Email - Old City Web Services

3 Reasons to Host Email At Your Domain

September 26, 2019 by anoadmin

What does it mean to host your email at your domain?

Hosting your email at your domain means that instead of an @Gmail or @yahoo address you have an email address with your domain in it. For example, if your domain is www.windowtreatments.com, your email address would look something like john@windowtreatments.com.

You may be asking, “Well, why is this so important?” The honest answer is that clients perceive businesses that host their email at their domain as more professional. Although it may seem like a small detail, the bigger picture makes this a worthwhile marketing investment for your company.

Image contains a graphic of a laptop sending several emails.

3 Reasons to Host Email At Your Domain

We can’t think of one single reason not to host your email at your domain. On the flip side, there are many pros to taking this step. Below we’ve broken down what we think are the three biggest motivators to host your email at your domain.

It’s an integral part of your branding.

Image contains two road signs that say "email marketing strategy".

Your email address is part of your brand because its a method of communication between you and customers. In today’s world, fewer people are making phone calls and more people are doing business online. So, if most business interactions happen online versus offline, businesses have to find a practical way to communicate with customers and email is the solution. Since your email address is often incorporated on your business cards, press releases, and website, it becomes a great opportunity to expose your business name and brand to customers.

Hot tip: If you’re interested in email marketing, having an email at your domain is twice as important for branding.

It’s more professional.

Image contains a woman saying "Welcome".

Businesses that host their email at their domain are more professional. Think of it like this: A business that answers their phone with nothing but “Hello,” will result in the caller questioning if they have the right number. On the flip side, when a business answers with “Hello, this is [business name here]. How can we help you?” the caller can assume that the business is somewhat organized and has some procedures in place. In the same respect, an email address that doesn’t have a business’ domain in it can seem unprofessional and cause confusion.

Clients won’t second guess you as a sender.

Image contains warning signs that say 'spam'.

Nowadays, people receive as many spam emails as they do legitimate ones. This means they won’t look twice at an @Gmail or @yahoo address – they’ll send your message right to the Spam Folder. However this is preventable when you host your email at your domain. In fact, it’s the best way to guarantee your message will be read by your sender and that they aren’t second-guessing who the message came from.

But those aren’t the only perks when you host email at your domain.

The reasons above are persuasive from a monetary standpoint. However, when you host your email and domain with us, there are also a few benefits for you:

You can host up to ten email addresses at your domain for free.
You have more control over your business’ email. If an employee leaves, you can have their emails forwarded to you or delete their address altogether.
You can set up an alias email address so that your main business address isn’t available to just anyone.
You have a direct line to contact us if something goes wrong.

Ready to get started?

Hosting your email at your domain is inexpensive and one of the easiest steps to gaining the trust of your customers. If you’re ready to take the way your business communicates to the next level, we can help. Call us at 904-867-4112 or fill out our form by clicking the button below and selecting “Web/Email Hosting”. One of our team members will contact you to help get you started.

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Mission Statement

The mission at Old City Web Services is to navigate the world of web design, web development, and advertising for our clients so that they can focus on what they do best – running their business! Our business intentions go beyond the metrics of graphics, coding, and SEO. Located on Florida’s First Coast, we run a personable home front service and consider our relationship with our clients as a partnership in their success.

Please share and re-post this blog. Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on Old City Web Services Blog.

A Few FAQ About Email

July 13, 2018 by anoadmin

Let's face it, the days of checking your inbox once a week are long gone.

Communication is a huge component of every business and emailing is a simple way to communicate efficiently. But why does it have to be so complicated?! No worries, we've answered some of our clients most FAQ about email for your convenience.

FAQ About Email

What is an email client and how do I set it up?

An email client is a software program that you download to your desktop, phone, or tablet. It allows you to receive, send, compose, and read emails. The most popular clients include Windows Live, Thunderbird, Gmail, and Microsoft Outlook. Your email address (example@domain.com) will look different depending on your email client. For example, domains registered with Gmail often end in @gmail.com or at @google.com.

Setting up your email client is easy! Go to the app store on your device and type in the name of the client you need. Download it and enter your information!

If you host your email with us, watch the tutorials from our Help Desk and read this blog to learn how to setup your email in a browser and on a desktop or device.

What is an alias?

With an alias email, nobody has to know what your actual email address is.

An alias email address has no username, password, or means for storage, it is only an address. Essentially, it is used to forward messages to other email addresses. These are two scenarios in which an alias is beneficial:

If you would like a contact form to send inquiries to several addresses (also known as fanning out). This way, there are multiple people receiving that email. Like Cecile, CEO of Old City Web Services, once asked "Do you have a contact form on your website? Are you the only one that is set up to receive it? What happens when you go on vacation, are out sick, or have a family emergency?"
If an employee is no longer working for you and you want to receive the emails they received; you can set up their email address as an alias and their emails will get sent to you.

What are phishing emails?

Phishing is a type of email scam. More specifically, its when spammers send an email appearing to be from a legitimate business like a bank, insurance company, credit card distributor etc. The phishing email asks you to validate or provide sensitive information such as your birthdate, a part of your social security number, credit card information, passwords, and account numbers. Phishing is a spin on fishing, scammers are dangling a fake lure (or email) hoping users will ‘bite’ (send sensitive information).

Warning: If you suspect you’ve received a phishing email, do not click any links in it. You could possibly download malware or ransomware to your device.

How can I identify them?

If the email was truly from a legitimate business, the email would address you by name instead of by a variation of “Dear Customer”.
A phishing email will have an excuse to contact you that is similar to: there have been too many attempts to log in, your account was double charged due to a system error, your account has been suspended etc. If it seems fishy, chances are its a phishing email.
Bad grammar or misspellings are a huge clue. In an age where autocorrect is included in most email clients and software, professional emails should have no grammatical errors.
Check the links on the page. 1) The links should lead to the business' legitimate website. 2) Every link should have a different destination.

This example is from our last blog "Get More Clicks on Your Expanded Listing". As you can see, if you hover over a link, the destination URL will appear in the bottom left corner of your screen.

What is a blacklist?

A blacklist is a list of email addresses that you have blocked from sending you emails. Once you mark an address as blocked you will not get any emails from that sender, so always be cautious in choosing which addresses you block. Additionally, if you accidentally add an address to your blacklist that you'd like to receive emails from, you must add them to your whitelist.

How do I create a blacklist?

If you host your email with us, the steps are simple!

Go to mail.oldcity.com and log in.
Click on "Mailbox Filters" at the top of the page.
Add email addresses.
Click on "Save".

What do I do if I forgot my password?

For security purposes, we do not keep a file of email passwords. Instead, we can reset your password for you and provide you with the new password. If you host your email with us and forget your password, then contact us.

If you don't host your email with us, click on "forgot password" on the login page.

What should I do if I have a problem sending or receiving emails?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer as to what the problem could be. Possible issues include: your email client settings aren't set up correctly, there is a block on the server hosting your email address, there is a block on the server hosting a sender's email address, your internet connection is weak or nonexistent. The best thing to do is go to our Help Desk.

Do you want to learn about email marketing? Read these 6 quick tips!

Email Etiquette

Back in the day, it used to be that your email was only set up on your desktop. Nowadays, I can bet that your email is set up on your phone, tablets, desktop, and laptop! While it might be tempting to click “reply” and type up a quick response from your phone, your personal and professional image can suffer from a bad email. The downside to that is that writing good emails takes time. So, here are four reminders that will shorten the time you spend in your inbox.

Answer emails as soon as you open them. If you aren’t going to respond right away, wait to open the email.
Blacklist all spam emails, because in the time it takes you to figure out it’s a spam mail you could have read another important email.
Don’t feel pressured to engage in small talk! That’s what texting is for.
Be sure to set up your signature on your phone and tablets and not just on your desktop and laptop.

Mission Statement

Our mission at Old City Web Services is to navigate the world of web design, web development, and advertising for our clients so that they can focus on what they do best – running their business! Our business intentions go beyond the metrics of graphics, coding, and SEO. Located on Florida’s First Coast, we run a personable home front service and consider our relationship with our clients as a partnership in their success. If you are looking to increase your business’ visibility give us a call at 904-867-4112 or contact us today.

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Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information on Old City Web Services Blog.

Staying Connected – Setting Up Your Email

June 27, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Let's face it. We live in a time where we thrive on connection. Our society focuses on staying connected and the business world is no different. When you have a business, it's essential to stay in touch with your staff, clients, colleagues, and other connections.

While there are many forms of communication, email is a popular and efficient way to converse, especially in business. We know that setting up email is a different process for each device, so our team has put together a set of easy-to-follow video tutorials for a stress-free setup!

Our video tutorials can be found on our website. After you go to oldcitywebservices.com, hover over the Services tab and click on Help Desk. This will bring you to the page for all tutorials.

Types of Tutorials

Browser Based Email

This tutorial is specific for all emails hosted with Old City Web Services, including aug.com emails. For these emails, you do not have to use a mail program unless you want to. This tutorial teaches you how to check your email by simply using a browser.

Desktop Email Setup

This tutorial provides assistance in setting up your Old City Web Services hosted email through major email programs such as Outlook, Mac Mail, Windows Live Mail, and Thunderbird.

Device Email Setup

Want to check your email on the go? This tutorial is specific for setting up email on mobile devices such as Apple and Android products. This is a great option for those wanting to stay connected anywhere and anytime.

Still need help? Call us!

If you are still having problems setting up your email after watching the tutorials or have a question, feel free to call us. We do offer appointments for those wanting us to set their email up for them. This setup is for mobile devices only and charges do apply.

Interested in setting up an Old City Web Services hosted email? We can help with that, too! Contact us, and we'll get you all set up.