For owners setting up email for the first time
A first professional inbox for your small business
An address on your own domain, a mailbox to hold it, and a few settings that help your mail arrive. Each part is simple once you know what it does.
What you need
A working inbox comes down to three parts
They are often sold together, but they are separate things, and you can change one without losing the others.
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A domain name
The part of the address after the @. You register it by the year, and it stays yours for as long as you keep renewing it.
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A mailbox host
The service that stores your mail and sends it for you. This is a separate choice from the domain, even when one company sells both.
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Somewhere to read it
Webmail in a browser, or a mail app on your phone and computer. Most hosts offer their own, and common mail apps can usually connect too.
The address itself
What a business address is made of
you@yourbusiness
- Before the @
- The mailbox name. Your first name works, and so does a role such as hello or accounts.
- After the @
- Your domain. This is what shows a customer the message came from the business and not a personal account.
What it costs to keep
An inbox is a running cost, not a one-off
The price on the sign-up page is often not the price you pay later, so these are the lines worth reading.
- Domain renewal
- Charged each year. A first-year offer can be well below the renewal price, so check both.
- Mailbox fee
- Usually charged per person, per month, and often lower if you pay for a year up front.
- Extra addresses
- An alias that delivers to a mailbox you already have often costs nothing. A separate mailbox for another person usually does.
- Storage
- Plans differ in how much mail they hold. Running out usually means moving up a plan or clearing old messages.
- Add-ons
- Archiving, backup and extra security are sometimes sold separately, so check what the plan already includes.
What to set up first
The order that saves you redoing things
Mail settings depend on the domain, and your other accounts will depend on the address, so it pays to work from the domain outward.
- Step 1
Choose the domain
Short, easy to say aloud and hard to misspell. Register it on an account the business controls.
- Step 2
Connect a mailbox host
The host gives you records to add to the domain's DNS settings. The MX records send incoming mail to the right place.
- Step 3
Add SPF, DKIM and DMARC
These DNS records help receiving servers confirm that your mail really came from you, which makes it less likely to be filtered as spam.
- Step 4
Turn on two-step sign-in
Do this before the address goes on anything. Whoever gets into this inbox can reset the passwords on your other accounts.
- Step 5
Create your addresses
Your own, plus a general one such as hello or info that can pass to someone else as the business grows.
- Step 6
Send yourself a test
Mail a personal account and reply from it. Check the message reached the main inbox in both directions.
Common mix-ups
Things people often assume about business email
Do I need a website first?
No. A domain can carry email with no website behind it, and you can add a site later without changing the address.
What happens to my old personal address?
Nothing has to happen to it. Many owners forward it to the new inbox for a while, so nothing is missed during the changeover.
If I change host, do I change my address?
No. The address belongs to your domain. You point the records at the new host, move your old mail across, and the address stays the same.