A quote from the kovacsbt.ajanlat@gmail.com address, or the same one from the ajanlat@kovacsbt.hu address: the content is the same, yet the second one appears more credible. A company email address on your own domain shows that you are dealing with a genuine, stable business, and this matters right from the very first email. There are also practical benefits: the address remains the company’s, even if you change providers or staff, and you retain control over your correspondence.

In this guide, we summarise why it’s worth having your own domain-based email, what you need to set it up, how to set it up step by step, what email address structure you should use, and how to ensure your emails are delivered.

Why is a business email address important?

Credibility. Partners and customers regard a website address with a custom domain as more trustworthy, whilst an invoice or quote sent from a free email address is more likely to be perceived as a scam.

Brand building. Every email you send includes your company name and website address.

Independence. The email address belongs to the domain, not to a service provider. If you switch email providers, your email addresses remain the same; only your emails are moved. A free service provider, however, can restrict or suspend your account at any time according to its own rules.

The company retains ownership of the email addresses. If an employee leaves, their mailbox and emails remain with the company; you can forward emails sent to their address, and no one takes client contacts with them to a private account.

Delivery and security. You can set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records on your own domain, which verify that the email really is coming from you and make it more difficult for others to send emails whilst impersonating your company.

What do you need?

1. The domain name, such as kovacsbt.hu. If you don’t have one yet, you can check whether it’s available using the domain search tool; a .hu domain costs €5.44 + VAT per year at aWh.
2. Email service:
   • Email hosting: for email only, independent of a website. aWh’s email hosting is available with 5–50 GB of storage, 50–500 mailboxes, webmail, a calendar, an address book, spam filtering and daily backups, from €10.88 (excluding VAT).
   • Web hosting with email accounts: if your website is also hosted on the same server. It’s simple, but emails are stored in the same storage space as your website, and a website migration will also affect your email service.
   • Office suite (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace): email, office applications and cloud storage, with a monthly fee per user. It’s worth it if you need office applications and shared document management.

You don’t need a website: you can have a business email address even before your website is ready.

Step-by-step guide to setting up a business email address

1. Order your domain and email hosting. If both are with the same provider, the DNS settings will be configured automatically.
2. Log in to the control panel and open the ‘Email Accounts’ menu item.
3. Create the email account: enter the first part of the address (for example, anna), a strong password and the account size. The steps for doing this in cPanel are described in the article on creating an email account in cPanel.
4. Set up aliases and forwarding: for example, ensure that emails sent to info@ and kapcsolat@ are delivered to the same mailbox, or to several colleagues. Our article on setting up email forwarding explains how to do this.
5. Check your DNS: the MX record must point to the mail server, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC must be configured (see below). If your domain or website is hosted by another provider, you’ll need to update the MX record there; otherwise, emails won’t be delivered to your email hosting account.
6. Set up your devices: you can use it straight away via webmail, or add it to your email client and mobile phone using IMAP (incoming server: port 993 with SSL/TLS; outgoing server: port 465 with SSL/TLS or port 587 with STARTTLS; username is your full email address). Step-by-step guide: iPhone and Android, Outlook, Thunderbird.
7. Create a signature: name, job title, company name, telephone number, website.

What sort of URLs should you create?

A well-thought-out naming system will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Personal email addresses: use a standard format, such as keresztnev@ (for small companies) or vezeteknev.keresztnev@ (where there may be several staff members with the same first name). Avoid accented characters.

Role-based addresses (aliases or shared mailboxes):

Title	What
info@ or kapcsolat@	General enquiries, the address shown on the website
ajanlat@, sales@	Quotation requests
szamla@, penzugy@	Incoming invoices, finance
ugyfelszolgalat@, support@	Support team
allas@, karrier@	Job vacancies
noreply@ or rendeles@	Automatic emails from the website and online shop

The advantage of role-based email addresses is that if the person responsible changes, only the forwarding needs to be updated; partners do not need to learn a new address.

When an employee leaves, don’t delete their email account straight away: change the password, forward their emails to a colleague, and set up an automatic reply providing the details of the new contact person.

Delivery: how to ensure your emails don’t end up in the spam folder

Major email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) are increasingly strict about verifying that emails actually originate from the sender’s domain. This requires three DNS records:

• SPF: which servers are authorised to send emails from your domain.
• DKIM: digital signatures on emails.
• DMARC: what recipients should do with emails that fail authentication.

If your domain and email hosting are with aWh, SPF and DKIM are set up automatically; you can check this in the ‘Email Deliverability’ menu in cPanel, and you can add the DMARC record in the Zone Editor. Our DKIM and SPF guide and our DMARC guide explain how to set these up. If your emails do end up in the spam folder, our technical guide on emails ending up in the spam folder will help you identify the cause.

Do not send newsletters from your company email account: the email hosting service operates with an hourly sending limit, and mass mailings can also damage the domain’s reputation. That is what newsletter sending services are for.

Security

• A strong, unique password for every email account, with a password manager.
• Two-factor authentication on the control panel and in the customer account.
• Encrypted connection: always use SSL/TLS in your email clients.
• Phishing: teach your staff to recognise suspicious emails; that’s what our phishing guide is all about.
• Backups: daily backups are taken of aWh’s email hosting, which are stored in multiple locations.

How much hosting do you need?

An average office email inbox grows by a few GB each year, often due to numerous attachments. For a small business, a 5–15 GB plan is typically sufficient for years, whilst a 35–50 GB plan is suitable for larger teams or those who work with a lot of attachments. If you run out of space, you can upgrade to a larger plan without having to delete old emails. Our article on freeing up space in your mailbox explains how to manage your mailbox size.

Summary

A company email address on your own domain is more credible, portable and under the company’s control. To set one up, you’ll need a domain and an email service; the setup takes just a few minutes. Create a consistent addressing system with personal and role-based addresses, configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and protect your accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authentication.

Check out our email hosting plans

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a business email address for free?

Not entirely on your own domain: there are fees for both the domain and the email service. The cheapest option is a .hu domain and small amount of hosting, which costs a few tens of euros a year.

How long will it take to be ready?

If your domain and email hosting are with the same provider, you can set up your email accounts within a few minutes of placing your order. If your domain is hosted elsewhere, it may take up to a few hours for the DNS settings to take effect.

Can I have a business email address without a website?

Yes, all you need for email is a domain and an email service.

How many addresses can I create?

Depending on the plan: between 50 and 500 on aWh’s email hosting, and you can also set up aliases and unlimited forwarding.

Can I read my work emails in Gmail?

Yes, you can add your own domain’s email account as a secondary account within Gmail; the steps for doing so are described in the article on setting up a domain account in Gmail.

Can I transfer my existing emails?

Yes. Our email migration guide explains the steps involved in the migration, and at aWh we can transfer your email accounts on request.

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