Once you have your own domain, the next question is what to put before the @. A good address is easy to say on the phone, easy to type and tells people who they are writing to. Here are rules of thumb and plenty of ideas.
Five rules for a professional address
- Keep it short.
priya@beatspriya.sharma.official@. - Avoid numbers and underscores. They are hard to say aloud and look like spam.
- Be consistent. Choose one format for the whole team.
- Use role addresses for jobs, not people.
accounts@stays when staff change. - Set a sender name. “Priya Sharma — Sharma Traders” reads better than a bare address. You can set it per mailbox in the dashboard.
Personal address formats
| Format | Example | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| firstname@ | priya@sharmatraders.in | Teams under 20 people |
| firstname.lastname@ | priya.sharma@sharmatraders.in | Growing teams, common first names |
| first initial + lastname@ | psharma@sharmatraders.in | Formal businesses, law and finance |
Role-based address ideas
- General: hello@, info@, contact@, office@, team@
- Sales: sales@, orders@, quotes@, enquiry@, bookings@
- Money: accounts@, billing@, invoices@, payments@, gst@
- Customers: support@, help@, care@, service@, feedback@
- People: hr@, careers@, jobs@
- Marketing: news@, offers@, updates@, events@
- Founders: founder@, ceo@, director@
Ideas by industry
- Restaurants and cafés: reservations@, orders@, catering@
- Shops and e-commerce: orders@, returns@, wholesale@
- Clinics: appointments@, reports@, frontdesk@
- Schools and coaching: admissions@, fees@, principal@
- Agencies and studios: studio@, projects@, newbusiness@
- Consultants and CAs: your name, plus documents@ or filings@
- Real estate: listings@, sitevisits@, leasing@
How many mailboxes do you need?
You don’t need a separate paid mailbox for every role. Start with one mailbox per person who sends email, and add role addresses only for jobs that several people share or that will outlive one employee. As you grow, plans with more mailboxes let you split roles out.
Mistakes to avoid
- Nicknames or jokes (
coolpriya@) — fine for friends, not for invoices. - Hard-to-spell words that customers mistype.
- Addresses that sound automated, like
noreply@, for anything a customer might answer. - Using a free address alongside your domain — see why free email hurts trust.
Picked your addresses? Follow our setup guide to create them in a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most professional email format?
firstname@yourcompany.com works best for small teams. Larger teams often use firstname.lastname@ to avoid clashes. Both look professional as long as they are on your own domain.
Should I use info@ or hello@?
Both are fine. info@ feels formal and is common in India; hello@ feels friendlier. Pick the one that matches how you talk to customers and use it consistently.
Can one person use several addresses?
Yes. A common setup is one personal mailbox plus role addresses like sales@ or support@ that forward to it or are shared by the team.