Have domain name, need email name

December 26, 2007 11:04 PM

So I picked a domain name, but can't decide what to name my e-mail address.

I am trying to use a "user friendly" methodology for an e-mail address to accompany my personal domain. [e-mail] seems redundant, and deciding between mail@, or email@ makes my head go in circles. I never thought this would perplex me as it does.

posted by davidstith to Computers & Internet (25 answers total)

yourinitials@ or hello@, but you might also want to consider getting firstnamelastname@gmail if it's still available.
posted by lia at 11:15 PM on December 26, 2007

I used to have [e-mail]...well, before I sold it (yes to the current owners..paid a LOT of bills off that year) I've also used my dog's name or just my initials [e-mail]

Is it for a business or personal? If its personal make sure you have one email address for friends and family and several others for everyone else....One post on a random message board and suddenly you are getting penis enlargement spam for your dog (yes, once I got a message telling me my dog's equipment wasn't big enough, it frightened me on many levels)

Currently every account has its own email (amazon, netflix, gamefly etc) and a spamtrap for entering contests or getting freebies.

Heck, if its personal you can finally have that dream email name that was always taken at your old ISP
posted by legotech at 11:21 PM on December 26, 2007

this question is so lacking in parameters as to be virtually unanswerable, but i'll take a stab. first off, there's nothing wrong with [e-mail], it isn't redundant, it just reinforces your brand, depending on what business you're in. yes, [e-mail] or [e-mail] has more cachet, but you didn't tell us what business you're in and i'm not sure that you could sell more annuities with that email. how about [e-mail], that's pretty neutral. "user friendly" isn't the same thing as sparkling or timeless, and frankly, [e-mail] is about as user friendly as you're gonna get.
posted by bruce at 11:28 PM on December 26, 2007

When you own a domain, don't use just one email address. As soon as the spammers get it, you lose.

Rather, use custom emails per sender. That is, say you start a relationship with Company A, you give them [e-mail] as a contact address. You either configure the catch-all to point to you, or you manually add that address to a redirect table to you.

The manual approach will work better, and I suggest you invest the extra minute or two per contact, because spammers WILL hit your domain with random emails. Screening out the bad ones is much, much harder than just enumerating the good ones.

This single thing alone will cut down your spam load tremendously, because if a name gets polluted, you can A) be pretty sure who sold you out, and B) disable that address, without messing up any of the others.

TRUST ME, you want to do this. It is so, so worth it. And you can only do it properly right when you first start with a domain, so you're in the perfect spot to implement it.

If you don't do this, you WILL regret it. I guarantee it.
posted by Malor at 12:05 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I use firstname@ (my site is firstnamelastname.net ) for writing-related emails and also my initials: cg@ for a couple of other purposes, not writing-related. Keeps things simple and yet personal/direct.
posted by cmgonzalez at 12:06 AM on December 27, 2007

i went with 'email'

i've gotten feedback like "oh, that's very easy to remember".

i also have a catchall address that takes in anything so i can create throwaway addresses at whim.
posted by maulik at 12:11 AM on December 27, 2007

If you don't do this, you WILL regret it. I guarantee it.

Didn't do that. Don't regret it. YMMV.

I use [e-mail] or [e-mail] -- both go to the same place.
posted by toomuchpete at 12:15 AM on December 27, 2007

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

i think [e-mail] is better than [e-mail].
posted by twistofrhyme at 12:25 AM on December 27, 2007

[e-mail] seems redundant
For information that people can forget, redundant is good. In the event someone needs to contact you and can't remember your email address, [e-mail] is a likely guess -- a lot more so than "creative" addresses.

Also, using firstname@ gives a strong sense of identity. It's as if you're on a first name basis with the person you're giving it to. Not sure what type of business you're in but if you've built a company around your name (and domain), then the firstname@ address gives the impression that the message is going to the specific individual and not the intern who's been hired to read and reply to emails.

deciding between mail@, or email@
Don't use mail@ or email@. Those are obvious attacks for spammers. Only marginally less obvious than the domain@ and administrator@ addresses.

--

Since you've got the domain, I suggest applying some decent anti-spam filtering and make a couple email aliases all going to the same email address.
posted by junesix at 12:27 AM on December 27, 2007

i've seen [e-mail], and thought it was an interesting approach

but agree that redundant=more memorable=good
posted by prophetsearcher at 12:42 AM on December 27, 2007

Ideally, you'd have [e-mail], but it obviously depends on domain availability. [e-mail] isn't too bad though, and its redundancy IMO makes more sense than me|myself|i|yo|hello|hi|info|[e-mail] :).
posted by fleeba at 1:04 AM on December 27, 2007

How about something generic, like [e-mail]? Or maybe:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Although I would probably prefer something like [e-mail].
posted by arungoodboy at 1:08 AM on December 27, 2007

[e-mail] is also sane.
posted by singingfish at 2:25 AM on December 27, 2007

[e-mail] very handy for those "we MUST have an email address so we can SPAM YOU" forms. Validates and goes straight to trash.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:42 AM on December 27, 2007

I use [e-mail]. Redundant or not, people never forget it. I just tell them, "If you know my name, you know my email address" and I've rarely had to repeat it later.
posted by The Deej at 4:48 AM on December 27, 2007

If you don't do this, you WILL regret it. I guarantee it

I agree. I can no longer use [e-mail] because it's basically a 100% pure spam account now. sigh.
posted by Lucinda at 5:07 AM on December 27, 2007

I use 'mail@...'.
posted by lowlife at 6:34 AM on December 27, 2007

People will still second-guess the hell out of anything. [e-mail] lets people look at the address and go "yep, that DOES go to that guy."

That said, I've used [e-mail] for as long as .ca has had open registration, and I get lots of spam which all gets filtered away for me by SpamAssassin, and thus might as well be far, far less spam. Hiding from spammers is a lot more work than hiding the spam.
posted by mendel at 6:48 AM on December 27, 2007

I used to use "[e-mail]".
posted by nicwolff at 7:42 AM on December 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm using firstname at firstnames.net (i.e. [e-mail]) and no one ever has to write it down.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:00 AM on December 27, 2007

i know a guy who uses [e-mail]
posted by andshewas at 8:57 AM on December 27, 2007

I use [e-mail].
posted by jmevius at 9:11 AM on December 27, 2007

For family emails I would go with [firstname]@[lastname].com

If the domain is not available then

I would go with [firstname]@[lastname]family.com

This format gives the most personal touch
posted by bargainhunter at 9:48 AM on December 27, 2007

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
posted by clanger at 1:11 PM on December 27, 2007

Make up a few easily-understood addresses for use when people ask you for your e-mail address on the phone, at a hotel desk, etc. The username should have two three syllables, be nonsensical otherwise, and be easily understandable when spoken. Viz:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

etc.
posted by megatherium at 3:03 PM on December 27, 2007