Knowledgebase

Some great questions about the uses of email addresses, asked by a new Good Karma Host:

What is the point of the email?  I have an email account already?  What uses that email that I get with signing up with you and why would people want so many email addresses?

Many folks want email addresses associated with their websites's domain, to present a more professional image and help filter/manage their email communications. For example, GKH uses different email addresses for different support ticket departments, and those are filtered to provide immediate notification for support tickets.

Some email addresses are also standard--for larger companies, you may expect "support@domain.com" to go to the support department, or sales or billing to go to those departments, respectively. These types of addresses are often easier for people to remember as well. And sometimes, people may create a special email address for a special purpose. Running a short term promotion or conteset, for example, they may choose to have an email associated with it so they can discontinue the email at the end of the promotion.

Addresses that aren't associated with your internet service provider are also more stable, in that if you change internet providers, you don't have to change the emails listed on your site.

Also, free email address may leave a different impression than ones associated with your hosted domain. Anybody can get a free yahoo, hotmail or gmail address and may or may not have given accurate information on signing up. Email addresses associated with your domain are more likely to give potential clients a sense that you're not as likely to disappear, that you are who you say you are. Some folks don't care about this, and using a free address certainly doesn't indicate you're a fly-by-night operator, of course! But folks looking at your website look for cues that you're reliable, trustworthy and professional. Externals are frequently all they have to go on, so it makes sense to pay attention to small things that can help bolster their impression of you as professional and reliable.

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