Today there are a plethora of choices when it comes to whom to choose to handle your primary email. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) gives you email accounts as part of your service. You can also get free accounts from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and many more. We’re going to examine a few of these.
If you like flashy ads all around your email then Microsoft and Yahoo are the way to go. Both have been around for many years and integrate well into mobile devices. Yahoo’s lack of being able to export contacts is a strike; if you should ever want to leave their service you’ll have to manually add all of your contacts back in to your next provider. Google and Microsoft allow exporting of contacts.
Google with their Gmail platform, while newer than Yahoo and Microsoft, has established itself as a juggernaut in the email race. Their email system also integrates well into mobile devices, and provides a clean web interface.
ISP email. There is one major concern I have about using an ISP’s email service. What happens when you don’t have that internet service provider anymore? What if you move? What if you want to change providers? What if they get bought out and a new provider comes in? In all of those cases you end up losing your email address. With the hundreds of contacts you may have to update, and the dozens (perhaps hundreds as well) of websites you will have to update your email address with, are the main reasons I suggest to avoid using an ISP’s email service.
This last bit is directed to business owners and business professionals. Chances are you have a website with a domain name. That being the case, why would you use any of the aforementioned services? You can easily create a @mybusiness.com email account through your domain host. Some domain registrars include this for free. This provides additional branding to your business as well as a more overall professional image.