Most people will agree that the subject line is essential in getting someone to even open your email. The subject line should provide a short description of what the e-mail is about. To get past spam filters, your subject should be descriptive, unique, and personalized. It should not include capitalization or exclamation marks, as they can come off as rude and unprofessional. Some examples of good vs. bad subject lines can be seen here.

Your e-mail should be written in a professional manner. It is very unprofessional to use abbreviations such as: 2, u, ttyl, thx, lol, etc. Your e-mail should follow proper grammar rules and be spelled correctly. If spelling is your weakness, use the spell check–almost all e-mail services provide this! If you do not do these things, it looks like you do not care about detail and are a lazy person, which are never perceived as good qualities.

You don’t want your e-mail to be too formal and stuffy, so try to word it like a conversation. You don’t need to use big words, but you also shouldn’t write like an uneducated adult.

If you need to send the same e-mail to multiple people, use blind carbon copy (bcc) so your recipients can’t see all of the other recipients e-mail addresses. This is also to keep the e-mail clean looking, because it doesn’t look neat or professional when you get a fwd e-mail with 50 addresses at the top. The proper way to do this is explained on this website. This is just a part of showing respect for your recipients. Another way to show respect is to ask before forwarding an e-mail from someone.

If at all possible, it is best to avoid sending attachments. If it is short enough, it is best to copy and paste whatever you are sending directly into the body of the e-mail. If it is longer, it is okay to provide a outline and ask if it is okay to send an attachment. Many people do not like attachments because they can carry viruses. Also, they take up space on the computer’s hard drive, so if the person does not know what you are sending and why it is important they look at it, they will often just delete the whole e-mail.

The best e-mails are short and to the point. The reason for the e-mail is specified in the first few sentences and the entire e-mail is no longer than a few paragraphs.

The most professional way to end your e-mail is with a signature that includes your name, title, contact information, and possibly even a website (this could be your blog!) This information and additional tips are expanded on in Guy Kawasaki’s blog.