How to Make Your Own Email Address Domain

A custom email domain is the key to building brand identity and organizing work.

Few will argue the importance of a professional website or blog in the success of a new business. An online presence provides legitimacy and visibility to even the smallest company. A custom email domain builds brand identity and ensures that professionalism and credibility are sustained throughout all client communications. Custom domains also provide multiple mailboxes, a valuable organizing tool for the busy entrepreneur.

Things You'll Need

• Domain registrar (such as GoDaddy.com or Register.com)
• Domain name (mycompany.com)
• Email software (such as Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail or Lotus Notes)

Instructions

Setting Up the Custom Email Domain

1. Select a domain registrar. Almost all registrars offer mailbox hosting as part of their overall package, so make a decision based on who best meets the overall needs of the business.

2. Register your domain name, i.e. "companyname.com."

3. Sign up for mailbox hosting through the registrar. This "turns on" the email functions.

4. Set up your mailboxes. A mailbox represents an individual email address, such as "[e-mail]." Depending on the nature of the business, multiple mailboxes might be helpful to organize workflow. Different addresses such as "[e-mail]" and "[e-mail]" help to easily delineate the type of correspondence and related work.

5. Connect the mailboxes to the email software. The registrar will supply a list of configuration settings to input into the email software, i.e. POP and SMTP server names. Configuration settings within email software are typically found under an "accounts" or "settings" menu. You will need to repeat this step for each mailbox.

6. Test the setup by sending and receiving mail from an outside account to ensure the new mailboxes are working properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Most email software programs have an interface to assist in the creation of new mailboxes. Simply choose the "automated" or "wizard" option in the configurations menu.

• While most registrars provide one mailbox for free with web-hosting agreements, multiple mailboxes might incur an additional fee. Review all web-hosting agreements thoroughly.

References

• Christopher Heng: How to Register Your Own Domain Name
• On-Line.com: Configuring Email POP3 and SMTP