Whether you’re job hunting or starting your own business, a professional email address will help you polish your digital first impression. Let’s retire the email address you created in middle or high school and opt for something a bit more credible that sk8trboi@gmail.com
In this article, we’ll walk through how to pick and create a professional email address that leaves a good first impression.
Think about it: how would you react to receiving an email from "soccerchick12@yahoo.com"? It doesn’t inspire much confidence in a professional setting.
A professional email address, on the other hand, offers several advantages:
Makes a good first impression: A well-crafted email address shows you take your career seriously and are detail-oriented.
Increases credibility and trust: A professional address conveys a sense of legitimacy.
Separates personal and professional life: Using a separate email for work ensures a clear line between your professional and personal communications.
Before we get into the shoulds and shouldn’t of email addresses, let’s break down the components of a professional email address.
Username: The username is the portion before the @ symbol. The username can be your name or, for more general emails, could include something like “contact” or “sales.”
Domain name: The domain name is the portion that follows the @ symbol and depending on your use case, will either be the domain name of your email service provider (e.g. gmail.com) or should match the domain name of your business.
Top level domain name: This portion follows the domain name and is typically .com, but could also be .org or .net depending on your business type.
With those three components of an email address in mind, here are a few simple rules to help you pick a professional email address.
1. Use your real name (first, last, or initials)
When in doubt, use your name for your email address. Ultimately, you want your email to be easy to remember and the simplest way to do that is to include your name. Below are a few sample professional email address formats:
Including hobbies, nicknames, or too many numbers and symbols can appear unprofessional and be challenging to remember. You don’t need to include your birth year in your email address, nor do you need to include symbols like asterisks or question marks. In fact, adding symbols to your email can make your email look spammy and trigger spam filters. The only exception to this rule are periods, which are often used to separate words.
A concise email address is easier to type and recall. If your full name is unavailable or challenging to spell, consider using initials to shorten the email address.
Example: If George Stephanopolous was to create an email address, his full name would be a challenge to spell and would likely lead to a lot of miscommunication. Instead, he could shorten the email using his initials to make the email easier to spell and remember.
Gmail.com is one of the most common domains you’ll see after an email address. While a Gmail email address is perfectly acceptable for personal communications, a custom domain name that represents your company or personal brand is a much more professional look.
5. Try a professional email address generator
If you’re still having trouble coming up with a professional email address or all of the email addresses you’ve selected have already been claimed, try an email address generator. Generators, such as Neo or Panabee can help you identify an email address that is suitable for your business.
If you choose to use a free email service provider, such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or iCloud, know that you will have @gmail.com or @outlook.com at the end of your email address. If you are job searching, for example, a Gmail or Outlook account is standard.
Choose a professional email address format: Use a combination of your first name, last name, or initials. Keep it simple and memorable.
Check for availability and create the account: Visit the signup page of your chosen free email service provider (e.g., Gmail, Outlook) and see if your desired address is available. If so, proceed with creating your account.
If you’re starting a business or personal brand that has a company name and website, it is better to use a custom domain as it displays greater professionalism.
Purchase a domain name from a registrar: Popular domain registrars include GoDaddy and Squarespace. You may also be able to set up your email through your website content management system. WordPress, for example, allows you to purchase a domain and set up an inbox through its platform.
Choose an email hosting service: This service stores your emails and allows you to send and receive them using your custom domain address. Twilio SendGrid is a popular option.
Configure your email hosting to use your domain name: Each email hosting service has specific instructions for this process. Refer to their documentation for guidance.
We hope this article has given you plenty of professional email address ideas. By following these simple steps and best practices, you’ll set up a professional email address that makes a positive impression.
Remember to:
Avoid nicknames, symbols, and hobbies in your email address
Use your first and last name when possible
Include your domain name to represent your business’ brand
