Signatures -- The Long and Short of It

What is the accepted standard for signatures? Who sets these standards? The signatures in question are those blurbs that we include after the body of our main message content in our emails for the purpose of identification and contacts.

I'm really not referring to signatures in the respect that Usenet Newsgroups see them. It is pretty much agreed by established netiquette that Usenet signatures should be limited to five lines or less. They should, or may, contain:

  • Your name: Doug Davis

  • Your email: dougd@cros.net

  • Your company: Northern Research

  • What you do: Publisher

  • Your URL: dougd@cros.net

    You can shave a line or two from the above by combining your name and email address plus your company with what you do:

    Doug Davis dougd@cros.net

    Northern Research, Publisher

    dougd@cros.net

    Getting away from Usenet and, some lists, into the real nitty-gritty of internet marketing, signatures have become a way of sticking that extra ad in there. For better or worse we seem to be stuck with this practice, so don't expect it to go away soon.

    How wide should your signature be?

    Text terminals usually had and have a width of 80 characters; this means they can display just as many characters in one row. This is the practical reason why the ultimate text width of email messages and sigs should be no more than 80 characters.

    But this doesn't work very well in practice. We reply, we forward, we quote, and each time we do we add those little angle brackets to the lines of text in our messages, ">>>>." So we end up having short lines and long lines staggered throughout the text. This looks very unprofessional, even if you're just sending to friends. That's why all the recommendations for different line lengths. Some will not set their character length to anything greater than 72; some 74, others 76, etc.

    In publishing ezines and newsletters online, however, the standard seems to be 65 characters. This is what most submission guidelines that I have read, recommend. My ezine wraps with hard carriage returns at 65 characters. Almost all of the article submissions I receive are wrapped at 65 characters. If they're not, then I have to reformat them to fit my layout. I don't like reformatting -- it's a time wasting task I could do without.

    Naturally, sigs in my ezine, and many others, can't be longer than 65 characters either.

    How many lines?

    It depends, I suppose, on where you are posting or sending your emails. Discussion lists should be about the same as Usenet, in my opinion. On the other hand if you are posting to opt-in mailing lists for the purpose of advertising your business offerings, there are no rules. It's whatever you can get by with really. Who cares whether you have 20 lines of text and a 4-line sig? How about 4 lines of text and a 20-line sig?

    I have exactly 128 separate sigs in my MS Outlook 2000 sig file. Some of these are actually 12 line, or more, ads; it's just easier to paste them into the email that way.

    Remember the aim of your signature is to be read. If you have a humongous sig it not only won't be read, it will possibly provoke anger -- an emotion you don't need in your prospective customers.

    Signature Dashes

    The "signature dashes" actually is a line which is used as the first line of a signature. This is described in the "son-of-rfc1036": If a poster or posting agent does append a signature to an article, the signature SHOULD be preceded with a delimiter line containing (only) two hyphens (ASCII 45) followed by one blank (ASCII 32).

    The sigdashes act as a separator which allows easy recognition of signatures. This line consists of two dashes and a trailing space, ie "-- " (note the space) and thus can be recognized in a data stream as the character sequence "(newline)(dash)(dash)(space)(newline)". Some programs recognize a signature by the (sigdashes).

    Let me make this perfectly clear: There are no additional characters before, after or in between. This means no whitespace before the dashes, no additional dashes, one space at the end, followed only by an newline which ends the line. That's it!

    Synopsis:

    If you are posting to newsgroups or discussion lists keep your sig as short as possible; try not to go over four lines. Personal messages probably should be the same; why would you need all that sig space when you have the entire body of the message?

    When I'm posting ads to opt-in lists I usually don't include a sig at all. I want the ad to be the focus, not the sig.

    About The Author

    Doug Davis is the publisher of "Couch Potato Marketing Ezine", a veritable treasure trove of internet marketing information, plus a section highlighting the freebies available to help you increase your bottomline. We Have Bonuses: http://kabino.com

    executive chauffeured services Bradford .. Madison to Airport car
    In The News:

    Getting virus alerts on your iPhone? Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson helps you learn how to handle fake scam alerts and boost security.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says opening emails is safe, but risks arise from interacting with links, attachments or HTML content.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson reveals four signs of compromised Social Security numbers and offers five steps to protect yourself.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how MAB Robotics' Honey Badger 4.0, a versatile robot, now walks underwater with amphibious skills.
    An updated Android trojan called FakeCall hijacks bank calls. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says Android phone manufacturers and Google need to step up their game on security.
    The Massimo Modular E9 is a sleek, smart and comfy tiny home in 409 square feet. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson takes a closer look at what the future of housing might look like.
    Every stock trader should consider a virtual private network to safeguard their trading, according to tech guru Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson.
    Apple recently announced its new lineup of Macs and rolled out Apple Intelligence, its latest artificial intelligence-powered feature for its products.
    A Swiss-engineered robot can climb ladders, showing why it's at the cutting edge of autonomous robotic solutions for harsh industrial settings.
    Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson presents the cities targeted most by robocalls, why this is happening and what you can do about it to protect your privacy.
    Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents
    Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson shares tips and suggestions for how to get the best use out of the updated Calendar app available with the latest iOS update.
    Your Social Security number, your unique identifier used for many purposes, has likely been leaked on the Dark Web; here are some steps you can take to protect yourself.
    Researchers have developed a new technology that creates strong, sticky fibers capable of lifting objects and capturing things from a distance.
    Smart rings track the same things that smartwatches do, including steps, sleep and a general overview of your overall health, and they tend have more battery life than smartwatches.
    Researchers have developed a robotic finger that can perform routine medical exams like those conducted by doctors, helping to address the growing shortage of trained professionals.
    Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
    Insurance administrative services company Landmark Admin reported that a data breach from a May cyberattack affected over 800,000 people.
    Sotheby's will auction the first artwork created by Ai-Da, the world's first robot artist created in 2019 by British gallerist Aidan Meller.
    More than 250 million users of the Verizon Messages app will have to switch to another app. Verizon is shutting down Messages in the next month.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson provides a list of 10 celebrities who are the most targeted by deepfake scams, including Tom Hanks.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how Vast's Haven-1, launching in 2025, transforms space living with human-centric design.
    UnitedHealth confirms over 100 million Change Healthcare users had their data stolen. Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson reveals what happened and what caused the breach.
    Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how iOS 18 brings new text formatting and animated effects to the Messages app.
    Whether you're a social media veteran or novice, Facebook friend request scams are common. Kurt the CyberGuy provides tips to keep your account safe.
  • Ten High Powered Ways To Increase Your Traffic

    Once you have finshed designing your website, you want to... Read More

    How to Develop a Local Traffic Base

    Getting a loyal traffic base for your website is an... Read More

    Website Promotion: 10 Electrifying Tactics To Boost Your Profits

    Is your business lagging behind?Are you frustrated?Cheer up.Here are 10... Read More

    Online Advertising: Three Smart Online Advertising Secrets To Promote Your Online Business

    The shortcut to succeed in business is to do what... Read More

    I Have A Web Store?? So What?

    Just because you put up a web store doesn't mean... Read More

    Website Promotion: 10 Insiders? Secret For Writing Profitable Ads

    Do what I did. Learn these 10 insiders' ad writing... Read More

    Internet Directories to Improve Link Popularity

    Description: one way of jumpstarting you link campaign is to... Read More

    The Link Swapping Trap

    If you want to make money on the web, you... Read More

    How To Get Valuable Feedback From Your Customers

    You can learn many things you didn't know about your... Read More

    Three Ways to Market Your Web Site Effectively

    1. Tell people you have a siteThis might seem blindingly... Read More

    How to Keep Your Visitors on Your Site

    Does your web site's visitors keep on hitting the back... Read More

    Make Sure The World Sees Your Website

    You have spent hours creating a HTML masterpiece, you have... Read More

    Internet Web Site Marketing: The Secrets Of Endorsement Marketing

    What is endorsement marketing?Endorsement marketing is having famous or reputable... Read More

    Power Training for your website

    You have permission to publish this article electronically or... Read More

    12 Ways To Promote Your Website Offline

    So you have your website and you've done everything right... Read More

    10 Cool Ways To Attract People To Your Web Site

    1. Give people a free subscription to your e-zine. Almost... Read More

    Driving Traffic to a Crafters Web Site

    Ok. So you've got your website done and stocked with... Read More

    Google Gives Web Page History More Importance

    The Google patent application submitted in March, 2005 has generated... Read More

    How To Obtain Free Advertising For Your Online Business

    The beauty of the Internet is that it allows you... Read More

    3 Fast Ways To Get Free Content For Your Home Based Business Website

    Is your website looking alittle bare? It's okay, you're about... Read More

    How To Turn Visitors Into Posters

    So your having a hard time turning your visitors into... Read More

    Promotion Techniques Dont Have To Be A Hassle

    Are you tired of writing countless eMails to other webmasters... Read More

    8 Killer Ways to Improve the Effect of Testimonials on Your Customers!

    Every web business should be using testimonials. Testimonials are extremely... Read More

    Personalized Search Versus Personal Choice

    Personalized search is a hot topic especially since Yahoo! and... Read More

    Ideal Software Archive Website

    How to build the ideal website for software archives. View... Read More

    O'Hare Chicago prom limo ..