{"id":20064,"date":"2022-03-10T00:10:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T11:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geektactics.geektamin.com\/?p=20064"},"modified":"2024-06-14T09:51:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T21:51:16","slug":"how-to-use-gmail-with-your-own-custom-domain-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geektactics.co.nz\/blog\/how-to-use-gmail-with-your-own-custom-domain-for-free\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Gmail With Your Own Custom Domain for FREE"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you’re using email for business purposes, sending from a @gmail.com address doesn’t look professional.\u00a0 You should send from your own domain name – e.g. yourname@yourdomain.com<\/p>\n
There are a number of different providers that allow you to send emails from your own domain for free.\u00a0 Most web hosts allow email hosting on your web server.\u00a0 (This is not recommended, but many hosts offer it. Email is so important I always recommend using a dedicated email server.)<\/p>\n
Then there are some dedicated email providers, such as Zoho Mail<\/a>, who have free plans that works well.\u00a0 However, none of those free providers have a webmail interface that comes close to the beauty and usability of Gmail.<\/p>\n The good news is that Google make is easy to use the full Gmail interface with your custom domain name – so you can send from your own personalised email address – it was previously called GSuite, but is now called Google Workspace<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bad news, is that it isn’t free.<\/p>\n However, it is very affordable, with plans starting at just USD $6 per month per user. If you’re starting a full-time business, then don’t go for the free option (below). Don’t be cheap! Just pay for Google Workspace – it is worth it!<\/p>\n But what if you are starting very small part-time business with no budget?<\/p>\n If you’re starting out and only expect it to be a very small business, and don’t have the budget for USD $6 per month for email, then there is a way you can use Gmail for free with your own domain name.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This article will walk you through the steps.<\/p>\n If you haven’t already set up a Gmail account, do that now.\u00a0 Sign up for a standard free Gmail account. Whatever address you choose, you will need to login to Gmail with that address each time – however, when you’re emailing, your recipients won’t see this address.<\/p>\n Although not essential, it makes it easier if you have a dedicated Gmail inbox for this new domain that you want to send from.<\/p>\n This is the easiest option to use.<\/p>\n How you set up email forwarding will depend on your current setup.<\/p>\n Depending on where you registered your domain, the domain name registrar MIGHT provide free email forwarding.<\/p>\n This is especially useful if you haven’t yet setup an inbox at your web host.<\/p>\n For example, when registering domains in New Zealand my preferred provider is 1stDomains.nz\u00a0 They have excellent features, including free email forwarding.<\/p>\n Wherever you’ve registered your domain, you’ll need to look to see if they have email forwarding. If they don’t, then you will need to use Option B.<\/p>\n Here’s what it looks like in the 1stDomains interface:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And then we setup the forwarder.<\/p>\n We can select the email address that we want people to send emails to at our domain name, which will forward to Gmail.<\/p>\n In the 1stDomains interface we can also add additional aliases – these are extra addresses at our domain name that will also forward to the same Gmail address.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Once setup, send your new email address a test email, and make sure that it arrives in your Gmail inbox.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you already have web hosting, then you can setup email forwarding at your web host.<\/p>\n Each host will have a slightly different way of setting this up, but the principle is the same.<\/p>\n When setting up a forwarder you can choose:<\/p>\n Either:<\/strong> Setup an email forwarder on it’s own.<\/p>\n OR:<\/strong> Setup an inbox (that can send and receive) and forward that inbox.<\/p>\n The difference is that if you setup just an email forwarder, then in the next step you’ll need a separate dedicated SMTP email sending service. This isn’t a problem, and we give you the steps below.\u00a0 This can actually help with email deliverability, because dedicated SMTP services offer things like DKIM for email authentication, which some basic web hosts don’t.<\/p>\n Or if you choose to setup an inbox, then you can use your one web server to both send and receive emails via Gmail. In one aspect this is nicer, because it is one system rather than two. But some email hosts don’t offer DKIM for email authentication, and you also run into the potential of filling up your web hosting space with emails.<\/p>\n Choose whichever option suits you.\u00a0 My preference is to use an email forwarder and separate dedicated SMTP email sending service.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How it looks in cPanel<\/strong><\/p>\n If your host is using cPanel, here’s a screenshot of what it looks like.\u00a0 You’ll either choose “Email Accounts” if your setting up a whole email account or “Forwarders” if you’re just setting up a forwarder.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once setup, send your new email address a test email, and make sure that it arrives in your Gmail inbox.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alternatively, instead of setting up email forwarding, if you already have a free inbox at your web host, you can get Gmail to retrieve emails from that existing inbox by POP or IMAP.<\/p>\n This isn’t my preferred method, but if you want to see a guide for this approach, see this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next piece of the puzzle is to have an SMTP service for sending emails.<\/p>\n If you have setup an email inbox at your web host, then you can use their SMTP settings.\u00a0 (If using cPanel go to Email Accounts > Connect Devices and scroll down to the SMTP settings).<\/p>\n Alternatively, if you’re wanting to use a separate dedicated email sending service, a great option is Mailgun<\/a>. Mailgun offers the first 1250 emails per month for free.\u00a0 If you think you’ll go over that, then additional emails are only $0.0001 – so an additional 1000 sent emails will only cost $1.<\/p>\n There are others out there that offer more emails per month on their free tier – such as MailerSend<\/a> which offers your first 12,000 per month for free –\u00a0 HOWEVER MailerSend can’t be used with Gmail<\/strong> because it doesn’t allow you to choose the username that emails will be sent from.<\/p>\n If using Mailgun, when you setup the domain, do NOT setup a subdomain, like they recommend. Instead, just set up the main domain.\u00a0\u00a0In addition, do NOT add the MX records that they recommend in the DNS settings.\u00a0 If you add those, it will kill your email forwarding!<\/p>\n To setup the domain you’ll need to add DNS entries to verify the domain for sending.\u00a0 Once you add the DNS entries, it will generally take about 5 mins before the domain will be verified.\u00a0 Sometimes though the DNS changes might take an hour or two to be picked up.<\/p>\n You now need to find the SMTP credentials.<\/p>\n In Mailgun<\/strong> go to Sending > Domains > click the domain > click “Domain settings” >\u00a0 SMTP Credentials<\/p>\n There will be a postmaster@yourdomain user.\u00a0 You now need to add a new user for the email address you want to send from.<\/p>\n Click “Add new SMTP user” and then for the username enter the email address you want to send FROM. This is the email that people will see.<\/p>\n When you add the user, a popup will appear saying a password has been generated for that user.\u00a0 You need to click “Copy” to copy the password.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paste the password somewhere safe for now.\u00a0 You’ll need it shortly in Gmail.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now head over to your Gmail account. Go to Settings (Cog) > Accounts and Import > Send mail as > click “Add another email address”.<\/p>\nThe Paid Option: Google Workspace (formerly GSuite)<\/h2>\n
The Free Option: Using Gmail with Your Custom Domain<\/h2>\n
The overview: Here’s what you’ll need<\/h3>\n
\n
1. Set up a free Gmail Account<\/h2>\n
2. Email Forwarding or a POP\/IMAP account<\/h2>\n
Email Forwarding Option<\/h3>\n
Option A) Check if your domain registrar offers free email forwarding.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Option B) Setup email forwarding at your web host<\/h4>\n
POP\/IMAP Option<\/h3>\n
3. SMTP service – for sending emails<\/h2>\n
Get the SMTP credentials:<\/h3>\n
4. Connect your SMTP service to your standard free Gmail account<\/h2>\n