Choosing your professional email address (firstname@yourbusiness.com)
What exactly is "choosing your email address"?
Choosing your email address means deciding what comes before the @. The domain after the @ is fixed once you have an email address on your own domain. The part before it (the so-called "local name") you choose yourself: your first name, info, a role or a combination.
That choice seems small, but people read it every time you mail. A clear, consistent name makes your address easy to remember and pass on, and makes you look professional straight away.
Why that choice matters
Your email address is often the first thing a customer sees of you: on your website, your business card or below a quote. A well-considered address works in your favour:
- Trust. An address with your own name or company name in it comes across as more credible than something random.
- Findability.
firstname@yourbusiness.comis easy to remember and pass on over the phone without mistakes. - Consistency. If you and your colleagues use the same structure, your whole business looks polished and customers instantly recognise that an address belongs to you.
For a starting self-employed person that counts double: you're still building your name, and every email is a small introduction. You'll read more about the specific situation of the self-employed in email for the self-employed and sole traders.
Choosing your professional email address: the three common forms
There are three widely used ways to fill in the part before the @. You don't have to choose: most businesses combine them.
firstname@ (personal address)
A personal address like firstname@yourbusiness.com is the warmest option. The customer knows straight away who they're talking to, and it feels personal. Ideal for anyone who has customer contact themselves.
Variants that work well:
firstname@yourbusiness.com: short and friendly, fine for a one-person business.firstname.lastname@yourbusiness.com: handy as soon as several people could have the same first name.
info@ and other general addresses
A general address like info@yourbusiness.com catches questions that aren't aimed at one person. It's the classic "front door" of your business and handy to put on your website. Downside: it's impersonal, so use it alongside a personal address, not instead of one.
Role addresses
Role addresses name a function instead of a person: accounts@, sales@, support@. They're useful as soon as several people follow up the same task, or when you want an address to keep existing even if someone leaves. For a one-person business they're usually not needed yet.
What to watch out for: do's and don'ts
A few practical rules keep your address tidy and future-proof.
Do's
- Keep it short and legible. The shorter, the less chance of typos.
- Choose one fixed structure for everyone in your business, for example always
firstname@. That makes new addresses predictable. - Use ordinary letters. Stick to the letters a to z, and perhaps a dot. That keeps your address easy to spell.
Don'ts
- No number sequences or nicknames like
johnny1987@. That looks private, not professional. - No punctuation that confuses. Underscores, hyphens and capitals often lead to mistakes over the phone.
- Not too creative. A funny address is nice until a customer has to remember or retype it.
What if your business name is long or tricky?
A long or hard-to-spell business name needn't be a problem. A few solutions:
- Shorten your domain to a logical, pronounceable version. Customers prefer to remember a short name.
- Use a short local name before the @, so the whole thing stays manageable: better
hello@than a second long name. - Torn between a few variants? Our name picker for your professional email address quickly helps you on your way with concrete suggestions.
How aliases make your choice easier
You don't have to choose one perfect address: with aliases you cover several forms without paying for extra mailboxes. An alias is an extra address that arrives in the same mailbox. That way you can, for example, have your personal address, info@ and a role address all arrive in one inbox.
At Mailflux you get 20 free aliases with every mailbox. In practice that means: start with your personal address, add info@ for general questions, and set up role addresses later as your business grows, without having to pay extra straight away.
And at Mailflux
At Mailflux you set up your professional address without technical knowledge. You bring your own domain, or we register one for you. After that you create mailboxes on your own domain and work right away in the webmail at webmail.mailflux.eu. No installation needed, on any device.
Every mailbox includes antivirus, antispam, antimalware, automatic backups, optional 2FA and those 20 free aliases. Your mail is hosted in Europe and GDPR-compliant, and the price is clear: from €4.99 per mailbox per month, billed annually. Managing addresses for a whole team? Then there's bulk account management to set everything up in one go.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is info@ or firstname@ better?
They complement each other. A personal address like firstname@ comes across as warmer and more credible in direct customer contact. info@ is handy as a general front door on your website. Most businesses use both: a personal address to mail with, info@ to catch questions.
Can I still change my email address later?
Yes. You can create new addresses and add aliases as long as they fall under your own domain. If you want to change structure, you set the new address alongside the old one and use an alias to keep receiving messages on the old address.
How many email addresses do I need?
As a starter, one mailbox with a personal address is often enough, supplemented with an info@ alias. As your business grows or colleagues join, you create extra mailboxes or role addresses. Start small and expand when needed.
Does my email address have to contain my exact business name?
Not necessarily. What matters more is that your domain is recognisably linked to your business and easy to spell. An abbreviated or shortened version of a long business name works fine, as long as customers instantly make the connection to you.