To make the most of your email list, you need to have a business email address. And although it may seem a bit confusing or out of reach, setting up a business email address is a simple process that can have a major impact. Plus, there are many free email providers that offer business email accounts for freelancers, sole proprietors, and small business owners.  

If you want to know how to get a business email, then you are in the right place. In this user guide, we’ll discuss what a business email address is, why you need one, how to get one, as well as tips and best practices to make the most of your business email. 

What is a business email address?

A business email address is an email account that uses your company name instead of your email provider’s domain. 

For example, jenny@sears.com is a business email address that uses a business name as the domain, while jenny@gmail.com uses a general domain.

A business email address is used to communicate with customers, communicate internally, and sign up for business accounts using your email across the web. 

Why do you need a business email

Having a business email address that uses your company name allows customers to easily identify you, establishing your brand’s identity and building credibility across your email recipients. 

Email is the most popular way that people communicate with the brands that they love. Recent reports show that on average, 67% of people feel that email is the most personal communication channel to receive messages from businesses and organizations. 

So if you have a small business, then you need a business email. Of course, you may have started out your business using your personal email address, but now that your business is picking up, it’s time to upgrade to a professional business email account. 

Since B2C and B2B brands communicate with leads and customers primarily via email, it’s important to understand business email from a consumer’s perspective. This is crucial as the purchasing power of the average consumer has become drastically strained due to basic living costs that have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. You have to be able to communicate how your product or services can help improve someone’s life so they see the justification in spending their money on you. How can you do this?

Make your promotional emails stand out with email markup

For example…

Let’s say your brand sells pool supplies. If customers see an email from luckyboots89@aol.com with a subject line that reads “Summertime deals inside,” it’s going to spam. There are a few problems in this business email scenario. 

First of all, the email address doesn’t tell the customer anything about the business sending the message. It’s also coming from a dated email server, which shows customers that your company is unlikely to offer an app or other modern features like digital payments. Finally, a good email spam blocker will absolutely mark this email as spam before the recipient ever has a chance to open it.

Here are just a few reasons why even small business owners and freelancers need to get a business email address:

1. Professionalism

A professional business email address has a custom domain name registered to the organization rather than a general Yahoo or Gmail account. In the previous example, we talked about how even a formal personal email address like brigit.jones@yahoo.com shows customers that you don’t take your own business seriously enough to invest in a business email address. 

And if you don’t take your business seriously, then why should your recipients?

A professional email address from a trusted organization is always registered to a custom domain like @bravo.com, @thepeanutfactory.com, or @lcandassociates.com. It shows that your business is well organized, that your employees can be trusted, and that you are who you say that you are. 

2. Email marketing

Email marketing is a marketing strategy that uses email segmentation, triggered emails, and personalization to create customer journeys that are unique to the individual and improve ROI.

If you are not using a business email address to nurture leads and improve advertising campaigns, then you are missing out on a great opportunity to build long-term customer relationships. In fact, 64% of small businesses already use email marketing to reach customers regularly.

However, email marketing campaigns are doomed without a professional business email address. Customers are more likely to trust brands that send emails from a business email account than a generic email address. 

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3. Brand awareness

A business email address is also important to have, even for small businesses, because it helps build brand awareness. Plus, customers make purchases from companies that they trust, especially when shopping online. 

Consistent branding across all of your communication channels helps build trust through familiarity with your brand. When your business email branding matches your website, your blog, and your social media pages, people will start to believe in your brand.  

If your email domain and branding are different from your online presence, consumers will doubt the identity of the email sender, and your messages will go straight to spam. 

Having a business email address is about more than just having a custom domain. It’s about building relationships with customers and showing them who you are in an authentic way. 

What do you need to get a business email?

Those that want to get a business email set up to enhance their online presence and credibility will need two things: a domain name and an email service provider. Often, you can find web hosting providers that will offer a package that includes a domain, website, and free business email. 

Let’s take a look at two methods for setting up a business email account.

Create a free business email address 

Almost anyone that already has a website can easily create a business email for free. If you don’t have one yet, then creating a small business website with web hosting is the first step to getting a free business email address. 

Siteground, GoDaddy, WordPress, and Bluehost are all examples of web hosting platforms that small business owners and freelancers can use to set up a business email account. While you will still have to pay for the monthly hosting fees, there are some plans that come with a free email account. 

Here’s how to set up a company email address for free using Bluehost:

  1. Choose a web hosting plan on the Bluehost website, then enter your domain name, or create a new one. 
  1. Once you’ve decided on your domain name, it’s time to add the appropriate account information and submit payment. After your payment has been finalized, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to log into your Bluehost web hosting control panel, where you can manage your business email accounts as well as other important settings. 
  1. To get a free business email address, navigate to the Email & Office tab in the web hosting control panel, then click Manage, followed by Create.
  1. Next, enter a username for your email account that will appear before the @ in your business email address and enter a unique password. 
  1. Scroll down and click Create. Voila!

Although these instructions are specific to Bluehost, the steps to create a free business email address are fairly similar across the various platforms. 

Create a paid business email address (with Google Workspace)

If you are ready to step up from your personal Gmail account, you can create a business email address with Google Workspace. 

You might think ‘if I can get a business email address for free, why would I want to create a paid email account?’ Paid business email platforms and web hosting with paid business email accounts often come with additional features like productivity tools, enhanced business email security, and even storage. 

Although creating a business email address with Google Workspace comes with a fee, it also comes with some advantages, like the ability to send up to 2,000 emails per day, a familiar Google experience, and access to tools like Docs, Drive, and Calendar for business. 

Here’s how to create a business email address with Google Workspace:

  1. If you don’t have one already, you will need to sign up for a Google Workspace account. Choose the plan that is right for your business needs. You will be charged an additional fee for each user account, so make sure that you select the correct number of users on signup. 
  1. Click Next, then enter your personal contact information. After that, you will be asked if you already have a domain or if you need to set up a domain with Google Workspace. 
  1. To set up a new domain, you will need to choose a domain name and pay the purchase fee. If you already have a domain name, then you will just need to verify ownership. 
  1. Next, it’s time to create your user account with a unique username and password combination. Choose a username that you can also use as your business email address since Google will automatically create a business email address using your username and domain. 
  1. Select Agree and your Google Workspace business email account has been created. 
google workspace cant do email signature

What to pay attention to when choosing an email provider for a business email

Whether you choose a free or a paid email provider to host your business email account, it’s important to do your due diligence and find the business email solution that fits the needs of your organization – no matter how big or small. Each business email provider offers a different set of plans and solutions that cater to small businesses, sole proprietors, freelancers, and anyone else that needs a business email account. 

Here are some things to pay attention to when choosing an email provider for business email:

1. Security

First and foremost, all businesses should look for a web hosting provider that offers spam filters and other security features. Small businesses are just as susceptible to hacked email as large enterprise operations. Most business email providers will offer email security options to prevent data breaches, but some will also leverage built-in security applications that can detect hidden malware and other insidious cyber plots. 

2. Customer support

Hosting providers typically offer business email of some kind, but some hosts will not provide email configuration upon setup. Without a simple setup wizard, you may have to manually set up your email on your own. This is a huge drawback for small business owners that are limited on time and don’t have extensive email setup knowledge. For many, an email service provider that does most of the configuration and business email setup for you will make the most sense. Plus, you’ll want to check out user reviews to make sure that your hosting provider provides positive customer support experiences. 

3. Reliable uptime

Another crucial feature to look for when setting up a business email account is reliability. Without a strong, reliable uptime, you may be without service for extended periods of time. Downtime is annoying for customers and comes across as unprofessional. You should always take a look at the uptime potential hosting providers report and only choose providers that offer at least 99% uptime. This means that 99% of the time your server will be up and running without delays or failed email messages. 

4. Storage

Storage space is never an issue – until it is. Running out of storage space can slow down operations, hold up sales, and stall nurturing campaigns. It’s important to choose a business email provider that offers ample amounts of storage space to start you off, in addition to the ability to add more storage space at an affordable price as needed. Start-ups and small businesses may benefit from archiving emails without having to pay for extra storage. 

5. Ease of use

Finally, look for a web hosting provider that offers business email that is easy to use. Setting up a business email account should be simple, so choose a provider that offers easy setup, and simple navigation, all on a platform that is visually appealing. You can also look for hosting providers that offer advanced features such as integrations with CRM, scheduling, and message recall. 

Tips and best practices for creating a business email

Before sending you on your way to create a great business email address, let’s take a look at a few final tips and best practices for creating a business email:

  • Check if your hosting provider offers free business email. To quickly and easily set up a business email address for free, check to see if your web host offers free business email with your account. If not, you can always opt for a paid business email package with another provider. 
  • Use a relevant domain name. Choose an email domain that is closely related to the name of your business. This is not the place for you to express your personality; it’s to tell your email recipients that you are who you say you are. 
  • Have a standard business email format for all employees. For business continuity and to build relationships with customers, it’s best to have a consistent business email address format across your organization, no matter how big or small. For example, firstname.lastname@yourbusiness.com, firstinitial.middleinitial.lastname@yourbusiness.com, or initials-department@yourbusiness.com. 
  • Create department-wide email addresses. Department email addresses such as sales@yourbusiness.com or customersupport@yourbusiness.com allow customers to confidently message your business about their needs as well as make it easier for small business owners to organize inboxes.
  • Authenticate your domain. Check to be sure that your business email provider protects you against spam and phishing emails by authenticating the domain with SPF and DKIM configurations. 

An official business email address helps customers recognize your brand and adds credibility to your email campaign messaging. When you create consistent branding with a business email address that uses a domain associated with your brand, you enhance customer relationships and improve open email rates. 

Whether you are just starting out or you’ve been working on your business for a while, there is no better time to get a business email address than now.