LINK EMAIL TO YOUR WEBSITE

Many companies overlook the humble email signature's ability to drive traffic to their websites.

These businesses spend big dollars to advertise their sites and get priority placement on search engines. Meanwhile, everyone from the company president to the mailroom supervisor crank out countless emails that, with one click, could easily link recipients to the company's website.

You're probably already using an automatic signature line (also known as a "tag line") with your name and contact information, such as address and phone number. The same email tool you used to set up your signature can be used to add your company's URL (website address) as a hot link. The people you wish were viewing your website — customers, prospects, vendors, your banker, social contacts, your mother — merely have to click the link to take a look.

But you can take this strategy a step further by customizing your signature line to promote benefits on your website. You can get more mileage from signature lines if you have more than one version.

You can choose the signature from a menu each time you write an email or set one signature as the default and use the others as appropriate. You might want prospects to click to your website home page or invite existing customers to see a new product line by clicking to a different page. And you can inform media contacts of your speaking schedule by directing them to yet another page.

There are many possibilities. Does your website offer hints for using your products? Then have every email generated by your customer service representatives carry a link to a "Helpful Hints" page. Does your website have coupons to print out and take to a store? Then link customers to the coupons. Can people sign up for a newsletter at your website? Link to the subscription page.

Housekeeping Tips

• Use basic text in your signature line. You may want to skip the logos and graphics because mail programs vary widely in their display capabilities.

• Provide a description, not just the URL, so people know where the link leads. Words in your Web address that make sense to you may look like gibberish to others depending on their mail programs.

• Test the signature line by sending it to people who use different mail programs, such as Outlook, and Outlook Express.

• Test your links from time to time. Dead links are annoying and lead people to think you're not minding the store.

• Make sure to update your signature line to reflect changes in your website content. If you add a new feature or special offer, announce it in your email messages.