How to set up your own business email account
Are you still managing your business emails with a Gmail or Outlook account? You are not alone. It is common for small businesses to use these email services when they’re starting out. They are free, low fuss and work well.
As your business grows, updating to a business email account is a key step in projecting professionalism and promoting your brand. 'yoursmallbusiness@gmail.com' just does not cut it when you are aiming to impress.
It will also help you to manage your growing business more efficiently with a range of email addresses for distinct functions, like sales, marketing or support@yoursmallbusiness.com.
Remember, email is a key form of communication and adding a professional touch with a business email account is easier and not as expensive as you might think.
To help you get started, we’ve got some helpful tips covering two ways you can set up a business email account – through a website or through an email hosting service.
Creating a business email through a website
If you already have a website on a platform such as WordPress, Wix, or something similar, they may offer an email hosting service. If they do, log into the backend of your website and look for ‘set up business email’ or ‘custom email.’
You will then be able to create a business email account that is the same as your website’s domain name (URL).
Here is an example:
- ‘www.yoursmallbusiness.com’ (the website)
- ‘info@yoursmallbusiness.com’ (the business email address)
Email hosting service
If your website provider does not have an email hosting service, or you run your business through social media and do not have a website, you can still create a business email account through an email hosting service.
These services let you send, read, and manage your emails. Some of the most popular email hosting services for small businesses are Google, Microsoft 365, and Zoho Mail.
Choosing and signing up for an email hosting service
You will need to consider your business needs now and into the future. Some common things to think about are:
- automatic backups: will your emails be backed up in case something is deleted?
- customer support: what is their customer support like?
- reliability: what is their typical uptime (how often they’re online)?
- security: how well does the hosting service stop viruses and other threats?
- spam protection: how well does your hosting service block spam and junk emails?
- storage: what are the storage plans?
When you sign up for the service you will have three options:
- sign up for email hosting only without a website
- sign up for email hosting and provide your own website
- sign up for email hosting and create a new website.
These three options will come with different prices and packages.
The main takeaway is that you do not need a website to create a business email account through an email hosting service, but if you do have a website, you will be able to link your business email account to it.
Once you have chosen what service you want, you will need to enter all your business information. It is important to spell and format this correctly when you sign up as it is difficult to change later.
Deciding on an email address
Once you have chosen an email hosting service, it’s time to think about your email account and how many profiles you will need. Can you operate with one core business address, or would you like to create multiple accounts for staff members or different parts of your business? For example, separate email addresses for accounts, support, enquiries and more.
If you need emails for your staff, then you will also need to think about how you would like to format their email. The most common format is the full name of the employee: ‘firstname.lastname@yoursmallbusiness.com.’
Using the right formatting can make it easier for your staff members and for your customers, so it’s a good idea to pick a format and keep it consistent every time you create new email addresses.
‘.com’, ‘.com.au’ or just ‘.au’?
Before we talk about ‘.com.au’ and ‘.au email addresses, we need to unpack three key concepts.
- A domain name
- A website
- An email address
A domain name is a unique name that can be used to identify a website or email address. It is not the same thing as a website. A domain name is like a digital patent.
You are purchasing the right to use ‘yoursmallbusiness’ as a website or email address. No one can use ‘yoursmallbusiness’ as a website or email because you have purchased the rights to do so.
An example of a domain name is Google.
- Domain name: Google
- Website: google.com
- Email: info@google.com
Domain names are registered with domain registrars — a business that handles the reservation of domain names — so only one person or organisation has rights to a given domain.
That’s why there aren’t fake Google websites with the same website address or email address. Only one entity can create www.google.com websites or @google.com email addresses.
In Australia, if you want to create a website or email address with ‘.au’, you need to register for a ‘com.au’ or ‘.au’ domain name. For more information visit the Registry Australia website.
You cannot create a ‘.com.au’ or ‘.au’ email address or website without registering for an Australian domain name.
You can still create a business email without registering for a domain name. Instead, your custom business email with have ‘.com’ at the end, instead of a ‘.com.au’ or ‘.au’.
Using ‘.com.au’ or ‘.au’ can have benefits, such as customers instantly recognising you are an Australian business. This is especially helpful when more emails are being sent to people’s inboxes every day.
If this is important to you, then you will need to create and register a website with ‘com.au’ or ‘.au’. For more information on websites with ‘.au’ visit our Hub article on New ‘.au’ domain names – 7 things your business should know
Redirecting your old email address
What about those emails still being sent to your old Gmail or Outlook account?
Some email hosting services will allow you to access and retrieve emails from a separate email address through redirects. This means you can access emails sent to your old email account through your new email account.
Another option is to keep your old account for a while and set up an autoreply, advising people you have changed your email address. With this option, you may get some people who don’t send an email to the new address, so it’s worth checking the old account regularly and replying to people from your new account.
More on emails and websites
Once you have set up a business email account, here are some further steps that will help you to reduce risk and keep things running efficiently.
Stay cyber-safe by protecting your email accounts from being compromised. Read our article: How to protect your business from Business Email Compromise (BEC)
If you find your inbox cluttered with enquiries, junk emails and promotions, it’s time to get your emails in order. Read our article: 7 steps to reduce email anxiety
Inspired to set up your own website? Learn from the experts and multi-award-winning web designers at Chromatix. Read our article: 10 tips to make your small business website a success
Already got a website but you are not retaining visitors? Here are tips to improve your website copy, written by small businesses for small businesses. Read our article: Improve your website copy, fast