Creating a Professional Email Signature in Google Workspace
- Christina DeSantis
- Dec 28, 2025
- 3 min read
A professional email signature acts as your digital business card. Because you are using Google Workspace, the setup is fairly straightforward, but there are some "gotchas"—especially regarding images and mobile sync—that we should address.
Part 1: Branding Best Practices
Before you start building, keep these design principles in mind to ensure your signature looks professional and stays out of spam filters:
Keep it Simple: Use a maximum of 3–4 lines of text.
Image Sizing: Your logo should be small (around 150px to 300px wide). High-resolution files that are too large will make your emails slow to load or appear as attachments.
Web-Safe Fonts: Stick to standard fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Georgia) to ensure the signature looks the same on the recipient’s screen as it does on yours.
Color Palette: Use your brand’s HEX codes (e.g., #2D5BE3) for names or links to maintain consistency with your Wix website.
Avoid "Image-Only" Signatures: Don't make your entire signature one big image. If the recipient has "load images" turned off, they won't see your contact info. Use a mix of text and images.
Part 2: Setup for Desktop (Gmail Web)
Gmail's web interface allows for the most robust formatting.
Open Gmail on your computer.
Click the Settings (gear icon) > See all settings.
Scroll down to the Signature section in the General tab.
Click + Create new and give it a name (e.g., "Primary Business").
Design Tip (The Table Trick):
To get that "logo on the left, text on the right" look, click the Insert Table icon and select a 2x1 grid.
In the left cell, click the Insert Image icon and upload your logo.
In the right cell, type your Name, Title, and Phone Number.
Highlight the table borders and set the border color to white (or 0pt) to make the grid invisible.
Add Links: Highlight your website URL or social media icons and click the Link icon to add your Wix site address.
Signature Defaults: Crucial step! Under the signature box, set:
For new emails use: Primary Business
On reply/forward use: Primary Business (or a shorter version).
Check the box: "Insert signature before quoted text in replies."
Scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes.
Part 3: Setup for Mobile (Gmail App)
Mobile signatures are handled differently. By default, the Gmail app uses a "Mobile Signature" which is usually plain text only.
Option A: Professional Text (Recommended for Deliverability)
Open the Gmail App on your phone.
Tap the Menu (three lines) > Settings.
Select your Google Workspace account.
Tap Signature settings.
Toggle on Mobile Signature and type a clean, text-based version of your signature.
Example:
Jane Doe | Founder
Your Business Name
Option B: The "Rich Content" Sync (Advanced)
If you want your desktop signature (with the logo) to appear on mobile, you technically don't need to do anything if you use the official Gmail app. Most modern versions of the Gmail app will automatically append your Desktop signature if the Mobile Signature field is left blank.
Important Note: If you use the native Apple Mail app or Outlook mobile, you will need to copy and paste your signature from a sent email into that app's specific settings, though formatting often "breaks" in those apps.
Part 4: Considerations & Troubleshooting
Alt-Text: Gmail doesn't easily allow you to add "alt-text" to images. If your logo doesn't load, it will just be a blank box. This is why having your name and phone number in plain text next to the logo is vital.
DMARC/SPF Impact: Since you've already set up your SPF and DKIM (from our previous step), your signature images are much less likely to be flagged as "suspicious" by receiving servers.
Legal Disclaimers: Unless you are in a highly regulated industry (Law, Finance, Healthcare), skip the long "Confidentiality" paragraph. It clutters the design and is rarely legally binding in standard business.
Your Next Step
A great way to test this is to send a "Test Email" to a friend or a different email service (like an Outlook or iCloud account) to see how the signature renders on different screens.
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