Most email signature problems aren't design problems — they're maintenance problems. Here are the five most common ones.
One: broken image links. If your profile photo or logo is hosted somewhere that goes offline, your signature shows a broken image icon in every email. Use a reliable host and check periodically that the URL still works.
Two: too many fonts. Mixing three or four fonts in a signature makes it look cluttered and unprofessional. Stick to one font family — Arial or Helvetica — and vary only the size and weight.
Three: unreadable color combinations. Light gray text on a white background, or a pale accent color that disappears — these are common and easy to fix. Always check contrast: if you squint and can't read it, neither can your recipient.
Four: no alt text on images. If an image doesn't load, alt text is what shows instead. Without it, the recipient sees nothing — or worse, a broken image placeholder. Always add a meaningful alt attribute to your photo and logo.
Five: outdated information. An old phone number, a previous company, a dead Twitter link — these quietly undermine your credibility. Review your signature every few months, especially after a job change or rebrand.
None of these take long to fix. The challenge is remembering to check. That's why it's worth building your signature in a tool that generates clean, correct HTML from the start — so you set it up once and don't have to think about it again.