How To Get A Super-Short Email Address For Just 3 Bucks

As time marches on, we’re getting more mobile. And on mobile devices, the shorter an address is to type out, the better off you are.

So to answer the question directly, yes, a short address is worth having.

You can in fact get a super-short forwarding email address (meaning one that forwards to your existing account) for as cheap as 3 bucks a year.

Here’s how that’s done:

Perform a search for your initials over at NameCheap, meaning to use at least 3 characters. If that doesn’t work, try a search for your initials with a 9 after it. For example, if your name is Ronald Wilson Reagan, try a domain search for RWR first. If nothing shows up, try RWR9 instead. (For whatever reason, 9 just sounds cool in a domain name.)

Some domain types cost more than others, but when I say you can register a domain for 3 bucks a year, I am not kidding:

Let’s just say for the moment you registered RWR9.US. That means you could assign yourself the email address ron@rwr9.us. That’s really, really short.

Buy the domain you want, set up free email forwarding to your existing email address, and that’s all there is to it. Now you have a super-short forwarding address that forwards to your existing address. And that means you don’t have to switch email accounts since it’s just a forwarder.

Tech note: After purchase of the domain and setup, it takes anywhere from a few hours to 2 days before the forwarding starts to go into effect.

If after the first year you find you use the address often, renew the registration after the first year is up for another year (or up to 10 years). And if you find you don’t use the address often enough to keep it, you’re only out 3 bucks.

“What if I want a complete email hosting solution along with my domain?”

If you’d rather have a “full” email account instead of just a forwarder, that’s an additional 3 bucks a year for a 100% ad-free personal account.