methodology / Email & Communications / #75
Branded domain email address (vs free Gmail/Yahoo)
#75 · Required · Web Standards · identity · Email & Communications · weight 1.3% · impl implemented · method v1.2.0
Web Standards item — Identity
This factor is part of Web Standards — the table-stakes binary layer of the score. It is graded pass/fail and gates the Web Quality score; it is not weighted into Web Quality itself.
- Pass criteria
- Tolerant — passes on pass or warn.
- Web Standards label
- Branded domain email
- Excluded for
- Personal site
- Why it's required
- Commercial sites listing 'gmail.com' as the contact address signal that the operator hasn't bothered to set up basic infrastructure — and visitors can't verify the email actually represents the site.
What this means for your business
Customers trust hello@yourbusiness.com a lot more than yourbusiness@gmail.com — the free address makes a real company look like a side hustle, and it's one of the fastest ways to lose a lead before they even reply.
Plain title: You email from your own domain, not Gmail
What we measure
Real businesses use email at their own domain (yourname@yourdomain.com), not a free Gmail or Yahoo address. Customers notice this in seconds and treat it as a basic legitimacy signal.
How to improve your score
Set up Google Workspace ($6/user/mo), Microsoft 365 ($6/user/mo), Zoho Mail (free for small accounts), or Fastmail. Update every visible email address on your site.
Facts
Implementation notes
Already collected. Refines by detecting visible `<a href="mailto:...@gmail.com">` patterns on the homepage / contact page.
When this applies
Personal sites commonly use a free email provider by choice; branded-email scoring isn't applied.
- Marked n/a for site types: Personal site.
Scoring
Scoring formulas are versioned with the methodology. The current method (v1.2.0) maps raw measurements to pass, warn, fail. Factor weights determine how much each contributes to the composite — see the methodology index for the full table.
Cited by these standards
Standards in the Standards Library whose satisfiedBy requirement tree references this factor. Each link goes to the standard's full entry — methodology, scope, and the other factors it relies on.
Version history
| Version | Change | Date |
|---|---|---|
| v1.2.0 | Factor introduced. Status: live. Scoring impl: implemented. | 2026-04-25 |