How do I get an email address?
…Its Easyaz!
Email addresses can be set up as part of your website hosting package – you just need to decide what you want BEFORE the @ sign in the address. The words AFTER the @ sign are your domain name, so you can’t change this.
Once you have picked your email addresses, we can set these up within your web hosting admin panel. We insist on using very strong passwords (you know the ones that look a bit like this: sdfsjhUY^& ) because hacking of emails is all too common and can really mess up your week! So no kids name and age passwords please 🙂
Now to decide how you will access and manage your new emails…
1: Forward to your regular email
You can have an email address info@yourbusiness.com “forwarded” to your existing email account (eg GMail or Hotmail).
This means you can advertise and promote your official email address “info@yourbusiness.com”, but when someone sends a message there, it will actually appear in your normal email inbox.
This is very convenient as there’s nothing new to worry about, BUT when you reply, the reply will show as coming from your current email address eg “bobsmith@gmail.com”.
This is a good solution for those that don’t have much email, or when the business type doesn’t have much concern with whether the email looks particularly formal, or even just not comfortable with technology and prefer to keep it simple.
But for most businesses, we recommend the next solution.
2: Link your new email to an Email Client
Whats an Email Client?
It’s the software you use to run it…like Microsoft Outlook, or the Mail app in your iPhone.
This is the best way to set up your email, so you will have an extra “Inbox” for your new address, and mail you send from that Inbox (including replies) will use your official email address.
The incoming mail is initially stored on your web hosting server (that computer in the cloud that also has your website files stored on it) and the Email Client requests access to this periodically.
We can set the system up to allow multiple devices (eg laptop and phone) to access the email and sync replies, OR download the email to the first device that accesses it.
Talk to us about what suits your business model best.
3: Use the default host email software
The web hosting package will come with a default way to access your email.
Generally we see a hosting admin system called CPanel used by the web hosting company.
It comes with a default link to an email software program that works in the cloud (similar to how Gmail works) so you can access it from any web browser. This email program is called RoundCube.Â
RoundCubes default settings are not very user-friendly “out of the box”, so we don’t recommend this option for regular use, but it is a useful backup solution if your other options are not working for some technical reason.
Therefore you could consider this the back door to your email, but wouldn’t recommend this as a day-to-day email management solution.
HELP – my email’s not working!!!!
This is unfortunately a VERY common cry for help! However, it’s usually related to your web hosting, not your web design.
Your email is stored and accessed between your device and your web host, so when that connection goes wrong, the hosting provider is the place to start.
Occasionally there is a web design related reason, and we are always happy to help navigate the resolution, but if in doubt, the FIRST contact should be your web hosting provider.
You are paying them a fee to maintain your email service, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Email setup tips
Have more than one email address eg info@ and accounts@ - then you can have separate mailboxes in your email system to organise different enquiry types
Decide how it will be managed before set up, to ensure it will suit your ongoing needs
NEVER use basic passwords, email hacking can be disastrous and the best protection is to have a complex unique password
Want to discuss the best way to set up email for your business?
