How do I set up business email with my own domain name?

To get email at name@yourbusiness.ca, you need two things. You need a mailbox service, and you need to point your domain at it. The service holds the mail. The pointing is a set of DNS records called MX records. Once both are done, you send and receive from your own address on your phone and computer.

Your domain is the part after the @ sign. If you do not own yours yet, read what a domain is first. Email on your own domain only works if you control the domain.

Three places to host your email

Your web host. Many hosting plans include email. It costs nothing extra, and it works. The limits are usually small storage, basic spam filtering, and a webmail screen that looks like 2012. The mail also lives on the same account as your website. If you change hosts, your email moves with it or breaks with it.

Google Workspace. This is Gmail with your own address. It has a paid monthly fee per mailbox. Your calendar, contacts, and shared files come with it. It works well on any phone.

Microsoft 365. This is Outlook with your own address. It also has a monthly fee per mailbox. It suits an office that already lives in Word and Excel.

Check current pricing on each provider’s own site. I do not quote it here because it changes.

My pick for most trades, shops, and clinics is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. The reason is separation. Your email is the one thing you cannot lose for a day. Keeping it away from your website host means a hosting problem or a web designer change never touches it. Hosting email is fine for a one-person business with low volume and no plans to move.

Clinics and law offices have a second reason. Client messages are private. Ask the provider where mail is stored and what the privacy terms are before you commit. I do not know the rules for your profession’s regulator, so check those with them.

The steps

1. Find out who controls your domain’s DNS. DNS is the settings page where your domain’s records live. It sits at your registrar or at your host. If you cannot log in to either one, stop here and read who owns your website. You cannot add records to an account you cannot open.

2. Sign up for the mailbox service. Use your domain name when it asks. The service will ask you to prove you own the domain. It gives you a code to add as a DNS record. Add it and confirm.

3. Create the mailboxes. Make one for each person who needs one. Add a shared address such as info@ or office@ if customers write to a general one. Most services let a shared address forward to a person or a group.

4. Add the MX records. The service lists them, usually in a setup guide. Copy them exactly into your DNS settings. Delete the old MX records first. Two sets of MX records at once split your mail between two systems, and some of it goes missing.

5. Add the sender records. There are three, and they sit in DNS alongside the MX records.

SPF lists the services allowed to send mail for your domain. DKIM adds a digital signature to each message. DMARC tells receiving servers what to do when a message fails those checks. Together they help your mail reach inboxes instead of spam folders. Your mailbox provider gives you the exact text for each. Copy it as written.

You may already have an SPF record from an old setup. A domain should have one SPF record only. Edit the existing one to include the new service. Do not add a second.

6. Wait, then test. DNS changes can take a few hours to spread. Send a message from your new address to a Gmail account and to an Outlook account. Check that both arrive in the inbox. Reply from each and check that the reply arrives.

7. Connect your phone and computer. Add the account in the Gmail or Outlook app. Sign out of the old setup once the new one works.

Moving your old mail

If you already have mail at an old address, do not delete it. Both Google and Microsoft have import tools that copy old messages across. Keep the old mailbox open for a few weeks. Late replies and old customer threads still land there.

The mistake that loses mail

The most common one comes during a website move. A new host or a new designer changes your DNS settings and replaces the whole set of records. The website works. Your email stops, because the MX records were in the old set and nobody copied them over.

Before any website move, export or screenshot every DNS record. Ask whoever is doing the move to confirm the MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are kept. I do this on every site I move, and I send the client the list before and after. The same applies when you change who hosts the site. If you are unsure what the host controls, what hosting is and why you pay for it lays out the pieces.

Free Gmail or Outlook addresses

A free address works. It costs nothing and it is easy. The trade-off is how it reads. A message from name@yourbusiness.ca looks like it comes from a business. A message from a free address looks like it could come from anyone. If a stranger is deciding whether to book a dental appointment or hire a roofer, that small signal counts. It also means your email address matches the address on your website, your invoices, and your van.

Check it once a year

Domains renew annually. If the domain lapses, your email stops with it. Put the renewal date on your calendar. The annual DIY website check-up has a step for confirming your domain and records.

If you want email set up on your domain without touching DNS yourself, book a consult. I will set up the mailboxes, add the records, test delivery, and send you a written list of what was changed.