How to Create a Professional HTML Email Signature: The Complete Guide

1. What is an HTML email signature?
2. Top benefits of using an HTML email signature
3. Step-by-step guide to creating an HTML email signature
4. Tips for Designing a Professional HTML Email Signature
5. Explore Professional Email Signature Templates with Newoldstamp

In today’s business world, first impressions are very important. Whether you send a quick follow-up or a formal business proposal, your emails look can show your professionalism, attention to detail, and brand identity.

An email signature is more than a digital business card; it is an important communication tool. It builds trust, strengthens your brand, drives traffic, and helps your outreach. Creating your email signature is easy with a professional HTML email signature generator.

This guide will teach you about HTML email signatures, explain their importance, and provide clear steps for creating one that fits your brand.

What is an HTML email signature?

An HTML email signature is a block of content at the end of an email. It uses HTML to keep the format and style your name, job title, company name, logo, social media icons, and contact details in a clear and structured way.

HTML email signatures are better than plain text signatures because they allow you to add branding elements. You can use custom colors, web-safe fonts, images, and clickable links and buttons. This helps create a professional-looking signature that matches your brand’s identity. It also provides useful marketing and sales features, like visiting your website or social media profiles in one click, or booking a call with you.

Whether you're working solo or leading a big team, a well-designed HTML email signature ensures that every email you send stands out and looks professional.

Top benefits of using an HTML email signature

Email signatures are a crucial element of online communication. Here are the main reasons why:

• Builds a strong brand presence. Every email you send is a chance to promote your brand. Including your logo, brand colors, and an appropriate layout in your signature helps people recognize your brand and builds trust.
  
• Increase professionalism. A well-structured signature proves that you care about details - a small but significant trust signal in business.
  
• Easy access to contact information. Let people easily find another way to keep in touch with you. An HTML signature lets recipients find and use your contact details immediately, including your email address, phone number, and website URL.
  
• Boosts social engagement. Adding social media links to your email signature invites recipients to connect with your company on different social platforms, helping increase your brand visibility and engagement.
  
• Email signature marketing. Make your email signature a marketing tool. Add promotional banners, sales, or new company news. This way, your signature will reach your recipients daily.
  
• Centralized management for teams. Use the best HTML email signature generator to manage and deploy branded email signatures for your entire organization. This ensures consistency and saves time.

Step-by-step guide to creating an HTML email signature

You can create a professional HTML signature in two ways: by coding it yourself or using a free email signature generator like Newoldstamp. Let's look at both options.

Manually Creating an HTML Email Signature

If you know some basic HTML and CSS and want to build your email signature by yourself, follow these steps:

1. Structure the HTML correctly. 

To organize your content effectively, start with a simple HTML table layout. Do not use div-based structures, as they often do not work well in older email clients.

Here is an example of the simplest email signature in HTML format:

<table cellpadding="0" style="max-width:570px; font-family:Arial; font-size:14px; border-collapse:collapse;">
  <tr>
    <td style="padding-bottom:5px;">
      <span style="font-size:16px; color:#000;">Rex Hastings</span>

      <span style="font-size:16px; color:#000;">Lawyer at NEUROTECH</span>
    </td>
  </tr>
  ...
</table>

2. Add styling  

Use inline CSS to adjust spacing, font size, and colors. Test your HTML signature in different email clients, such as Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail, to ensure it looks right.

3. Add social media icons  

Host your social media icons online. Link them to your profiles using image tags. Make sure the icons are small and similar in style.

4. Copy and paste

When you're done, open your email client's signature editor,  select the HTML or source code, select it, and paste your HTML code.

⚠️ Note: Creating HTML by hand gives you complete control over the design. However, it can take a lot of time and may cause formatting problems on different email platforms and devices.

Creating an HTML Email Signature with Newoldstamp Generator

For those who prefer a more user-friendly solution with advanced features, the Newoldstamp signature maker is the ideal tool. Follow these steps to see for yourself how easy it is:

Step 1: Go to Newoldstamp 

Open your web browser and navigate to the Newoldstamp. Sign up or go to the HTML email signature generator and choose Create Free Signature. 

Step 2: Choose a template

Select from various professionally designed HTML email signature templates with options to edit all fields.

Step 3: Fill in your contact information 

Include your name, job title, email address, phone number, and company name.

Step 4: Add branding elements  

Upload your logo or a professional photo. Choose template colors and fonts according to your brand style.

Step 5: Add Call-to-Action

You can easily add links, buttons, links to calendars, image banners, disclaimers, and social media profiles with just a few clicks. No coding skills are required.

Step 6: Copy and install

Choose your email client, click “Copy Signature.” Newoldstamp provides specific guides for installing in popular email services: Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and others.

Install HTML signature code in Gmail:

1. Click on Copy signature button.
2. Log into your Gmail account. Go to Settings - Signature section. Add a new signature by clicking “+ Create new” and give it a name.
3. Paste your signature into the Signature box ( Ctrl+V or Command+V ), check the “Insert this signature before quoted text in replies...” box, and save changes.

Install HTML signature in Outlook for Windows:

1. Open Outlook for Windows.
2. File - Options - Mail - Signatures.
3. Click New, name it, paste HTML.
4. Click OK.

Install HTML signature in Mac Mail:

1. Click on Copy signature button.
   2. Open your Mail App and go to Mail - Settings - Signatures. Choose which account you want to use the signature for and click "+" button to add a new signature and give it a name.
   3. Uncheck the “Always match the default font” box. Paste ( Ctrl+V or Command+V ) the signature into the signature box, and close the Preferences window.

Install HTML signature in Thunderbird:

1. Click on Copy signature button.
2. Open the Thunderbird app and go to Tools -> Options -> Account Settings.
3. Choose your account, check the "Use HTML option" box, paste the code ( Ctrl+V or Command+V ), and Save Changes. Alternatively, you can download the HTML file and upload it as a signature.

Step 7: Manage Team Signatures  

With Newoldstamp's Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations, you can set up the same email signatures for everyone in your organization. You can also track how these signatures perform with built-in analytics and ensure your team always presents a professional image.

💡Pro tip: Newoldstamp signatures work well on mobile devices. They display correctly and have a good layout on all screens.

Tips for Designing a Professional HTML Email Signature

Even the best tools can't save a poorly designed signature. Keep these best practices in mind:  

• Include only the essential contact details and keep it short and impactful.
• Use clear font styles and sizes to make your name and title stand out.
• Use colors, logos, and visuals that match your brand.
• Don’t add too many links, icons, or buttons to your signature.
• Make sure your signature looks good in Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and on mobile devices.
• Use clear, sharp images to look professional.
• Customize columns, color schemes, and layout carefully; don’t use more than three colors. 
• Follow legal rules: Add any required disclaimers if your industry needs them.

Explore Professional Email Signature Templates with Newoldstamp

If you want your email signature to look professional and match your brand without spending much time coding or making margin adjustments, check out Newoldstamp’s HTML email signature templates.

Each template is designed for modern business processes and needs and offers various design elements, layouts, and style options to suit your preferences. You can choose from many different template types.

Explore more

With Newoldstamp, you can create a signature that looks good and works well as a marketing tool. Our solutions fit everyone, from solopreneurs to large companies.