Why have a business email address?
Every business should have a business email address.
Think about if you were searching online for a wedding photographer. You are looking for a dependable expert, and after browsing a number of websites, you choose the one you want to get in touch with. It all looks perfect until you read “Email me at lucy.babezz.xoxo@hotmail.com“.
Or think about making a connection at a networking event and you’re speaking to someone who checks all the boxes and you want to hire them as a PR specialist. He gives you his business card and asks you to contact him at liverp00l4evr69@yahoo.com.
It may still be the email address you use day to day, but if you are a business, no one should be receiving emails from your personal xxcatsarecool1979xx@gmail.com email address. It’s unprofessional and ruins the credibility of a business.
Here are 6 benefits of having a custom business email address
Branding
The email address nikita@idowebsitedesign.com incorporates my name and my business’s brand name; people who see my contact details can even make an educated guess about the URL of my website.
Giving out my email address then becomes an indirect way of promoting a company’s web address, whereas using idowebsitedesign@outlook.com gives potential customers no indication of where they can find me online.
Trustworthy
Having a professional business email address creates an air of authenticity. Using nikitawebsitedesigner47@yahoo.com, on the other hand, simply does not convey trustworthiness.
Consumers look for indications that an online business is real before getting in touch, deciding to do business with them or sharing a link about the business with their friends. If you have a well-presented website with legitimate information and an appropriate domain name, don’t let yourself down with a questionable free email address on your contact page.
Simplicity
So many people use free email services that finding a username can be difficult. This means that people often have to add a string of numbers or an extra word to their name or nickname to find an available option.
So, while nikitaidowebsitedesign@gmail.com looks less professional, nikitaidowebsitedesign1992@gmail.com is even worse!
The lack of new username options means that getting an email address with one of the popular, free email platforms now requires creative thinking and compromises and you may end up with an email address that isn’t really related to your business name.
In contrast, emails set up with your own domain can be simple and streamlined. Some options include:
- [firstname]@websitename.com
- [firstname.surname]@websitename.co.uk
- info@websitename.ie
- sales@websitename.org
- support@websitename.au
- admin@websitename.net etc
Security
A professional email address is hosted in the same way that your website is. It is secured by an SSL certificate and other safety measures. All information that is sent through is encrypted and safe, protecting you and your client from scammers.
Scalability
If you started out in business by yourself and have since expanded to have ten employees, using professional email addresses based on your domain name is the only realistic way to manage this growth.
When you already have becky@dogsaregreat.co.uk and yusef@dogsaregreat.co.uk, creating new professional email addresses when Oliwia and Fiadh join the company is no big deal.
If you use free email addresses, however, new staff or departments will cause a headache.
Creating a series of addresses like dogsaregreat-becky@hotmail.com and dogsaregreat-yusef@yahoo.com is awkward and doesn’t look as thought through or experienced.
People are less likely to consider your emails as spam.
Most email providers provide their users with spam filters that aim to block unwanted emails. Having a professional email address helps prevent your email from being flagged as spam. This improves the odds that your message gets to its recipient’s inbox.
If you are thinking about setting up a business email…
and don’t know where to start, get in touch and I’d be happy to help. If you need to know more about some common website terms or if you business really needs a website – check out my blog.