reader to your website as a freelancer or a small business owner is to include the link to your latest artistic work or a product on sale in your signature. This gives your signature a creative spin and allows your latest work to stand out. 

Below is a great example of how to effectively use a signature not just for imparting information but also as a bulletin board for your business. 

6. Designer email signature template

As a designer, the most important link you would like to include in your email signature is that of your portfolio. 

This signature below serves as a great inspiration for all the designers to inspire you to include the link to your portfolio in a clean and efficient way. 

7. Book an appointment signature template

If you are a sales enablement officer or in a profession that continually sees you trying to book someone’s time, this signature template is perfect for you. 

The link to your Calendly inserted right in your signature would allow anyone to schedule a call with you even if they missed the CTA in your email message. 

8. Promoter signature template

Want to come off as someone successful in their profession? Use your email signature to highlight your current achievements. But make sure you do it in a way that is subtle, clean, and effective. 

In the signature below, Natalie has an entire section dedicated to her most recent listings as a real estate agent. 

How to design and insert your email signature

a. Using Gmail

Once you've selected the template you like, follow these steps to set your Gmail signature.

1. Open your Gmail inbox on a desktop
2. In the top right, click Settings. See all settings
3. In the "Signature" section, add your signature text in the box. If you want, you can format your message by adding an image or changing the text style. Size the image beforehand before uploading one as Gmail offers a very restricted ability to resize images once they’ve been placed in the editor
4. Add the relevant hyperlinks
5. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes

b. Using a text expander like OSlash

This is the easiest way to create and insert any email signature in an instant. 

With a Gmail signature, you are stuck with one signature for all your emailing needs. It is not practical there to change your signature depending on the email recipient. 

But with a text expander like OSlash, you can insert the signature of your choice in an instant. Just save the signature as a shortcut - o/sign or o/intro-sign - and invoke it wherever you want by simply typing the shortcut out and selecting it from a dropdown. 

In this manner, you can tailor your signature based on the recipient and not face a hoard of hurdles trying to update the signature every few days.