What is a business email?
A business email is a professional email address that uses your company’s domain name after the “@” symbol. Your domain name is your organization’s website name followed by a top-level domain such as “.com” or “.net.” Creating a domain name that is easy to spell and unique can help make your business more recognizable and accessible to clients.
A business email includes your organization’s domain name instead of a generic domain name like in a personal email. For instance, a personal email could be “artisanflowers@gmail.com,” and a work email could look like “avery@artisanflowers.com.” Though your business name is in both email addresses, in the personal email, it’s the username instead of the domain name.
There are a few reasons why using your own domain as part of your business email setup is beneficial:
- You can use each email you send to promote your brand
- A branded email builds trust and helps your business seem more legitimate
- Business domain names are easily recognizable, which makes them easy to remember
- It looks more professional than using a generic domain such as Hotmail or Gmail
To set up a business email, you’ll first need to create your domain name and establish a hosting account.
How to set up a business email
The first thing you can do to create a business email is to select a website hosting plan that you believe will work best for your needs. A few hosts offer a free business email once you purchase one of their plans. If you’re in the early days of building your business, hosting plans can help you get a good business email domain cost-effectively.
Let’s look at some options for affordable hosting plans available to you and how they work to set up email addresses for businesses.
Bluehost
Bluehost offers affordable hosting packages that include a free domain with all new sign-ups. This means you can score a free business email address at no additional cost. It collaborates with WordPress to make its services more user-friendly and has four hosting plans you can choose from.
1. Choose a hosting plan
The first step to setting up your business email is to choose a hosting plan. Bluehost’s most basic plan starts at $2.95 a month and includes a free domain for the first year, a free SSL certificate, a WordPress install and 24/7 support. Other available packages come with additional website building and marketing features, depending on how involved you want your business website to be.
2. Choose a free domain
The next step is to choose a domain name that will display as part of your free business email address. This domain comes free with your hosting plan, and you can include letters, numbers or hyphens. Once you choose your domain name, you can then officially create an account. Once you fill out your billing information and submit the form, you should receive a confirmation email from Bluehost and can begin to set up a business email.
3. Create a business email
After logging in to your new Bluehost account, you can navigate your domain’s features and make your first business email account. Bluehost will prompt you to choose a personalized username and password. The username you select will appear before the @ symbol in your email address. Once you click to generate your new address, you can then create a unique password to protect your email account.
You should have options to choose limited or unlimited storage space for your account. At this point, you can freely access your new email account and take advantage of all the features that come with your Bluehost hosting plan. You can then connect your email to your phone or begin building a website for your business.
HostGator
HostGator is another option that offers affordable hosting plans that provide a free business email account when you sign up.
1. Choose a hosting plan
The most basic plan that HostGator offers starts at $2.75 a month and includes a wide range of website hosting options, easy-to-use WordPress installs, a free SSL certificate and a free domain for the first year. It has other packages available that offer more website options or marketing tools, depending on your needs.
2. Choose a free domain
Like BlueHost, HostGator provides users with a free domain once they sign up for any hosting plan. You can easily search for the domain you want using its navigation tool and claim it if it’s still available. Once you select your domain, you can create the rest of your account. Select your desired hosting plan before filling out the rest of your personal details and billing information.
3. Create a business email
After setting up your domain, you can create your business email address. Choose the email username you’d like to use, generate a strong password to protect your account and select the amount of storage space you prefer. HostGator offers the option of unlimited storage with all of its plans, which means you can receive and save as many emails as you want.
Tips for choosing a business email address
Your email address and domain should be a simple, recognizable name that represents your business well. Follow these tips to pick effective email addresses for your business:
Pick a straightforward and memorable domain name
Create a website and domain name if you haven’t already. Pick one that’s simple and relevant to your product or service. If you run a flower shop called Joan’s Flowers, you could make your domain name Joansflowers.com. If your desired domain name isn’t available, add a related keyword or location in the title, such as JoansflowersOrlando.com. For enhanced recognition, use only letters in your domain name and avoid special characters or numbers.
Keep a consistent format with your emails throughout the company
Build other email addresses for your employees and their departments. If your email is firstname.lastname@domainname.com, keep this pattern consistent with your employees’ email addresses. Create group emails for departments such as “support@domainname.com” or “sales@domainname.com.”
Should you publish your new email address?
Sharing your email address online could pose certain security risks, such as spamming or online phishing. You also may be added to email marketing lists irrelevant to you. An alternative to providing your business email directly online is to create a contact form on your website. You can push notifications from the form to your email to still receive messages without worrying about being inundated with spam.
Frequently asked questions regarding what is a business email
Which email is best for business?
A professional business email should be simple and easy for customers to identify. Examples include:
- Amy.Rogers@ProfessionalPainters.com
- ARogers@ProfessionalPainters.com
- Marketing@ProfessionalPainters.com
What is email etiquette?
Email etiquette is the professional behavior you uphold when writing emails. Examples of basic email etiquette include:
- Writing a direct and clear subject line such as “Proposal Suggestions” or “Marketing Meeting Notes.”
- Using a professional and recognizable email address such as Taylor.Andrews@marketingsolutions.com.
- Including a professional signature at the end, which typically includes your name, job title, business name and contact information.
- Addressing the recipient with formal greetings and closings and ensuring you’re using the correct name for the recipient.
- Proofreading your email by checking for spelling and grammar errors.
- Using professional fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri.
How can you create a business email without a website?
It’s possible to create a professional email address without a website, but you will still need to get the domain that you want to use. You can find services online that will provide you with the domain to set up your business email without creating a website.
Should you use your full name in your email address?
For a professional email address, using your full name most likely won’t pose a security risk. You may have already published your name on your company’s website, which means it’s already associated with your business. In general, your business email should be short and memorable.
