So you have decided to create a website for your business? Besides designing the website and picking a suitable hosting provider, among other things, you also need to pick a custom email address. You might be asking yourself why such a seemingly trivial task is worth a mention. However, there are a number of benefits it brings that would be downright unwise to pass up.
How to Get a Custom Email Address
Before we get to the benefits of having a custom email address, let us briefly talk about how to get one set up. Hosting providers usually provide a free business email address when you pay for a hosting plan. Each hosting provider will have a different way of setting up a unique email address, so get in touch with them for the procedure. Usually, more expensive hosting plans will include several business emails not only for you but also for your team.
Additionally, if you have a Gmail email, you can upgrade it to @yourcompany.com by using Google’s services. You can upgrade almost any email account to include a business email. However, that tends to be more costly than just sticking with the one your hosting provider gave you.
Benefits of a Custom Email Address
In 2018, it was estimated that 3.8 million people were using email, with that number expected to reach 4.4 billion by 2023. That is a lot of people, many of whom, use email to communicate on a daily basis. With so much potential to reach billions of people, you may want more than an email address that ends in @gmail.com or @yahoo.com.
Here are eight reasons why you need a custom domain email.
1. It’s More Convenient
With a custom email address, you can create an email address that best represents your brand. This will make it easy for people to remember and write in the address bar when sending you an email. This allows you to keep it simple, making it far much easier for people to contact you. Once they remember the domain name, remembering the email becomes a breeze.
2. It is Customizable
When you start out, your business will most likely just have one email address. But as you grow and get more employees, you will most likely form departments. When you go the custom route, each department can get its very own dedicated email address. This means each department, whether it is sales, marketing or IT, can have a designated email address. For example, this can be something like sales@mybusiness.com or marketing@mybusiness.com.
3. You Look More Professional
It is hard to look professional with an email ending in @gmail.com and @yahoo.com. With a custom email address, you will appear more credible and trustworthy in the eyes of the people who you wish to interact with.
Many people are reluctant to pay for a custom email address because there are plenty of free options. But when people look at that free email address, they will be wondering why you don’t just get a custom email address. In the end, this will distract them from the value you are trying to offer them.
If you think about it; chances are, you aren’t the only one trying to communicate with prospective customers through email. Your competitors are doing the same. Imagine what would happen if a prospect received an email from you with a Yahoo address and an email from a competitor with a customer address. The competition would appear more professional and the customer is more likely to choose to interact with them instead.
4. It Provides More Security
Provided you have picked the best hosting provider, any security measures they implement for your website will apply to your email. In today’s world, you just can’t be too careful when it comes to hackers.
The last thing you want is for them to hack your email and use it for their nefarious purposes. So long as your hosting provider uses SSL encryption and other security techniques, you can be confident that your emails are safe.
5. It Helps You Build Your Brand
10 seconds is all it takes for a person to form an impression in regards to your brand. As mentioned earlier, having a custom business email address makes you look more professional. It helps to mention that email marketing is still a powerhouse for brand recognition even today.
Professionalism is the image you want to project to your customers. With every email you send, you are putting your brand in front of those people you are interacting with. It would give your brand a significant boost if that email was accompanied by a personalized email address.
6. Greater Control of Company Emails
It is not a good idea to allow staff to communicate with customers using their personal email addresses. That is something you have no control over no matter what. If your employee, James, decides to leave the company, the contact list he has built up acting in your name goes with him. But with a custom domain email address, you can easily retrieve the contacts and the emails. Furthermore, you can deactivate, let’s say, James’ company email address to prevent him from contacting those clients under your name,
7. Allows Your Email Address to Remain Consistent
When you have a custom email address, you have it for life. As long as your domain exists, it doesn’t matter if you change email providers – the custom email address will always be the same. This is better than a @comcast.net or @attn.net email address, which changes when you switch providers. A consistent email address allows you to appear more reliable and established in the eyes of your customers.
8. You Have Already Paid for it Anyway
As previously mentioned, hosting providers also provide you with a custom email address. You have already paid for it, so why not use it. At this point, the only thing stopping you would be the misconception that this is might be some long and tiresome task. However, it is quite easy to set up a custom email address, and your hosting provider will be more than happy to take you through it.
Yes, You Need a Custom Email Address
There is power in the custom email address. The benefits, such as making you look more professional, allowing to control company emails and enhancing brand recognition, cannot be ignored. And the best part is that it is free if you are already paying for a custom domain. This means there is no good reason not to create one for your business (it could even be a blog) website today.
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