The chances that a prospect will open and read your email are slim, as the average email open rate is 22%. Without a custom email domain, your chances are even worse, making it difficult to generate and convert leads through your email marketing campaigns.

The result?

Your clients and prospects may not open your email or read it if it comes from a personal email address. Even if they do, they may not consider your business to be professional if you’re using a personal Gmail account. In 2022, you shouldn’t be sending business emails from a personal email. You’re hurting your credibility.

Imagine a prospect who needs your professional service, and reaches out for inquiry through the contact page on your website. That's a promising lead! But think about the impression you make when you respond with an email address like “johndoe@yahoo.com” instead of a professional email address, like johndoe@yourbusiness.com.

It’s very likely that your lead will begin to doubt how established and experienced your business is if you’re still using Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or Hotmail.

This is exactly why you need a customized email domain. A custom email domain helps your prospective clients identify and recognize your brand, improving your visibility. Building this trust with your clients also enforces your consistency and credibility. 

What is an email domain? 

An email domain is the part of an email address that comes immediately after the @ symbol. It represents the web address of a business, ending in formats like .com,.net,.org, etc. For instance, B12’s email domain is @b12.io. Choosing a domain name is an important part of your branding, and these are three primary criteria:

• Relevant: Your email domain should be related to the services your business offers. It should align with your brand name and website name to avoid confusing potential clients.
• Memorable: A memorable email domain is easy to remember and should be unique. It should be uncomplicated and easy to spell and pronounce.
• Straightforward and short: Keep your email domain straightforward, with no buzzwords, numbers (unless part of your business name), or special characters. The shorter your email domain, the more professional it looks.

Why is a custom domain email address beneficial to your business?

Credibility

Businesses that use custom email domains communicate reliability to their customers and earn their trust. Companies that use generic free email accounts appear unprofessional and do not create good impressions. In business, every impression counts, and you shouldn’t waste yours or risk a negative one.

Consistency

Having a custom email domain creates a good impression that your business is stable and can be trusted in the long term. Consistency appeals to any potential client looking to do business with you. Given that, a customized email domain is unique to a business, it tells your customers that you are in for the long term and improves your brand image. 

Visibility

Every time you share your custom email on channels or send prospects an email communication with your domain, you are creating awareness and improving your brand visibility. This promotion helps your prospective client identify you with ease as you’ll always be in their face. That's slick marketing right there at no cost.

Flexibility

Custom email domains are flexible compared to generic emails. It allows you to choose your preferred email provider and the flexibility to move from one email to another without changing your email address. 

For instance, if you have an email domain @yourbusiness.com and want to change your email provider, you can easily do so while maintaining your domain name. But, if you have an email address @gmail.com, imagine the rigorous process you have to undergo to switch to @yahoo.com. You'll need to reinform your clients and then try to re-establish authority with the new email address. 

Uniformity

A custom email domain allows you to add as many employees as you can to maintain uniformity. This is because each of your employees gets their custom email addresses which are linked to your business. If you have to do that with just a Gmail address, the names will not be uniform as Gmail already has millions of users who might share similar names. 

Custom email domains also enable group mailings. Group mailings enable more than one person to have access to an account. For instance, you can have support@yourbusiness.com or enquiries@your business.com, these email domains maintain uniformity in your business and enable ease of tracking operations.

Confidentiality

With third-party email providers like Gmail and yahoo, your privacy might be exposed. Important business secrets risk being out in the open. Your prospective clients can also hesitate to do business with you without a custom email domain, just to make sure that their data is not at risk and cannot be shared with random strangers in the case of a breach. Custom email domains provide more privacy and build the trustworthiness for clients to share data that can be useful for email marketing.

How do I get a custom email domain for my business?

So now you've understood why you need a custom email domain for your business, the next step is to get one. There are two main ways you can get it. 

The first is more of a DIY where you set up your email domain yourself. This is a popular method and is used by brands such as Godaddy, blue host, dream host, and domain.com when you use their website hosting plans. while the second is a professional process handled by our team at B12 where we handle everything including your website development, email domain, search engine optimization, and content creation.

If you are on a budget, you can use a free business email address from Squarespace, Microsoft, Gmail, proto mail, outlook, and Zoho Mail. Free customized emails are available to you when you purchase a hosting package from them.

Setting up a custom email domain requires three things; a custom domain name, an email provider, and a third-party email host. Once you have these, you can set up your custom email with the following steps:

• Get a domain name: Since you now know what a domain name is, I believe you already have a few ideas for your business. You can get a domain name from Google domains or other website providers. To be able to get your custom email domain, you need a domain name. After you've chosen a domain name, ensure to check if it's available. If it is, then go ahead and purchase the domain. If it is not, you need to modify the name or extension before you can purchase.
• Choose a webmail provider: There is a wide range of free email providers, but, we have narrowed down the top 4 providers for you to check out. Including their pros and cons to help you make the right choice for your business needs. Once you've chosen an email provider, ensure to verify your email by logging in through your webmail application. This is to enable free access to your custom email domain. 
• Connect to your email host: This is optional but quite popular among business owners. You simply have to connect your domain name to an email host like Gmail which will serve as the third party. This way, you can receive emails on your personal Gmail account through your email domain. You simply have to connect your registered domain to Gmail by transferring your domains to the Google domain.

Can you have a custom email address without having a website?

Having a custom email domain is one thing, and having a website is another thing entirely. They are not related and do not serve the same needs. So, yes you can have a custom email address without having a website.

The crucial factor here is your domain. You need a domain name. You can take the steps outlined in this article to get one. Once you purchase and register your domain name, you give your business a unique digital identity and establish your authority over the name. The domain name is specific to your business and cannot be shared. It is this domain name that will enable you to customize your email addresses and your website when you decide to have one.

B12 makes it easy to get your free custom email domain

Don’t risk choosing the wrong email provider with weak security, maintenance, and flexibility. While there are many free email tools out there, they don’t include the professional branding opportunities that a platform like B12 does. 

B12 is an all-in-one online platform that helps service businesses reach and serve clients, and it sets you up with a professional website that’s ready to publish in 30 days. You also gain access to tools that make it easier to reach and engage prospective clients. Your B12 subscription comes with a custom email address that matches your website domain, email marketing, email automation workflows, and more, to elevate your brand and client communications.

You remain focused on growing your business while the B12 team helps you connect an existing custom domain or get you a new domain. Even after your website launches, our team is available to help you scale your business and look professional online. 

First impression matters

It is not enough to build a solution-driven business and provide professional services to your clients. You have to make them trust you, view you as an authority, and keep their loyalty to your business.

The one-stop is a custom email domain for all forms of communication with your target audience. It's the era of email marketing and your custom email address provides the credibility, visibility, flexibility, confidentiality, and consistency required to maintain a strong client base and generate revenue through email campaigns.

And that’s why a custom email address is so crucial — it simply tells your prospects that you’re an expert service provider who can help them solve their problems. 

You should set up your email domain right away. As you know, there are many easy and efficient ways to set it up, including with B12, which makes it a seamless extension of your professional online presence with an affordable subscription that includes other powerful business tools. 

Sign up to get started with B12 on the custom email domain you need to give your business the cohesion and credibility it deserves.