For most business owners, their very first business email address looks something like “YourBusiness@gmail.com.”
There’s nothing wrong with a Gmail address. Unless, of course, it’s a business email. Here’s why.
As your organisation and client base expand, you’ll want to provide dedicated email accounts for each of your staff members. That requires a subscription to a reliable email hosting service.
Not only that, but prospective customers might start measuring you against the bigger guys. You know, those who have a custom domain like Support@YourCompetitor.com and shared inboxes for their sales team, their customer support team, and everything in between.
The fact that your bare-bones email address no longer fits your business is a high-class problem to have. But it’s still a problem.
“Can I Use the Same Host I Use For My Website Domain?”
We’d advise against hosting business emails and business websites together.
Yes, it might be practical. Yes, it might be cheap. Until your website suddenly goes down – which means your email goes down with it, because both live on the same server. Now, you’re incommunicado on both your website contact form and your email address.
To avoid the hassle, it’s worth looking into an independent email host for your business.
What to Consider When Choosing the Right Email Host?
There’s no “right” email host. Choosing one for your organisation will depend on your current business needs.
Do you want the cheapest email domain just to get by – and look professional while doing it?
Do you need a shared inbox your sales team can effortlessly collaborate in?
Or do you need an entire productivity suite, where domain hosting is just one of the added features?
Start by assessing what a solution needs to do for your business, specifically.
To help you out, we’ve selected 5 hosting platforms for different business needs and budgets. Take your time comparing their features, pricing, and differentiators.
Pricing: Starts at $6 per user/month
If your organisation already relies on tools like Gmail and Google Drive, choosing Google Workspace as your email host is a no-brainer. Formerly G Suite, Google Workspace is ideal for businesses that prefer cloud-based tools for data loss prevention and reinforced security.
It offers what is likely the best anti-spam engine in the world, with billions of emails processed in a single day. Plus, it’s designed for the web, allowing users to work both online and offline, from
anywhere.
Google Workspace Business Starter Plan provides:
Custom business email
Minimum of 30GB Cloud Storage
Phishing and spam protection
Ad-free email experience
Live collaboration tools, which include Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites
As a bonus, if you choose SixFive to implement Google Workspace for you, we do it all, and provide you with business specific advice and support.
If your organisation relies on separate software like Zoom, the Microsoft Office suite and Dropbox to manage meetings and documents…you won’t be needing any of those anymore.
However, starting out can be a bit tricky for some users. You can learn about the 6 common mistakes people make when starting with Google Workspace (and how to solve them).
Pricing: Starts at $6 per user/month
If you’re looking for business-class email service, look no further than Office 365. Just like Google Workspace, Office is a great option for business owners who have access to the Microsoft Office software they’re already used to.
If you don’t require all of the add-on apps from their massive productivity suite, you can still choose a $4 per user/month standalone business email subscription (powered by Microsoft Exchange).
Microsoft 365 Business Basic Plan provides:
Custom business email
Up to 50GB of mailbox storage
Enterprise-grade endpoint security across devices
1TB of OneDrive storage
Collaboration tools, which include Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Shared Calendars
Note that Office isn’t made for the web like Google Workspace, so the user experience can be a little clunky and outdated.
Pricing: Starts at $1 per user/month
Zoho Mail offers an extremely cheap starter plan, which can be a great option for businesses on a small budget. The $1 per user/month pricing? It’s only eligible if you have over five employees. With five or fewer employees, Zoho Mail’s Free Plan is yours.
The coolest thing about Zoho Mail is this: you won’t have to waste a single minute writing or signing off on customary emails. Just shoot stream messages to your colleagues and collaborate quickly, whenever you need to.
The Zoho Mail Lite Plan provides:
Custom business email
Minimum of 5GB storage per user
Shared inboxes for custom domains (sales@yourcompanyname.com)
Zoho’s collaboration app suite: WorkDrive, Office Suite, and Cliq
Zoho Mail Streams
If spam protection is a priority, Zoho Mail may not be the best option for you. Also, expect to pay extra for it.
Pricing: Starts at $2.99 per user/month
Rackspace offers email plans that are essentially a stripped back version of Microsoft365. Still, it’s an inexpensive email platform without major bells and whistles. Just simple hosting,
document editing, and collaboration.
It’s the perfect email solution for users who need more than a mailbox, but to whom an entire productivity suite like Workspace and Office would be overkill.
The Rackspace Email Plan provides:
Custom business email
30GB file storage
25GB of email storage space
Spam and virus filtering
Compatibility with Microsoft Office apps
This solution is worth it for the price. However, similarly priced and even lower-priced products (like Zoho) may offer greater value for your money.
Pricing: Starts at $1.24 per user/month
The name says it all. It may sound a bit tacky — but if you’re just looking for a cheap email domain name, you’ve got it. This one is particularly interesting if you’re just learning the ropes with email marketing or if you already use Namecheap for domain registrations.
As for its features, a bullet list wouldn’t be necessary. It’s as simple as 1 mailbox and 5GB per user for the starting plan. It’s as simple as it can get.
While it isn’t anything like the solutions mentioned before it, its limited features provide a straightforward server for smaller businesses and beginners. It’s easy to set up, and starts working right away.
Whichever One You Choose, Don’t Rely on Their Effectiveness Alone
If you purchase only an email solution from a provider (excluding cloud storage, security reinforcement, and collaboration tools), you’ll have an overhead cost of managing different solutions independently.
That’s why paying a few extra dollars for a centralised user experience can cost you less in the long-term. Besides reducing your ongoing management, it makes onboarding and offboarding a breeze for your whole team.
Lastly, keep in mind that small implementation errors could stop you from experiencing the major benefits of your solution. Suites like Google Workspace may take businesses off the ground, but only when used correctly from the beginning.If Google Workspace is on your shortlist, take a look at the 6 common mistakes people make when starting with Google Workspace and how to avoid them.
