What is a business email address?
Definition
A business email address is one that ends in your own domain name, like hello@yourbusiness.com, instead of a free webmail address. It shows customers the email really comes from your business. You get one by owning a domain and pairing it with an email service, which can be separate from your website.
Why a business email address matters
A quote sent from a free webmail account with a string of numbers in the name could be from anyone. The same quote from your name at your own domain looks like a company. People are wary of scams, and an address that matches your website is one of the quickest signs you're real. It also survives a change of email provider, because the domain is yours.
It helps your mail arrive, too. Email from your own domain can be set up with the records that inbox providers check to confirm a message really came from you; they go by the names SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Without them, your messages are more likely to land in spam. Your email provider gives you the records, and they go in your domain's DNS settings.
For contractors, a matching address on estimates and invoices makes a large quote feel safer to sign. For law firms, clients expect it, and it keeps client email in accounts the firm controls rather than one lawyer's personal inbox. For churches, shared addresses like office@ or events@ stay with the church when staff and volunteers change.
How to set up a business email address
- Own a domain name for your business, ideally the one your website uses.
- Choose an email service that offers mailboxes on your own domain.
- Add the records it gives you (MX, SPF and DKIM) at your domain's DNS settings.
- Create shared addresses like hello@ or office@, so the address outlives any one person.
- Use the address on your website, your Google profile, estimates and invoices.
- Send a test to a free webmail account and check it doesn't land in spam.
How Future handles it
Future doesn't include email mailboxes. Every plan lets you use your own domain for your website and saves newsletter sign-ups to your contacts, and Pro adds automatic emails to customers, such as review requests and welcome notes. Those go out; they aren't an inbox for mail coming in. For a mailbox on your domain, use a business email service alongside Future.
Connecting a domain to a website changes the records that point to the site. Your email's MX records are separate, so leave them alone and your inbox keeps working. If you're unsure which record is which, ask in the help chat before you change anything.