Your quick checklist
What do I need behind an email address using my own domain?
Use this to keep your place while reading. Ticking a box does not send or change anything.
Words explained
- Domain
- The address you own, such as yourbusiness.co.uk.
- Mailbox
- An account where you read, store and send messages.
- Forwarding
- Passing incoming email to another inbox. Replies need checking separately.
Before you start
Your domain is the address you own, such as yourbusiness.co.uk. I can help connect it to an email service. Tell me your domain, whether you already use email on it and how many people need access. I’ll check the work involved and give you a price for setup. The email company charges separately for the mailbox service.
Choose what you need the address to do
For everyday customer conversations, you will usually want a mailbox: an account where you read, store and send messages. Each person may need their own account. Some email companies also offer a shared mailbox, which lets several people handle messages sent to one address, such as [email protected].
Forwarding sends incoming messages on to another inbox. It can be useful, but forwarding alone does not set up a way to send replies from the new business address. If you want customers to see the same address when you reply, that needs to be checked too.
An alias is an extra address that sends mail to the same mailbox. It can let one person receive messages at both their name and an enquiries address, without managing two separate inboxes. Whether you can reply using that extra address depends on the email service and app.
Before choosing a plan, decide who needs to read messages, who needs to reply and whether they need separate sign-ins. That is more useful than buying several addresses and finding out later that they all lead to one person’s inbox.
Customer sends
Business replies
Check which address the customer sees.
Forwarding only passes incoming messages to another inbox. Test replies separately.
How I can help with email setup
I can help you choose between a mailbox, an extra address or forwarding, then connect the agreed email service to your domain. I check what you already have and help test sending and receiving. If your email already works, we can discuss keeping it in place while I work on your website.
The quote lists the addresses, accounts and checks included in the price. The work may involve changing domain records, which are the settings that direct your website and email to the right services. You do not need to know how to change those settings before asking for help.
We also agree which phones, computers or email apps need help. Moving old messages, contacts or calendars, setting up a larger team and managing the accounts afterwards are separate tasks to discuss before work starts.
Your domain and email account stay under your control. Sign up in your own account and keep a way to get back in if you lose access, such as a recovery phone number or separate email address. Some services let you invite someone to help without giving them your main password. Please do not put passwords or recovery codes in the enquiry form.
If your business already uses email
Say so before anyone changes the domain settings. Your website can be stored by one company and your email handled by another, even though both use the same domain. Changing the website does not automatically require moving the mailboxes.
Write down the addresses you use, the company handling your email and any other services that send mail using your domain, such as invoices or appointment reminders. Note any addresses that pass messages to another inbox and any inboxes several people share.
A mailbox move is sometimes called a migration. It needs a plan for old messages, account access and when to switch services. Keep the old service available until the agreed move and checks are complete. Avoid cancelling it as soon as a new account has been created.
Check both directions before using the address
Once setup is ready, these checks help catch problems before you put the address on your website or business cards:
- Send a message from a separate email account to the new address. Confirm it reaches the intended inbox and check the junk folder if it does not.
- Reply from the new mailbox. Check that the person receiving it sees the correct business address and can reply to it.
- Send a new message from the business mailbox to an address outside your business. Receiving a message does not prove you can send one.
- Try the agreed phone or computer app and check any aliases or shared access included in the setup.
- If your website has a contact form, test that route separately. Confirm the message arrives and that a reply goes to the person who filled it in.
A message appearing in Sent does not prove it reached the other person's inbox. Check any message saying delivery failed, and ask the person receiving your test to check their junk folder too.
What the technical settings mean
You may see the term DNS in an account or a setup guide. It stands for Domain Name System: the system that uses your domain settings to point other services to the right place. You do not need to copy or type any settings to use this guide.
For email, the main names you may come across are:
- MX records tell other email services where to deliver incoming messages for your domain.
- SPF lists the email services allowed to send mail for your domain.
- DKIM adds a digital signature, a check attached to the message that helps the receiving service verify where it came from and whether it changed on the way.
- DMARC tells receiving services how to handle messages that fail its checks for your domain. It can also provide reports about those checks.
Together, SPF, DKIM and DMARC are called email authentication: checks on mail claiming to come from your domain. The right settings depend on your email company and every service sending mail for you. Copying another business's settings can break delivery. Passing these checks still cannot guarantee that every message will reach an inbox.
Use a password you do not use anywhere else and turn on two-step verification where available. This adds a second sign-in check, such as a code or an approval on your phone. Store recovery details safely and keep a way to regain access that does not depend on the inbox you are locked out of. If several people need access, use the service's account or sharing features rather than passing one password around.
Costs and common questions
Is a mailbox included in website hosting?
Website hosting pays for keeping your site available online. Email mailboxes are a separate service. I quote for the setup work, and the email company charges for its service. Buying or renewing your domain may be another cost. I’ll separate these in the quote so you can see what you pay once and what you keep paying.
Is this the same as contact-form email?
A website form needs a way to deliver its messages. Your everyday business mailbox is where you read and reply to correspondence. We may connect the two, but setting up one does not automatically configure the other. The existing contact-form email guide explains the website side.
Do I need to move my email when you build a website?
Often your existing email can stay where it is. I need to check the domain settings and the service you use before confirming the work. Tell me about working email before the website changes begin.
Can you move old messages?
Tell me which email company you use, how many mailboxes you have and what you need to keep. I need to check whether the messages can be moved and what it would cost before promising a move. A new email account on its own will not contain your old messages.
Tell me what you use now
Send your domain, the name of the company handling your email if you have one, the number of people who need access and whether old messages need moving. If you have not bought a domain yet, the domain guide explains what to prepare.