When you’re first starting a business, it can be tempting to just use a free email account service. There’s no domain or hosting account to try to set up.
But that free Gmail, Hotmail, Bellsouth, or Yahoo account could be hurting your business, not helping you.
Your email address is like your calling card. It’s the main way that customers will contact you, and what that email address looks like matters to them. The type of email address you use for your company can make a big difference in whether someone decides to trust your business.
75% of consumers state that a professional email address is a key factor to the trustworthiness of a business
When asked how they feel about a company that uses a @Gmail or other free account for their email:
- 33% of consumers doubt the company’s trustworthiness
- 24% of consumers would be concerned about sharing their personal info
- 23% of consumers would be concerned about sharing credit card details
One of the biggest reasons that businesses in Louisiana and elsewhere don’t take the time to get their own company domain (i.e. mycompany.com) for their emails is because they think it will be a hassle.
Actually, getting a domain is easier than you think and can be easily done through Microsoft Office 365 and connected to all your company email accounts.
If you’re using a free email account for your business, you’ll want to read on to learn why it’s important to get your own company domain for your business emails.
Builds Trust for Your Business
Trust is a big factor when it comes to earning leads and sales. Consumers are more discerning than ever and will look at several factors before deciding to purchase from a company.
According to a survey by GoDaddy, there are 10 key online trust signals that consumers look at when deciding whether or not to buy from a business. Number four on that list is the business email address, which goes to show just how much weight it carries when it comes to trust.
The top 10 online trust factors are:
- SSL (whether a website is secure): 60%
- Website content: 53%
- Reviews: 46%
- Business email: 45%
- Website navigation: 44%
- Mobile: :31%
- About Us page: 29%
- Visuals: 27%
- Design: 23%
- Social presence: 14%
Shows Your Business is Professional
They say that you only get one chance to make a good first impression, and the email address customers use to contact you is one of those first impressions.
Using acmeoffice@hotmail.com doesn’t quite carry the same professional weight as using contact@acmeoffice.com or jsmith@acmeoffice.com.
Having your own company domain is even more important than having business cards. It’s a big part of your business identity. Not having a professional email address is a poor reflection on your business in a potential client’s eyes.
Easy to Add More Emails When You Need
When you first start out, you might just need one business email address. But as you add employees, using mycompany123@gmail is going to get complicated and messy pretty fast.
When using email on your own company domain, you can keep a cohesive email address strategy, like having everyone use their first name and last initial @yourcompany.com. You never have to worry about adding more addresses, because you can add as many as you like.
Provides Email Security
If you use a “free for all” approach, having employees set up their own free gmail or yahoo accounts for their company email, you’ve got a big security problem on your hands.
Because your company does not have control over those email accounts, it means that you could lose valuable company communications if an employee leaves or run the risk of them continuing to contact clients using that address.
When you have everyone using email addresses on your company domain, you have the ability to back up all the email content and can also apply security controls to email addresses that keep your communications protected, even if an employee suddenly leaves.
Free Email Can be Mistaken For Spam
Whether you’re sending out a quote to a client or doing email marketing, if you’re using a free account, it can easily be mistaken by mail filters as spam mail, since it doesn’t have a professional company domain.
This can cause problems with mail delivery and clients not getting critical communications. You may also find all the work you put into email marketing and newsletters to be for naught if your email newsletters get stuck in spam folders.
Set Up Your Email Domain With Microsoft 365 Today!
Carl’s Computer Care can help you set up your very own custom domain for business email. It’s simple to do through Microsoft 365 and can improve your business reputation and email security considerably.
Contact us today to learn more! Call 225-315-3498 or reach us online.