Managing Website Contact Information with E-mail Aliases

E-mail addresses change. Employees retire, switch jobs, etc. With that in mind, why would you list addresses that are tied to specific people on an organization's website? If your Contact Us page says "For questions or assistance, contact Bob@yahoo.com, Mary@gmail.com, or Scott@mywebsite.com". What happens if Bob quits? It may only take a few seconds to update the page, but things could be easier with e-mail aliases.

Okay, there are places where it makes sense to post an employee's e-mail address, such as a biography page. However, when a customer isn't necessarily looking to contact a specific staff member, utilizing a generic e-mail address might be the answer. For example, organizations could create an e-mail address where customers can ask questions about the website. Another could be utilized for the Contact Us page mentioned earlier. Instead of listing Bob, Mary, and Scott's contact information separately, an address like ContactUs@mywebsite.com could be posted. Then if Bob leaves, it has no effect on the website.

Additional Benefits

In addition to limiting the amount of change, aliases can distribute incoming messages to the entire project team. So the ContactUs e-mail can still be sent to Bob, Mary, and Scott. There's no need for anyone to forward messages since that's done automatically.

Since the incoming messages are sent to one or more personal e-mail accounts, there is no need for the recipients to check a separate e-mail account. The messages appear with all his/her other messages.

Creating an Alias

Setting up an e-mail alias will depend on the service provider. Check with the host for the organization's website or where the organization's domain names are registered through. If they allow for the creation of e-mail aliases, the organization's website address can be used for the alias, helping to maintain the organization's brand.

For those service providers that allow aliases, they likely have a form asking what to use for the alias; ContactUs@mywebsite.com for example. Then there should be a field for entering who the incoming messages should be forwarded to.

Conclusion

Once the ContactUs@mywebsite.com address has been posted to the website, we shouldn't need to worry about staff members leaving the organization. Who the alias sends messages to will need to be updated, but the website doesn't need to be modified. And for those who saved the e-mail to their address book won't be emailing an address that may not exist anymore…or a potentially disgruntle employee.