How to Set Up Business Email With Your Own Domain
An address like you@yourbusiness.com looks more trustworthy than a free email account. Setting it up takes a few DNS records, and getting four of them right keeps your mail out of spam folders.
1. Own your domain, in your name
Register the domain (yourbusiness.com) in an account you control, with your own login. Turn on auto-renew so it never expires by accident. If someone else set it up for you, ask to be made the owner.
2. Pick an email provider
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are the most common. Both charge per user per month. Sign up with the domain you own, then the provider asks you to prove you own it, usually by adding a TXT record at your domain's DNS settings.
3. Add the four records that make mail work
| Record | What it does |
|---|---|
| MX | Tells the world where to deliver your email. Your provider gives you the exact value. |
| SPF (a TXT record) | Lists the services allowed to send email as your domain. Keep only one SPF record. |
| DKIM | Adds a digital signature to every message so receivers can tell it's really from you. You generate it in your provider's admin settings. |
| DMARC (a TXT record) | Tells receivers what to do with mail that fails the checks. Start with p=none to collect reports, then tighten it once everything passes. |
Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com now require senders to authenticate their mail (SPF or DKIM for everyone, all three for high-volume senders), so missing records are a common reason new business email lands in spam.
4. Test it
- Send a message to a free Gmail or Outlook address and check that it arrives in the inbox.
- In Gmail, open the message, choose "Show original" and look for SPF, DKIM and DMARC: PASS (the DMARC line appears once your DMARC record exists).
- Reply from the free account and make sure the reply arrives too.
5. Finish the details
- Add a simple signature: name, business name, website.
- Set up shared addresses like hello@ or info@ as aliases or groups instead of extra paid users.
- Turn on 2-step verification for every user.
General information only, not legal or financial advice. Every company and card issuer has its own rules.
More guides
- Bills and refundsDispute a double charge
Charged twice for the same thing? A step-by-step way to get the duplicate refunded, in writing, with a message you can copy.
- Bills and refundsCancel a stubborn subscription
Stuck paying for a subscription you can't cancel? Where to look first, a written cancellation you can copy, and what to do if the charges keep coming.
- Small businessGoogle Business Profile checklist
A plain checklist for setting up or cleaning up a Google Business Profile: eligibility, name, category, hours, photos and reviews.
- Small businessFix a slow website
How to measure your website speed on phones for free, the usual causes of a slow site, and the fixes that make the biggest difference first.
- PaperworkScan documents with your phone
Scan a few pages or a whole stack with the phone you already have, keep account numbers private, and send clear PDFs. Step by step for iPhone and Android.