What Is an Email Address? Parts, Types and How to Create One

An email address is the unique address that lets you send and receive electronic mail over the internet. It takes the form [email protected]: the part before the @ sign is the name of your mailbox, and the part after it is the domain name that determines which server the mail is delivered to.

In this article we explain the parts of an email address, the difference between free and business addresses, how to create an email address and what to keep in mind when choosing a good one.

Parts of an Email Address

When someone emails you, the domain part is used to query the MX record in DNS and find the server the mail should be delivered to.

Free Email vs Business Email

With free email services, your address ends with the provider's domain (e.g. [email protected]). With business email you use your own domain (e.g. [email protected]).

• Trust: customers find email from your own domain more professional.
• Ownership: the accounts belong to your company, so correspondence isn't lost when an employee leaves.
• Branding: your website and email address share the same domain.
• Flexibility: shared addresses such as sales@, support@ or accounting@ are easy to create.

For a detailed comparison, see our article What Is Business Email?

How to Create an Email Address

A free email address

1. Open the sign-up page of an email provider.
2. Enter your first name, last name and the user name you want; if it is taken, try an alternative.
3. Set a strong password and add recovery options such as a phone number.
4. Turn on two-step verification to protect your account.

A business email address on your own domain

1. Get a domain: if you don't have one yet, run a domain search and register a domain that suits your brand.
2. Get an email service: choose a business email plan or a hosting plan that includes email.
3. Add the DNS records: enter the MX, SPF and DKIM records from your provider in your domain's DNS settings.
4. Create the accounts: open addresses such as firstname.lastname@ or info@ from the control panel.
5. Add them to your devices: start using them in Outlook, your phone's mail app or webmail.

How to Choose a Good Email Address

• Keep it short and readable: it should be easy to say over the phone and hard to misspell.
• Keep it professional: for business, prefer firstname.lastname or firstname over nicknames.
• Avoid confusing characters: accented or non-Latin characters (such as the Turkish ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü) can cause problems in email addresses; stick to plain English letters.
• Create role addresses: addresses such as info@, support@ and sales@ stay the same even when people change.

Keeping Your Email Address Safe

• Use a different, strong password for each account and turn on two-step verification where possible.
• Be careful with unexpected emails that contain links or attachments; phishing emails often imitate familiar brands.
• Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for your business domain to make it harder for others to send fake email in your name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are email addresses case-sensitive?

The domain part is not. The user name part can technically be case-sensitive, but the vast majority of services ignore case. Even so, sharing your address in lowercase is the safest approach.

How many email addresses can I create with one domain?

That depends on your email service. ViHyper business email plans come with unlimited accounts; plans differ by total storage.

Can I change my email address?

With free services you usually need to open a new account. With business email you can create a new address and keep the old one as a forwarder or alias.

Why does my email go to spam?

The most common reason is missing SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for your domain. Bulk messages with identical content can also be caught by spam filters.