“Of the 9 million+ Australians using the internet every day over half of them are looking for a product or service in their local area. It is a very safe assumption that a percentage of these people will use EMAIL to contact the business(s) of their choice. You as a business person owe it to yourself, the customer and your staff to make every effort to receive each and every legitimate email sent to you, period!”
Despite the proliferation of spammers, scammers and idiots online the fact remains that email is one of the most powerful tools available. The biggest problem email has however is that it’s free!
Like most free resources email is subject to abuse by people who are intent on stealing money, misguiding others and of course the idiots who have nothing better to do than find new ways of abusing a free resource.
There are countless providers offering a variety of email products and services to all and sundry. The 5 main Australian email providers are:
- Yahoo (yahoo mail)
- Big Pond
- Optus Net
- MSN (hotmail)
- Google (gmail)
Most businesses who have a website also have an email address(s) attached to that website which is often facilitated by their Internet Service Provider (ISP). These email addresses also identify the website (business) which they belong to (eg. info@exampleptyltd.com.au). The quality of these email servers depends entirely on the integrity of the ISP.
For many years now the biggest problem with email has been SPAM. In most cases spam consists of an unsolicited marketing email usually sent to your email address by someone who has purchased an email list from a bottom dwelling scum-sucker who has “raked” email addresses from the internet. There are many companies around the world who sell these lists to anyone who wants to pay for them and generally they are quite cheap. (Tip: never ever buy an email list. If you want to do an email marketing campaign use a reputable company with a verified opt-in email list or create your own opt-in list).
So, who are the BEST email providers?
Our testing and surveying of Australian businesses has come up with the following email providers from BEST to WORST.
- Gmail (probably the best most secure & accessible email system on the planet)
- BIG POND
- Optus Net
- Hotmail / MSN
- Yahoo / Ymail
For those who use Gmail, the number one position is no surprise. Owned by Google and featuring some of the best deliverability and security features imaginable Gmail totally “owns” the number one spot.
Big Pond and Optus, to their credit, have really lifted their game over the last 2 or 3 years. Both of these operators have taken a “zero tolerance” stance on spammers and scammers and they continue to improve their deliverability percentages.
In my opinion Hotmail & Yahoo Mail / YMail are still off with the fairies when it comes to spam / scam / deliverability. Try looking at the source of the last 10 spam or scam emails you have received, especially out of Africa, China or India. Chances are they have a Yahoo or MSN email address.
Of the 9 million+ Australians using the internet every day over half of them are looking for a product or service in their local area. It is a very safe assumption that a percentage of these people will use EMAIL to contact the business(s) of their choice. You as a business person owe it to yourself, the customer and your staff to make every effort to receive each and every legitimate email sent to you, period!
If a customer’s email doesn’t reach you, or your reply to that customer isn’t delivered, chances are you can bid that customer goodbye. Worst still you will probably never know that customer even existed if you didn’t get the original email. That’s why “Deliverability” is important. Yes it does take an good hour to set up a new email provider and customise email folders, signatures etc. So what? It’s your business, your potential customers and your future. Don’t risk a bad email provider.