For a small business just starting out, getting a branded email address is essential to start communicating with business contacts and establish a sense of professionalism.  Free Google Apps is one option for securing a branded business email address, and you can easily set up your email in just four steps.

What is a branded email address?

A branded email address uses your company’s registered domain in the email address:  @yourcompanyname.com

A non-branded email address is any email address that ends in:

@yahoo.com
@live.com
@msn.com
@gmail.com
@hotmail.com
@aol.com
@mac.com

Why is a branded email address important for my business?

• Establish sense of professionalism: Your business contacts are likely to take you and your business more seriously if you are using a branded email address (@yourcompanyname.com) as opposed to a non-branded email address (@yahoo.com).
• Low cost:  The only required cost is the domain registration, which is roughly $10/year.
• Free advertising:  If you use a non-branded email address, you are essentially advertising that service for free (april@yahoo.com or april@gmail.com).  With a branded email address, you’ll be advertising your own business and reaping the benefits.
• Overall marketing presence: Your email address is another extension of your business and should support other branded marketing materials, such as business cards, website, etc.

Why Free Google Apps?

Free Google Apps is one great option for businesses to use in order to get branded email addresses.

We recommend using Free Google Apps if:

• You have 10 employees or fewer, including yourself (otherwise, you’ll need to upgrade to Business Google Apps, which is $50/user/year);
• Your business frequently collaborates online and/or shares files;
• You want to access your email and other applications anywhere, anytime.

Read How To: Set up Business Email Accounts to see other options that might suit you better.

4 Easy Steps

1.  Register Your Domain Name

The first step is to choose and register the domain name you want to use for your email addresses (e.g. @yourcompanyname.com).  Our preferred registrar of choice is GoDaddy.com.

Ready to register your domain name? Click Here >>

Do you need help with this step? Read How To: Register Your Domain Name.

2.  Create a Free Google Apps Account

The second step is to create a free Google Apps account.  Visit the Google Apps page, and click the “Get Started” button.  The form will prompt you enter the domain name you registered in the step above, set a username and password for your first user, as well as enter some additional contact information.

Click Here to Create a Free Google Apps Account >>

3.  Verify Domain Ownership

After you have created your free Google Apps account, Google will redirect you to your dashboard to continue the setup.  Choose “Express” setup. 

Google will ask you to verify ownership of the domain name you registered in Step 1.  There are several verification methods, but we recommend adding a DNS record to your domain’s configuration because it is the easiest method and your domain likely will not change.

Click the “Alternate Methods” tab and select the option “Add a DNS record to your domain’s configuration.”  Generate instructions for GoDaddy.com and follow the onscreen instructions.  If you have configured everything properly, Google will show you a message on the next screen that confirms domain ownership.

4.  Update MX Records

The last step is to update the MX records on your domain name. MX Records tell your domain registrar how to route your email (in this case, you’re routing to Gmail).

You can use this tool to automatically create the necessary Google Apps MX records for GoDaddy: https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/google/gmail_login.asp

Once the MX records have been generated, tell Google that they have been changed. Go to your Google Apps Dashboard, and click “Set Up Your Apps” > Gmail > Set Up Gmail.

You will now be able to start receiving/sending emails from your branded email address.

Optional Step: Create Additional Users

If you have several employees or email addresses you want to set up, then you will need to create additional users.  To create additional users, go to your Google Apps dashboard and click “Organization and Users” in the blue menu at the top of the screen.  Click “Create New User” and fill out the details of the new email address you want to set-up.

Remember, the Free Google Apps comes with 10 email addresses.  If you need more, you can upgrade to Business Google Apps, which is $50/user/year.

Tips for Setting Up Business Email Addresses

• Use a consistent structure for your emails, such as firstname.lastname@companyname.com.  That way, if someone from outside your office has to guess a co-worker’s email address, they will be more likely to get it correct.
• Set up a Google Group if you want to make a mailing list that emails everyone at your office (e.g. office@yourcompanyname.com or team@yourcompanyname.com).
• Inform people of your new email address. Send out an announcement email, update your marketing materials (including business cards) and be sure to spread the word!

If you have any questions or want to share how a branded email address has helped your business, please leave a comment or message me: @CW_AprilA