Email Accounts and Email Account HostingIn order to use email you need first to get an email account. If you work for a large organisation then you will no doubt have a company email account which is usually hosted on an internal mail server (e.g. Microsoft Exchange). For small businesses and home users then you will use an Internet based account. There are two types of Internet email accounts:
Free Accounts tend to be mainly used for personal use but there are also many small businesses using them. I only recommend the use of free accounts for temporary use and never for your primary email contact ( both business and personal). The reason is that at some point in the future you will need to change the email address either because the free provider is no longer free or has stopped providing the service or you just need a more professional address. Although it is possible to do it is not without problems see Change Email Address FAQs Paid email accounts come in two main types:
Dedicated Email Account HostingUntil recently this capability was only available to large businesses because of the cost now web hosting providers which always offered email hosting as part of the package have started to offer email hosting as a service on its own. As an example 1and1 uk offer email hosting for £0.70 ( 70 pence per month). Here are some of the features:
It has the same capabilities as the email hosting that comes combined with the basic web hosting package (£1.99 per month). see below The idea is probably to attract customers that have been put of because they only wanted email and not web hosting. Using a Combined Website and Email Hosting PackageJust because the email host also offers web hosting doesn't mean that you have to set up and maintain a website. If you want you can use the package just for the email capabilities. Here is a snapshot of the email capabilities offered with the basic 1and1 uk web hosting.
As you can see even with the very basic package you can have 20 email mailboxes complete with spam filtering and virus scanning (for 5 of them). In addition you can access them via pop3,Imap4 and Webmail. These email capabilities are all that most small businesses/personal email users require. Remote AccessIf you require access to your email when you are away from the office then you should choose an email account that supports web based access. If you already have an account and it doesn't then you can always use a free Gmail account to access the email account. See Access other email account mailboxes using Gmail. Domain NamesWith either type of account you will be required to register a domain name. Most UK providers allow you to register UK, European and International domain names. American providers usually only allow registration of International Domain names. So if you want a .uk domain name you need a UK host. If you want a .com domain name then any provider will do. Setting Up a New Email Account on The Email Host ServerWhen you have selected your provider and domain name then you will need to login to your account and set up your email. This involves creating email mailboxes and addresses etc. See Setting up a New Email Account to see how it is done on a bluehost. Setting Up a New Email Account on The Email ClientIn order to access your email you will need to use an email client. There are two main types.
Web based email clients do not require any setup. Desktop clients require setup to work with the email account and this although similar is different for each client. However many email providers supply scripts that will do this automatically for you.
Related Articles and Resources: free email accounts - A Guide to Free Email Accounts like Gmail and Yahoo mail, what to look for and what to be wary of. Email Account/Hosting Options -What feature should you look for in your email hosting and what do the options mean and how are they used. New Email Account Setup Information- When setting up a new email account what information do you need for setting up your email client and how do you get it. Strategies for Handling Multiple Email Addresses-How to setup, access and manage multiple email accounts, addresses and mailboxes on a single email client.
Useful Resources|SiteMap|Privacy Policy||Disclaimer/Disclosure | Contact|About Me| -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
