email is alive and well. especially in a professional setting with the us average. uu. worker who spends 28% of their work week reading, responding to, and sending email.
Despite alternative means of communication like slack or other collaboration tools, 90% of Americans surveyed over the age of 15 still actively use email.
Here’s the bottom line: email is the number one communication channel in the workplace.
So if you’re thinking of starting a business, your own agency, or going freelance, having the right professional email address is essential.
In this article, we explain why this is important, provide examples, and explain how to get professional email with a custom domain.
Let’s get started!
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why is it important to create a professional email address?
There’s a good chance you’re emailing potential and existing customers on a regular basis. it is often the first stage of networking and building a relationship online.
That makes your email address a crucial part of your brand, one that you should protect and enhance as much as possible.
As a freelancer or business owner, you can’t afford the first impression an email address like “[email protected]” makes.
first of all, it’s hard to correctly judge who the email is from, at a glance. Second, even with a more serious email like “[email protected],” recipients of your email don’t have an easy way to confirm your identity.
Anyone can create a gmail or outlook address with any name. How can a potential customer confirm that you are who you say you are unless your email address supports it?
An unwillingness to invest in a professional email address indicates that you don’t take your business very seriously. so you want an email address like [email protected] or [email protected]
professional email address ideas
Below, we’ve covered a full list of examples for your business email address. The email address style you should choose depends on the domain name you have registered for your business.
If you are using the company name for the domain name and your email address, you must combine it with your first name, last name, or initials. you can also indicate your position in the company in the email address if you need additional authorization.
- [protected email] (eg [protected email])
- [protected email] (eg [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] ( for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email]) protected])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
In general, anything that includes your real name or initials is fine and there’s no need to overcomplicate things. If you’ve ever worked for a large company, chances are you’ve received an email like this.
If your registered domain name is your full name or last name, there is no need to duplicate it. you can use a filler word like contact or mail, or you can use your title or initials to fill in a personal name domain email address.
- [protected email] (eg [protected email])
- [protected email] (eg [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] (for example, [protected email])
- [protected email] ( e.g. [protected email])
The most important variable in your business email is the domain name you choose. If you want other companies to take you seriously as a business, the least you can do is register the right domain name.
how to make a professional email address when your name is taken
we cover a lot of templates and alternatives you could use to create an email address. but most of them rely on you being able to get your name or company name on a .com or other highly trusted domain.
If all variations of your full name and initials, as well as your company name, are taken, don’t lose hope.
The best approach is to combine your company name or name with your location.
Not only will this make it easier for people to find you online, but it will also indirectly help your website with seo for local searches and google business listings. there’s a reason so many businesses are called “your town + plumber” and other variations, even in 2022.
If your business isn’t based in one location and you’re not going to be staying in your current city for long, then you have to get a little creative.
You could start by mixing and matching initials and your names, or add your name or initials to your company name and see how that sounds to you.
us average uu. The worker spends 28% of their work week on email…which means that using a personalized email address is essential to your business and your brand. 💻 learn how to set one up here ⬇️click to tweet
what is the best professional email hosting option?
Okay, so you’ve decided on a custom email domain. but what is the best option to host and manage your emails?
You have a number of different options, from using the options included with your hosting provider to opting for a premium solution like google workspace (formerly g suite), which is what we use here at kinsta.
Our entire team gets trustworthy, branded email addresses, but they also get to keep the familiar UX of Gmail for their business communication.
And that’s the tip of the iceberg.
why is google workspace the best choice for a professionally branded email address?
With best-in-class spam filters, smart search, an intuitive and uncluttered inbox experience, and extensive plugin integrations, gmail is one of the best email services out there.
and the best part is that we receive much more than emails. Every member of our team gets 30 gigabytes of storage and access to advanced features across Google’s suite of cloud apps.
You can also use google hangouts chat as an alternative to slack, or even extend and create custom workflows with google app scripts. Please read our dedicated post on the benefits of google workspace for more detailed information.
how to make a professional email address with google workspace
Creating and registering your first professional email address can seem overwhelming. but it becomes a simple process when you break it down step by step.
First, if you don’t already have a domain name, you need to register one. you will also need premium web hosting with dns support.
If you already have a domain and website, you can skip straight to step three.
1. register your domain name
choose a reliable domain registrar like google domains or namecheap. search for a .com, .co, or other popular domain available with a combination of your full name or your business name.
stay away from untrustworthy or poor quality domains like .biz and others. Once you have chosen your domain name, proceed to checkout and you will have become the proud owner of a new domain name.
2. create your google workspace business account
First, go to the google workspace and click the “get started” button. once you’ve done that, the registration process will begin.
fill in the basic information required, including the number of employees, the name of your company and your country. it is important to choose the country where your company is registered.
don’t choose the united states because you want the language to be english.
click “next step” to continue.
The next step is to fill out your name and existing email address. Once finished, click the “next step” button.
Next, confirm whether or not you already have a domain for your business. if not, you can register one with google domain registrar before proceeding.
if you already have a domain, fill in the domain and click “next step” to continue.
double check that the domain is correct and click “next step” to confirm your selection.
Finally, create a username and password to sign out of your google workspace account. verify the captcha and press the “accept and continue” button to go to the next step.
Note: If you already have an existing email provider for business email, please make sure you enter the correct username.
Please confirm that you have chosen the correct payment plan for Google Workspace before continuing.
If you followed us this far without any problems, you have successfully created your google workspace account.
3. verify your google workspace domain
Now that you’ve created a user, head over to the google admin console and sign in with your new credentials.
once you’ve signed in, there’s a tutorial to help you set up google workspace. You’ll start by verifying your google workspace domain.
Click the “Verify” button to open up your options for domain verification.
The default option is adding a TXT record to the DNS records of your business site. Adding the TXT record to your DNS won’t affect your website or domain in any way.
if you’re using kinsta dns be sure to check out this tutorial on how to add your google mx records to mykinsta.
Once you’ve selected the TXT option, Google will generate a code that starts with google-site-verify. Click the “Copy” button to copy the code to your clipboard.
now you need to access your hosting provider’s dns tool in a new tab or window. do not close the google workspace tab.
existing kinsta customers should use the kinsta dns tool.
Click on the “Add a New DNS Record” button at the top of the page. That should open a new tab where you can add a record.
select “txt” from the “type” dropdown menu.
copy and paste the verification code and press the “add dns record” button.
Once you’re done, return to the tab with the Google Workspace signup page in it.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Verify my domain” button to complete the verification.
note: it may take a few minutes for the dns records to become active, so it will take some time before google can complete the authentication.
4. add google workspace users
If you are not the only employee in your company, this is the best time to add the other users. especially if you already use a different email service to handle emails.
Click the “Create Accounts” button to proceed.
Fill out the name and username, and click the “Add New User” button.
repeat for all your staff members.
If your company already has email addresses, make sure each username exactly matches the existing one.
5. activate gmail for your google workspace account
The final step is to activate Gmail for your Google Workspace accounts.
Click the “Activate” button to continue to the next step.
On the page, you’ll see the following MX records:
- aspmx.l.google.com / priority = 1
- alt1.aspmx.l.google.com / priority = 5
- alt2.aspmx.l. google.com / priority = 5
- alt3.aspmx.l.google.com / priority = 10
- alt4.aspmx.l.google.com / priority = 10
you will need to open a new tab and go to your host’s dns tool, or reopen the old dns tool tab.
Usually you’ll need to copy and paste manually, but not with kinsta. Since we’re big fans of Google Workspace, we’ve created a one-click solution to help our customers get set up quickly.
simply access kinsta dns via mykinsta and click the “add gmail mx records” button at the top of the page.
The MX records, like nameservers, are the same, regardless of the user, so you don’t have to change anything. Press the “Add 5 records” button to proceed.
Since it can take some time for the changes to go live, you can take a tea or coffee break before continuing.
alternative method for other hosts
for other hosts, you will need to access your dns tool, for example by logging into your cpanel and opening the dns zone editor.
select the appropriate domain and then click the “add record” button to open a new window.
fill in the appropriate priority and then copy and paste the destination. double check that everything is correct and click “add record” to complete. repeat the process for the four alternative mx destinations.
If your host has email enabled by default, you may need to delete existing mx records.
once you’re done, you need to go back to the google workspace registration tab, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the “activate” button.
It will take a moment to verify. If, at first, it doesn’t detect the new records, give it a few minutes, and then press the “Retry Activation” button.
once the changes are published, google will find the mx records and take you to the final screen.
You’ve now finished setting up your professional email address through Google Workspace and can log in through Gmail to access and send emails.
all that’s left now is to test that your new professional email address works.
7. test your email address
since google confirmed that you entered the mx records correctly, this is technically not a necessary step.
but it’s the quickest way to test your new brand email within your gmail inbox.
open another email account, gmail, outlook, aol, it doesn’t matter. compose a new email and enter your new email address in the “to” field.
write a random subject as “first email” and send it.
now, go to gmail and sign in with your google workspace credentials.
If you did everything correctly, you should see the test email you send from your other account in your inbox.
You can also try composing and sending an email in reverse to confirm that you can also send emails without problems.
how to receive emails in your professional email on desktop/mobile apps
In this section, we’ll quickly cover how you can set up different applications with your new professional email.
set up your new google workspace email in mail for windows 10
If you prefer to use your windows 10 mail app instead of your browser, it’s easy to set up.
If you haven’t set up an email account yet, all you have to do is open the app. will automatically ask you to “add an account”.
If you already have an active one, log out and click the “add new account” link.
Next, click the “Google” button, and log in with your Google Workspace credentials.
google will ask you to confirm that you allow windows to access the data.
Just scroll to the bottom and click “Allow.”
once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to read and send email from the windows 10 mail app.
The setup is done and you don’t need to do anything else at all.
set up your new google workspace email on a mac
If you don’t want to access the gmail web app through your browser, you can easily add your new google workspace email address to the mail app.
first, open your mail application. then click the “mail” option in the top menu to expand the main preferences.
select the “add account” option, choose “google” and then click continue.
From there, the simple activation process will begin.
If you’d like, you can now even select which apps to sync with the account, not just Mail, but also your Calendar and Notes.
You can now send and receive emails from your new address using the Mail app.
how to use your professional email address on mobile devices
since you set up your email address through google workspace, accessing it on your mobile phone is very simple.
using the official gmail app
If you’re not already using the Gmail app, which is available for both iOS and Android, download it and sign in with your newly created Google Workspace credentials. very easy.
If you’re already using it with another address, you’ll need to add your new work email address to it.
To do this, open your gmail app on your phone.
on android devices, hit the hamburger icon to expand the menu, scroll to the bottom and click “settings”.
From here, all you need to do is click the “Add account” link.
Next, click the “Google” button to open the Google Account login page.
You may need to enter your smartphone pin code before you can continue.
once you see the “set up email” page, sign in with your google workspace account.
that’s all.
If you’re using an iPhone, the steps are pretty similar. tap your thumbnail in the top right corner of the gmail app
This will bring up a new window where you’ll need to choose the “Add another account” option on:
You should now have the possibility to add your freshly-created professional email address, simply pick Google as your preferred option here:
What if you don’t want to use the Gmail app, but rather the standard mail app on your devices? Well, here’s how to add your professional email address to it.
using the standard android email app
To access your gmail email address from the default “mail” app on your android phone, the first thing you need to do is go to your account settings.
Next, tap the “Add account” option, and select the “Mail” or “Email” application (Email is the default for Samsung phones).
Finally, select Gmail/Google Workspace, and log into your new Google Workspace account.
Once you’ve logged in, you will receive emails and notifications from your pro address.
using the mail app on ios devices
on iphones, you would also follow the same process.
Open the Passwords & Accounts menu in the general iOS settings.
Tap the “Add Account” option, and select Google:
Complete your login, and wait for the Mail app to verify your login.
finally, select additional settings like contacts and address book, and save the new account.
You can now access your google workspace work email address from your ios powered devices.
summary
Setting up a professional email address is like laying the groundwork for your future business communications. You can choose to set up your email address through a traditional host and their cPanel control panel. Or you can opt for a managed hosting option and integrate your google workspace account in just a few clicks.
Just try not to spend too much time obsessing over the email address, just make sure it includes your real name or initials, and start your business. that’s the important part!