Email Signature File: A Free Website Promotion Tool
By Cynthia Minnaar
One of the simplest methods there is of promoting your website is email signature marketing. You can create a simple but effective email signature file in a couple of minutes and automatically add it to every single message that you send out.
An email signature file is both free and easy to set up and it will also give your website more exposure. Here we look at how to set up an email signature file with examples for Outlook Express, Hotmail and Gmail.
It does not matter what email program you are running, whether you run it remotely on the internet (e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo) or directly from your computer (e.g. Outlook Express), you will be able to set up a signature file and have it automatically appended to the foot of your emails.
This is how to set up an email signature file in Outlook Express:
To add a signature file to emails sent out from Outlook Express, first launch the program and then click “Tools”. Select “Options” and a new window will pop up. Then click the “Signatures” tab and select “New”. Click the radio button next to “Text” and type in your signature file. Once you have done that, click “add signatures to all outgoing messages” and click “Apply” to save your changes. Lastly, click “Okay” and you will have created your own signature file.
Send yourself an email to check that it works. When you open it you will see that your signature file at the foot of your email.
It is pretty straightforward too to set up a signature file in Hotmail. After logging in, click “Options” in the top right corner of the web page, then “More Options” and you will find a further list of options! Scroll down to “Customize your mail” and click “Personal email signature”. Enter your signature text in the box, click “Save” and you are done.
For Gmail users the process is even easier. After you have logged into your account, click on the “Settings” link in the top right corner of the browser page. That will take you to the settings page where you will find a “Signature” box. Type your signature into the box, click the radio button next to the text box - NOT the one marked “No Signature” :-). Now click save changes and you have finished.
Now you know how to set up an email signature file, here are a few tips on writing the signature itself.
- Keep it short and sweet. No more than three or four lines of text and a link to the page you wish to promote.
- Offer an incentive for the reader to click through to your website, a freebie offer of some sort - an e-book, piece of software, free ticket or voucher and so on.
- Use complete URL’’s starting with http:// so that readers will be able to click the link. If they have to cut and paste, or manually type it into their browser, that is probably not going to happen. So make it easy for your reader to get to your website with a single click.
- Keep it simple by using plain text.
- Separate the signature file from the email by placing it beneath a simple row of lines.
Now you can also add signatures to your autoresponder mail and to your forum posts and your website pop accounts. Get into the habit of setting up a signature file every time you open a new forum or email account and take advantage of this free and simple way to promote your website.
About The Author
Cynthia Minnaar is the owner of cyns-home-biz.com and she runs her online business ideas site full-time from home. Subscribe free to her Online Business Idea Newsletter and receive free internet income training.
