Because most people receive e-mail messages frequently, make any you send easy to follow.

want to get the reader’s attention?

Choose a sensible subject line. The subject line should clearly identify the topic and include helpful keywords that might later be searched. If your e-mail is specifically about a grading policy, your student loan, or mold in your gym locker, make sure a word you’ll recall afterward — like policy, loan, or mold — gets in the subject line. In professional e-mails, subjects such as A question, Hi! or Meeting are useless.

Arrange your text sensibly. You can do almost as much visually in e-mail as you can in a word-processing program, including choosing fonts, inserting lines, and adding color, images, and videos. But because so many people read messages on mobile devices, a simple block style with spaces between single-spaced paragraphs works best. Keep the paragraphs brief.

Check the recipient list before you hit send. Routinely double-check all the recipient fields — especially when you’re replying to a message. The original writer may have copied the message widely: Do you want to send your reply to that entire group or just to the original writer?

Include an appropriate signature. Professional e-mail of any kind should include a signature that identifies you and provides contact information readers need. Your e-mail address alone may not be clear enough to identify who you are, especially when you are writing to an instructor. Be sure to set up a signature for your laptop, desktop, or mobile device.

But be careful: Don’t provide readers with a home phone number or address since you won’t know who might see your e-mail message. When you send e-mail, the recipient can reach you simply by replying.

Consider, too, that a list of incoming e-mails on a cell phone typically previews just the first few lines of a message. If you want a reader’s attention, make your point quickly.

Use standard grammar. Professional e-mails should be almost as polished as business letters: At least give readers the courtesy of a quick review to catch humiliating gaffes or misspellings. (revise and edit) Emoticons and smiley faces have also disappeared from most professional communications.

Have a sensible e-mail address. You might enjoy communicating with friends as HorribleHagar or DaisyGirl, but an e-mail signature like that will undermine your credibility with a professor or potential employer. Save the oddball name for a private e-mail account.

Don’t be a pain. You just add to the daily clutter if you send unnecessary replies to e-mails — a pointless thanks or Yes! or WooHoo! Just as bad is CCing everyone on a list when you’ve received a query that needs to go to one person only.