Best way to get a professional email address please?

[Bubble2bubble]

We are currently running a business using AOL email addresses which looks really bad.
We don't have a website, but I would love to have a [email protected] address as well as email addresses for employees
Been googling but could really do with a few pointers...

Do you have a website? I thought web hosting companies would normally do this.

You can register a domain name and not have a website (but be warned, the odds are that it could show anything from a simple advert for the domain registration firm right up to a Google AdWords page showing get this your main competitors, based on matching the domain name to a business category).

If you are after multiple mail addresses there are some commercial options (eg Google or Microsoft) which might be what you want, or a commercial e-mail service such as Runbox.com which can handle multiple accounts under one manager account/ bill payer.

I offer hosting, and if you want to use the Message Poster option we can perhaps chat a bit more to help you get to some solution (not from me. probably, but I am happy to ask the 'searching questions' which might help you be clearer on what solution(s) would meet your needs).

Some registration firms will give you basics for free, but multiple mail accounts on your own domain are unlikely to be free - you've also got to consider what you might want in the way of archiving any mail (for 6 years, in terms of finances, etc).

I use a number of hosting firms, so may be able to find a deal with a lower cost per year for your registration. Don't forget you may be able to register a short name .uk (unless there's a .co.uk already, as it will be 'reserved' for them).

If you have a fixed IP address on your internet connection, you could even run your own mail server, so you'd have complete control over mail, virus scanning, etc, but price would depend on number of accounts you need.

Thanks networkguy, some useful info there.
As it happens my business name is availiable as a .co.uk name so that is a good start. Having a look now at a few different hosting options. As it happens I have just applied for a static Ip so our own server is also something to explore :)

If available as a .co.uk then also as a .uk

MDaemon is the mail software I'd recommend, from using it as a replacement for Microsoft Mail Server for a firm of approx 15-20. Their old MS server died and I suggested trials of a couple of alternatives, saving them ~8K on the cost of upgrading everything to run the latest version of MS Mail and having to upgrade all their workstations to be compatible with it. 7 or 8 years on, they are still happy with MDaemon (and the directors keep every item of mail).

Inbound mail is also sent to GMail accounts (1 per member of staff) so in the event of some downtime of either the MDaemon mail server (unlikely but not impossible - but say a power cut took down the whole street), or links to their HQ (they have 2 internet links, and also a mail backup service at DNSexit, which would hold inbound mail for up to 5 days), then staff can also check their GMail accounts for any new messages from clients. It's coped with things like the power supply on the server becoming faulty, with no loss of inbound mail. It's obviously less satisfactory working via GMail but means there's a backup which has been free, and means there's an archive of messages from clients 'off site' just in case anything serious like a fire destroyed the building.

Only thing I've found is that if you want a particular name, look it up and then go back to buy it a day or week later, you'll often find somebody has bought it in the hope that they can sell it on to you and make a profit.

So if you've already checked it, the sooner you can decide who you want to use for hosting the better, then buy through them (following networkguy's advice - I don't know much about that side of things) and get it before anyone else can...

I have just checked one of a number of firms and here's one I trust (because in the 90s, Peter Gradwell was a regular on some newsgroups I used, and his firm has gone from strength to strength, though he's probably now only in his early to mid-30s)... See gradwell.net

I generally only recommend firms I've used, but in this case, it's from the background knowledge of years in academic and commercial environments.

For about 120 +VAT a year, you'd have up to 100 mailboxes for yourelf and staff, which should cope easily, unless you are expanding very fast. In fact, having seen the price and knowing how some others would charge similar for 5 mail accounts, it looks a pretty good deal to me, and one I might consider myself when I need 20-30 mail accounts for staff.

Excellent. Thanks all. :)