Why Your Business Needs a Custom Domain-Based Email Address

What is a Domain-Based Email Address?

The terms “branded email address,” “custom business address,” and “domain-based email address” generally all refer to email addresses that end with your website domain rather than the name of a generic email host, like @gmail.com, @outlook.com, or @yahoo.com.

For example, our domain is “www.northwestregisteredagent.com,” and our domain-based email addresses include “[email protected]” and “[email protected].”

Why Should You Use a Custom Business Email Address?

Getting a professional business email address may not seem very high up on the list of things to do when starting your business, but it’s more important than you may think. In fact, 85% of consumers surveyed for a recent study agreed that using a branded email address gives a business more credibility.

Build trust with customers

As a business owner, you want to be taken seriously, but using a free email address instead of a branded email address can suggest that your business isn’t well-established or isn’t legitimate. Furthermore, potential customers may think that you’re just running a side hustle or maybe even a scam. Customers are more likely to trust (and therefore open) a message from a custom email address, while they may suspect that an email from a free account is spam or phishing.

Support your brand marketing

Email is the most common way consumers communicate with businesses, ahead of even social media and phone. Because emails sent from a free account are more likely to be sent to the spam folder, using a domain-based email address helps ensure that your customers receive all of your emails. Having a domain-based email address also supports consistency in your marketing and strengthens your business identity.

Protect your business and customer information

Free email accounts don’t always provide you with the most advanced cybersecurity. You may be more vulnerable to data leaks or to having your account hacked. Plus, depending on the service, your emails may be scanned to feed AI programs or to provide you with targeted ads. With domain-based email hosting, security features are generally more robust and you don’t have to deal with ads.

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How to Find the Right Business Email Service

Here’s what you should look for when shopping for a domain-based email hosting service:

• High-level email security:
  

  End-to-end encryption, SSL security, 2-factor authorization, spam and malware filters, no ads, no email scanning (or the ability to turn scanning off)

• Adequate storage capacity:

  5 GB of storage per user, ability to add more storage if necessary, cloud integration, archiving features

• User and delivery options:

  Ability to create multiple addresses for departments or roles (for ex: “[email protected]” or “[email protected]”), forwarding to other addresses

• Accessible customer support:

  Chat (not just a chatbot!), email, or phone support from real people, supplemental FAQ and forums

• Tools for collaboration:

  Mobile app support, calendar or meeting integration, ability to transfer contacts from an existing email address

7 Reasons Not to Use Gmail for Business

Here are seven reasons you shouldn’t use a Gmail account for your business.

1. Your emails will be scraped for keywords so that Gmail can provide you with targeted ads and sponsored emails.
2. Unless you disable the feature, Gmail automatically scans your all emails (event the sensitive ones) using Gemini AI.
3. Emails sent with Gmail may not be end-to-end encrypted.
4. Using Gmail, you only get 15 GB of free storage, shared between your email, drive, and photos.
5. You may not be able to get a username that perfectly matches your company’s name or branding.
6. You can only have one email address per account.
7. Gmail does not provide one-on-one technical support—just forums.

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How to Set Up Domain-Based Email Hosting

There are two main ways to get domain-based email hosting for your business.

Get email hosting through your domain registrar

This is the easiest and fastest approach.

• If you already have a domain: Find out if your domain registrar offers email hosting and purchase an email hosting package or upgrade. From there, you should be able to set up your email using the domain registrar’s email hosting system or hook your domain up to your existing email provider.

• If you don’t have a domain: When registering your domain, opt for a package that includes email hosting so that you can set up your email right away.

Set up your own domain-based email

If you’re someone who really prefers the interface provided by Google Workspace (Google’s paid email service), Microsoft 365, or another email provider, you can set up your own domain-based email.

Step 1: Register your domain name

Buy your domain name through a domain registrar. Make sure that your registrar provides Whois privacy, and that you remember to renew your domain every year so that it doesn’t end up getting taken by someone else.

Step 2: Configure the domain name records (DNS) in your email account

Configuring your DNS records verifies that you own your domain name with your email host. The exact process varies by hosting service (You should be able to get exact instructions through your provider), but generally involves updating your mail exchanger records, or MX records for short. Your MX records act like postal address for your email address, identifying and directing emails addressed to your domain to the proper server so that incoming messages don’t get lost.

Step 3: Update settings with your domain registrar

Next, you’ll need to log in to your account with your domain registrar and update your MX records so that your domain is connected to your email provider. Specific instructions should be available through your registrar, since the location of your MX records within your account can vary by registrar.

The Benefits of Using Northwest for Business Email Hosting

Here’s why choosing Northwest for custom business email is a smart choice.

Enjoy advanced security for you and your business

With Northwest, you’ll always get Privacy by Default®. We never sell your data to third parties, and our email hosting comes with industry-standard encryption built in-house. Spam and suspicious emails are filtered out of your primary inbox, you never have to deal with ads, and your emails are never scanned to feed AI or for any other purpose.

Take advantage of scalable storage and service options

We offer monthly email hosting plans designed to accommodate businesses small and large, with 3 levels storage options and the ability to create multiple address and inboxes. It’s easy to transfer your existing domain over to our service if you purchased your domain through a different registrar. And if you don’t have a domain, you’re in luck, because our service includes a free domain for one year.

Get timely assistance from a human support team

We don’t make you wade through forum posts or run through a gauntlet of chatbots to get answers. Just call or email, and one of our experienced, personable Corporate Guides® will get to work helping to solve your problem. Not only that, but you get lifetime customer support, and we never make you pay extra to talk to a person.

See your company thrive with all-in-one business identity support

As a registered agent that also provides web services, Northwest can help you establish a professional business identity for your company from the very beginning. We include domain, website, and email services, a business phone number with a local area code, and complimentary use of one of our local business addresses with all registered agent service orders. Plus, we offer additional state and federal filing services, like LLC formation and trademark filing, to make starting and maintaining your business easier.

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