E-tiquette: 5 things Emma Gad didn't tell you about writing good emails

Ahhh email. Many of us wish we could escape it, but let's face it: email has become a first choice for much of our interpersonal communication. So shouldn't it be written well? Shouldn't we do everything we can to ensure that email makes our lives easier and generally more pleasant? We think so. So we've got some tips for turning your email writing into the art form it should be.

1. Use the Subject field wisely
"Hello", "Documents" and "Request" don't tell your reader much – and make your email harder to find later. Keep the subject line short, but make it meaningful. "Updated fact sheets", "Meeting minutes" and "Jesper's vacation request" let your reader decide if the email is urgent, and immediately get the message across.

2. Fill in the To, CC and BCC fields LAST
Because you never know when you might accidentally click Send. Imagine how many messy situations we'd all avoid if we always followed this rule!

3. Hello, Goodbye and Thanks
Treat your email like a personal encounter. Greet your recipient, say what you need to say and say good-bye nicely. How you do this of course depends on the context and your familiarity with the recipient.

• Informal/friendly: If you're on first-name terms, go with a casual greeting: "Dear Paul," "Hi Mary", "Jon", or simply "Hi", "Hello", or "Good morning"; and end with a casual closing: "Talk to you later", "See you soon", "Take care" or "Cheers". Avoid writing both the first and last names. This looks very impersonal in English.

• More formal: "Dear Mary" or "Dear Mr. Jensen" set the right tone. US English requires a period after the title (Dr., Mrs., Mr.) whereas UK English does not. A comma after the name (Dear Mr. Smith,) is required in both. Wrap up with "Kind regards", "Regards", "Best regards" or "Take care" – all are good options.

• Personalize: References to specific situations help you develop your relationship with the recipient, so feel free to add "Have a great weekend", "Enjoy your vacation in Turkey", "I hope you're feeling better this week", "Happy holidays" – whatever is appropriate.

• Wrap up on a positive note: "I look forward to working with you" or "I hope we'll have an opportunity to meet soon" will make your reader feel good. Plain and simple.

4. Follow your client's lead
It's not always easy to know what level of familiarity your client wishes to have, so pay attention to the tone in his or her correspondence. This will let you know if you can use smilies :-), how much humor is appropriate and so on.

5. Keep your email to the screen size
True, this is not always doable – but aiming for a shorter email forces you to make your point as concisely as possible. Remember: we're all busy – and nobody likes to scroll.