What makes a good email address - Page 2

vans · 2 Feb 2009, 04:37 AM

Thanks everybody I think I have learnt a few things from this thread

First, is I have been reminded that I can use more than one email domain, one for friends and family and one for the rest of the world.

Secondly that if I want a geographically neutral address .net seems to come closest.

Thirdly, I shouldn’t worry about being geographically neutral.

I tried playing with variations on mail.net by putting a short word in front or behind “mail” but they all sounded a bit dumb (fogmail.net is available if anyone wants it)

So I have just got myself a .net domain. It is the name of a very small village close to where I used to live. It’s only 6 letters long. It reminds me of long walks in nice countryside.

Thanks everyone

mailboy · 13 Feb 2009, 11:35 AM

Simply because .com is WAY overused.

Originally Posted by Merovingian View Post
I asked earlier, but OP hasn't responded.

Does anyone know why a .net would be considered better than a .com ?

georgebing · 19 Feb 2009, 10:06 PM

single syllable .com is the best in my opinion, if you can say it and someone else can remember without writing it down, that's the best.

Tsunami · 26 Feb 2009, 05:32 AM

What makes a good email address depends on what you want to use it for. Let's say you want something original that will stir up curiosity when getting to know artistic people (or the odd nice girl in the pub

), then something original will work better because it will get attention to you.

If however the purpose is to use it for your CV or so, then something like penguinman@mail.by is definitely a NO in capital letters whereas it may work well for the first purpose I described.

In general, a few rules when choosing a mail address for professional correspondance.

- either choose a very well known provider (anyone will easily remember yahoo.com or gmail.com) or even better, choose an own domainname. They cost only 6 USD or so at name.com, for less than a Happy Meal at McDonalds you already have your own name or any more personal domain with the .com, .net, .info ... extention. An own domain in my opinion is always the best bet.

- email address should be easy to remember and not too long

- extention of the domain depends. If you only look for a job or business contacts in one country, then the local extention is fine. For example if you wish to jobhunt in Germany, people will find an email address with .de more professional than one with .com.
If you want to make business contacts more globally, a globally used extention such as .com or .net is the better choise. Personally, I always liked .info a lot as well.

- choose a secure provider or backup all emails, after all a business related email is always handy to store

- avoid to rely on a provider that may be unstable. Nothing as unpleasant as having to often change mail address or to often see downtime occur.

- avoid childish sounding domains such as (with all respect) hotmail.com, coolhotmail.cz, hotmale.nl, ... Yahoo is a borderline case, it may sound slightly silly but I have the impression its domain never harmed its positive reputation.

- for job applications, avoid Hotmail. Because of the spam amounts, some employers will delete every Hotmail-originated email, so your CV may go straight into the bin if you send it with Hotmail. Not all employers do this, but why take the risk when there are so many alternatives?

That is pretty much it. A good tip may be to register your own domain with .com AND with your local country's extention as well. That way you can give the email address which is most suitable for the specific occasion.

My best hint of all: register an own domain, it costs pretty much nothing these days and it is ALWAYS more personal and more professional than some mailbox from a free webmail provider.

Ennis · 2 Mar 2009, 12:29 AM

We place too much importance on an email address. In a survey of users, conducted by a company I worked with, the majority of senders of email relied entirely on two things. Firstly, the address book and secondly and this includes a lot of people, old email, never deleted.

People in this survey paid no attention whatsoever to an email address. If sending they relied on the address book via a name, or in a lot of cases, pulled old messages out and hit reply. In the end, and based on this study, nobody cares what your address is, and most people don't even know.

**CyberSmurf** · 2 Mar 2009, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ennis

...
People in this survey paid no attention whatsoever to an email address. If sending they relied on the address book via a name, or in a lot of cases, pulled old messages out and hit reply. In the end, and based on this study, nobody cares what your address is, and most people don't even know.

I once had someone reply to an e-mail that I sent them.
They asked me what my e-mail address was.

Ennis · 2 Mar 2009, 01:15 AM

So he could enter into his address book.

theog · 2 Mar 2009, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberSmurf

I once had someone reply to an e-mail that I sent them.
They asked me what my e-mail address was.

Hopefully you did not email them the request to reply to your prior email.

chrisretusn · 2 Mar 2009, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberSmurf

I once had someone reply to an e-mail that I sent them.
They asked me what my e-mail address was.

I've had that happen to me also.

David · 2 Mar 2009, 10:20 AM

Someone a knew at work, thought that you could send an email to anyone in the world (with an email account) if you knew their First and Last name.

The reason he thought this, was that the company I worked for forced everyone to use MS Outlook. The IT department had set the system up, so that everyone in the company could be emailed using this format, and all the company address books reflected that.

CyberDyne · 2 Mar 2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

Someone a knew at work, thought that you could send an email to anyone in the world (with an email account) if you knew their First and Last name.

The reason he thought this, was that the company I worked for forced everyone to use MS Outlook. The IT department had set the system up, so that everyone in the company could be emailed using this format, and all the company address books reflected that.

Yes I know of at least two major companies who still do this! Actually, three - except the third isn't a company, it's a major UK civil service department.

DrStrabismus · 12 Mar 2009, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsunami

- avoid childish sounding domains such as (with all respect) hotmail.com, coolhotmail.cz, hotmale.nl, ... Yahoo is a borderline case, it may sound slightly silly but I have the impression its domain never harmed its positive reputation.

I don't think it really matters with hotmail and yahoo since they're global brands (and the name yahoo is really more pretentious than childish). For the most part I agree with Ennis that most addresses go unnoticed. Over the phone is a bit different, but I once had someone giggle at myrealbox.com, I can't see that happening with hotmail or yahoo. They also have the advantage that you don't have to spell them out past the @.

rabarberski · 12 Mar 2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrStrabismus

...I can't see that happening with hotmail or yahoo. They also have the advantage that you don't have to spell them out past the @.

Indeed, that is the main reason I stick to my Hotmail address.

webecedarian · 14 Mar 2009, 11:58 PM

I think, rather than saying a domain shouldn't be "rude, offensive or humorous," the key word is that it should be neutral.

2 Feb 2009, 04:37 AM	#16
vans Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 59	Thanks everybody I think I have learnt a few things from this thread First, is I have been reminded that I can use more than one email domain, one for friends and family and one for the rest of the world. Secondly that if I want a geographically neutral address .net seems to come closest. Thirdly, I shouldn’t worry about being geographically neutral. I tried playing with variations on mail.net by putting a short word in front or behind “mail” but they all sounded a bit dumb (fogmail.net is available if anyone wants it) So I have just got myself a .net domain. It is the name of a very small village close to where I used to live. It’s only 6 letters long. It reminds me of long walks in nice countryside. Thanks everyone

13 Feb 2009, 11:35 AM	#17
mailboy Essential Contributor Join Date: May 2002 Location: US South Posts: 455	Simply because .com is WAY overused. Originally Posted by Merovingian View Post I asked earlier, but OP hasn't responded. Does anyone know why a .net would be considered better than a .com ?

19 Feb 2009, 10:06 PM	#18
georgebing Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 187	single syllable .com is the best in my opinion, if you can say it and someone else can remember without writing it down, that's the best.

26 Feb 2009, 05:32 AM	#19
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,341	What makes a good email address depends on what you want to use it for. Let's say you want something original that will stir up curiosity when getting to know artistic people (or the odd nice girl in the pub ), then something original will work better because it will get attention to you. If however the purpose is to use it for your CV or so, then something like penguinman@mail.by is definitely a NO in capital letters whereas it may work well for the first purpose I described. In general, a few rules when choosing a mail address for professional correspondance. - either choose a very well known provider (anyone will easily remember yahoo.com or gmail.com) or even better, choose an own domainname. They cost only 6 USD or so at name.com, for less than a Happy Meal at McDonalds you already have your own name or any more personal domain with the .com, .net, .info ... extention. An own domain in my opinion is always the best bet. - email address should be easy to remember and not too long - extention of the domain depends. If you only look for a job or business contacts in one country, then the local extention is fine. For example if you wish to jobhunt in Germany, people will find an email address with .de more professional than one with .com. If you want to make business contacts more globally, a globally used extention such as .com or .net is the better choise. Personally, I always liked .info a lot as well. - choose a secure provider or backup all emails, after all a business related email is always handy to store - avoid to rely on a provider that may be unstable. Nothing as unpleasant as having to often change mail address or to often see downtime occur. - avoid childish sounding domains such as (with all respect) hotmail.com, coolhotmail.cz, hotmale.nl, ... Yahoo is a borderline case, it may sound slightly silly but I have the impression its domain never harmed its positive reputation. - for job applications, avoid Hotmail. Because of the spam amounts, some employers will delete every Hotmail-originated email, so your CV may go straight into the bin if you send it with Hotmail. Not all employers do this, but why take the risk when there are so many alternatives? That is pretty much it. A good tip may be to register your own domain with .com AND with your local country's extention as well. That way you can give the email address which is most suitable for the specific occasion. My best hint of all: register an own domain, it costs pretty much nothing these days and it is ALWAYS more personal and more professional than some mailbox from a free webmail provider.

2 Mar 2009, 12:29 AM	#20
Ennis Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 984	We place too much importance on an email address. In a survey of users, conducted by a company I worked with, the majority of senders of email relied entirely on two things. Firstly, the address book and secondly and this includes a lot of people, old email, never deleted. People in this survey paid no attention whatsoever to an email address. If sending they relied on the address book via a name, or in a lot of cases, pulled old messages out and hit reply. In the end, and based on this study, nobody cares what your address is, and most people don't even know.

2 Mar 2009, 01:15 AM	#22
Ennis Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 984	So he could enter into his address book.

2 Mar 2009, 10:20 AM	#25
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	Someone a knew at work, thought that you could send an email to anyone in the world (with an email account) if you knew their First and Last name. The reason he thought this, was that the company I worked for forced everyone to use MS Outlook. The IT department had set the system up, so that everyone in the company could be emailed using this format, and all the company address books reflected that.

14 Mar 2009, 11:58 PM	#29
webecedarian Essential Contributor Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 479	I think, rather than saying a domain shouldn't be "rude, offensive or humorous," the key word is that it should be neutral.