Creating a Professional Email Signature
Using the Hawkeye or RedTails Logo in your Signature
Including the logo in your signature is optional. To add the logo to your signature:
- Click on the Insert Image icon
. - Select "Web Address (URL)"
- Copy one of the logo url's below and paste into the "Paste an image URL here:" textbox.
Images and Graphics
✔ You can add the Hawkeye or RedTails logo to your signature. Please see Using the Hawkeye or RedTails Logo in your Signature for best practices.
⊘ Images and graphics, other than the Hawkeye or RedTails logo, are not recommended to be used in your signature. Due to standard privacy settings, most email clients store images as attachments rather than displaying them in your signature. Others may distort or exclude the image or graphic altogether. Images may look nice in the email signature you create but will add to the size of your email and may make loading your email slow and difficult for some.
⊘ Do not create an image to use as your signature. Many email clients have default settings that block images in emails unless the recipient allows them or sends all images as attachments. If your signature is an image that includes your name, title, and contact information, you run the risk that the recipient won’t see anything.
Also, if the email client attaches your signature image to the email, the recipients may have a hard time finding the correct attachment if you referred to attaching a document in the body of your email.
Including a vCard in your standard message is not recommended as it adds size and appears as an attachment. However, you may consider attaching it for first-time correspondence if necessary.
Social Media and Website Links
Only reference official Hawkeye Community College web pages (5chm.dos5.net) and official or recognized social media sites. Do not include personal IM, Facebook or Twitter links, etc. or any sites not recognized as official. Also, do not include personal URLs.
Link to social media or Hawkeye Community College web pages only if appropriate and necessary. Linking to social media accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter may be a good idea if the page is active and offers content that is useful to the recipient.
✔ Use text links when creating a link.
⊘ Avoid using images and graphics as links.
Mailing Address
It is generally not recommended to include your mailing address in an email signature.
Signature Templates
Signature Fields
LINE 1: Separator such as -- or closing line such as Thanks, Best, etc.
LINE 2: Hard Return (empty line for separation)
LINE 3: First name, Last name, and professional or academic title, as appropriate
LINE 4: Position Title
LINE 5: Hawkeye Community College | Department (| Department optional. Also optional, linking Hawkeye Community College (http://5chm.dos5.net), linking the department name to the department website)
LINE 6: Office Phone (cell, toll-free, and fax numbers optional). New line for each number.
LINE 7: Email Address
LINE 8: (OPTIONAL) Pronouns: (listed behind employee name, below employee name, or below email address) Examples: (she, her, hers) (he, him, his) (they, them, theirs)
LINE 9: Hard Return (empty line for separation)
LINE 10: (OPTIONAL) Appropriate Social Media Link(s).
- Limit to two or three links.
- Separate links with pikes (" | ")
- Use text links only, not graphics or icons for accessibility and readability.
LINE 11: Hard Return (empty line for separation)
LINE 12: (OPTIONAL) Logo. See Using the Hawkeye Logo in your Signature for instructions.
Example Signature #1
--
Joe Smith
Admissions Representative
Hawkeye Community College | Admissions
319-296-2320 ext.5555
319-555-1234 (cell)
joseph.smith@dos5.net
Facebook | Twitter
Example Signature #2
Best,
Jane Johnson, MA (she, her, hers)
Instructor
Hawkeye Community College
319-296-2320 ext.5555
Example Signature #3
Thanks,
Thomas Miller
Financial Aid Representative
Hawkeye Community College | Financial Aid
319-296-2320 ext.5555
1-800-555-9876
thomas.miler@dos5.net
Facebook | Twitter
See Using the Hawkeye Logo in your Signature for instructions on how to properly insert the logo into your email signature.