Those in Corporate America are most likely more familiar with the use of email signatures than those who are not.
Email signatures are those short little blurbs of valuable contact information found at the end of an email.
The signature gives the reader easy access to vital bits of data with the ease of a quick glance.
Unfortunately, very few people outside of Corporate America, where they are often required, utilize the signature as the valuable and powerful marketing tool it really is.
Those who do use it tend to overwhelm their readers with useless information, nullifying its purpose.
The following tips are meant to guide you in creating an effective email signature designed to grab your reader's interest and drive traffic to your website.
Start by including your full name as the first line of your signature.
I can't tell you how many emails I've received which end abruptly with no signature of identifying information.
The writer assumed I would recognize his or her email address and instantly know whom the message was from.
Your reader should never have to hunt the body of the email for your personal information.
Always include a backlink to your website as part of your signature.
Keep the link plain and simple and avoid using anchor text as much as possible.
If your reader's email program does not format the link correctly, he or she will have plain text with no ability to see the actual website address.
Keep it simple, such as yourwebsite.
com.
In many cases, the email system will recognize the address and automatically turn it into a live link, but if it does not, your reader will be able to easily cut and paste this address into his or her web browser.
While your name and website address are valuable pieces of information, they may not be enough to encourage your reader to visit your website.
Take some time to craft and perfect a unique tagline as part of your signature.
The tagline could be your vision, your mission, or even a bribe such as a free report, eCourse, or coupon.
Very few people will pass up free opportunities, especially if they're interested in your area of expertise to begin with.
You may want to consider setting up a separate landing page if you offer a special discount or opportunity to those who click on your email link, but not to those who visit your website otherwise.
This will help you to track where your traffic is coming from and will allow you to direct your traffic to the most appropriate section of your website with ease.
While many of us run several websites, it is never a good idea to bombard your reader with an email signature longer than the body of the email.
Including too many links will send your reader into information overload! In short, choose one website to include in your email signature.
You may need to set up several signatures to keep on hand and use as appropriate.
Email signatures can be incredibly powerful marketing tool when used correctly.
Don't send another email without evaluating your signature first!