Setting up business email, and why a free address isn't enough
Email at your own domain looks more trustworthy, and there are free ways to set it up. You also need three DNS records to keep your messages out of spam folders.
What goes through your mind when a quote arrives from a company whose business card says "ahmetfurniture@gmail.com"? For most people it's a small doubt, and fair enough.
You already own the domain. Using it for email usually costs next to nothing.
The options
Email included with your hosting
Most hosting plans include unlimited mailboxes. They cost nothing extra and you can set them up straight away.
The catch is that the interfaces tend to be dated, spam filtering is weak, and if your server gets blacklisted for some unrelated reason, your email suffers too.
If you only send and receive a few emails a day, that's enough.
Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
You pay a monthly fee per user. In return you get the Gmail or Outlook interface you already know, good spam filtering, a calendar and file storage.
If you handle dozens of emails a day or several staff rely on email, it easily pays for itself.
Zoho Mail
It has a free tier for businesses with only a few users, and it works with your own domain. A good middle option if you work on your own.
How many accounts?
A personal address (name@yoursite.com) and one general address (info@ or hello@) is enough. Forward the general one to your personal inbox so you only check one place.
Don't create dozens. Unused addresses turn into inboxes full of spam that nobody reads.
Three DNS records that keep you out of spam
Your email is set up, but what you send lands in the recipient's spam folder. The cause is almost always missing authentication records.
SPF
Lists which servers are allowed to send email on your behalf. Without it, anyone can send email as you and the recipient can't tell.
DKIM
Adds a digital signature to every outgoing email. The receiving server checks it to confirm the message wasn't changed on the way.
DMARC
Tells the receiving server what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail: ignore the message, quarantine it or reject it outright. It also sends you reports, which is how you find out if someone is sending fake email in your name.
All three are single lines in your domain's DNS settings. Your email provider gives you the exact text to paste in.
Test after setup
Go to mail-tester.com and send an email to the address it gives you. It scores you out of 10 and lists every missing record.
A score below 8 means some of your email is going to spam, so the client you sent a quote to may never have seen it.
Your website's contact form sends email too and depends on the same records, so run the test again once the form is set up.