Let’s say you landed on an ecommerce store you had never heard of before and you found the products enticing. You’re thinking about placing an order, but you want to make sure the website is a legitimate site.
One of the first things most people do is look for a phone number, a physical address, and an email address to use to contact the store owner.
Let’s say you saw this email address as a contact email at the bottom of that website…
purrtykitty220@hotmail.com
Not too bad (if you own a cat sitting business – maybe)… at least there IS an email contact, right?
But, the Hotmail address isn’t really very professional. Neither is a Gmail address. You get the idea.
Now, how would you feel if you saw an email address like this instead…
jd@thirdshiftvintage.com (assuming you are on www.ThirdShiftVintage.com website)
Which looks more professional and trustworthy to you?
I’m guessing you are like most people and feel the second email address is more professional and trustworthy, right?!
Why You Need a Professional Email Address
When you have a professional email address that uses your own domain name on your website, you have a better chance of converting more visitors into paying customers.
These professional email addresses can automatically boost buyer’s confidence and trust in your website, by showing that you are serious about your business.
MOST domain hosts (GoDaddy, BlueHost, etc.) offer free email addresses as part of their service.
IF your domain host does not offer free email addresses, there are other programs you can use. For example, Zoho Email or Yandex are two programs I’m familiar with that offer custom domain email alias addresses. There are others as well… just do an internet search for “custom domain email alias addresses” to see a list of potentials.
By using one of these free tools, you can create a custom email address using your domain name. This can instill confidence in your customers, and it definitely helps solidify your brand. And, you can feel like a big-shot having your own custom email address!
Your Shopify Branded Email
Your Shopify account does come with a branded email address, and you can display that email address on your website. Keep in mind however, that Shopify is not an email host. Therefore, your branded email address is simply forwarded to the email address you choose to forward it to. If a customer contacts you through your branded email and you reply to that message through whatever email host you use, the customer will see a return email address of whatever your hosted email address is. For example, let’s say your branded email address through Shopify is like mine – jd@thirdshiftvintage.com . Let’s say you have that email address forwarded to a hotmail account, such as thirdshift@hotmail.com. When you reply to a customer’s email, they will see that the email came from thirdshift@hotmail.com – not your branded email. This is why you might want to use one of the services mentioned above.
- If you currently use Gmail, you can use G-Suite with your exisiting Gmail account to send and receive email from your custom domain – versus from a yourname@gmail.com account. For example, let’s say you buy your domain name through Shopify. Shopify doesn’t have a built-in email program, so your email is forwarded to whatever email address you want. If you already use Gmail, with G-Suite, you would be able to reply to your customers using your custom domain email address. Without using G-Suite, your replies to your customers will be sent from your Gmail account. G-Suite is $5 a month, so it isn’t free. But it does allow you to continue using Gmail for your website with your custom branding.
- Once you have your branded email address, you might also want to make it a clickable email address for easy access for your visitors. Click QUICK TIP: Make Your Emil Address on Your Website a Link to see how to do this.
Very good information. I have experience with Zoho, Name.com, and BlueHost. All are very easy to use.