How to Make Your Own Personalised Email Address

My name is Mark Saunders and I'm going to share with you some useful information about setting up your own personalised e-mail address. It's surprisingly simple to set up your own e-mail address once you know how and I hope that by the end of this article you'll have all the necessary knowledge to get started with your new email account. You don't need any technical knowledge and it can be achieved in just a few steps.

Let's start with the basics. All e-mail addresses have the format displayed in the image on the right.

Free email addresses providers don't allow you to choose your own domain name (the bit after the @ symbol, sometimes ending in .co.uk or .com). For example, Google's free email service "Gmail" offers e-mail addresses end in @gmail.com and Hotmail email addresses (Microsoft's free e-mail service) usually end in @hotmail.com.

While this is fine for personal use, if you want to be taken seriously outside of your social circle you should consider investing in something a bit more professional. You can do this by buying your own domain name (for example, I could buy the domain name saunders.co.uk). You can then choose a username to go in front of the @ symbol, for example, me@mydomain.net or in my case; mark@saunders.co.uk.

Side Note: mydomain.net and saunders.com are called domain names, the ".com" or ".co.uk" bit is called the domain extension. It doesn't really matter which domain extension you choose for your domain name. Some people in England like to have a .co.uk e-mail address because it tells people they are from the UK, others prefer a .com because it's shorter and holds more clout internationally.

Five reasons having your own personalised email address is a good idea:

1. Promote & protect your company, brand or surname

   It almost goes without saying that if you're a business owner then it's a great idea to protect your business name by registering the domain in your name. However it's also important to have control over your own surname or family name to prevent identity theft.

2. It's shorter & more memorable

   I used to find that when I gave someone my email address they'd have to find a scrap of paper to write it on so that they could remember it. Now that I have a personalised e-mail address this never happens! It's just my first name, an @ symbol, then my surname, what could be easier to remember than that?

3. You project a more professional image

   Nothing looks more amateurish than a free email address. Having a personalised .co.uk or .com email address shows that you mean business.

4. Keep control of your emails

   If you have an email address that was provided with your internet connection or phone connection then you are tied into that companies services. If you ever want to change your provider you will likely lose all your messages with it. Having your own domain name means that you have far more freedom when it comes to email.

5. If you don't, someone else will

   Unfortunately, there is only one of each domain name available. This means that if you don't register your domain name quickly it's likely that someone else will get there first. If you want to protect your brand and identity, I suggest you register your domain name as soon as possible.

When I was looking for my own personalised email address I did hours of research to find the best deal. I recorded all that research in the hope that somebody else might find it useful.

Typically, when you buy your own custom e-mail address it's advertised as something like "domain hosting" or "email hosting". Hosting is the technical term used to show that your email address and domain name are stored for you, so you don't have to spend time setting this up yourself. Here are the simplest and most cost-efficient providers I've found:

Daily.co.uk - unlimited usernames/mailboxes, £0.97 (about $1.52) per month

Namesco - 250 usernames/mailboxes, £1.58 (about $2.47) per month

I hope that the information above has been of some use to you. Please share your comments below.