Business email on your own domain

Why your own domain

• Image: customers recognise your company in every email.
• Control: accounts belong to the business, not the person; when someone leaves, the mailbox stays.
• Independence: you can change email provider without changing address.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC

These are three records set on your domain that tell other mail servers your emails are legitimate:

• SPF: which servers may send email on behalf of your domain.
• DKIM: a digital signature on every message.
• DMARC: what to do with messages that fail the checks, and who to report to.

Without them, your emails are more likely to land in spam and your domain easier to spoof. The big email providers increasingly require them to be set up correctly.

Good practice

• Shared mailboxes (info@, bookings@, invoices@) as well as personal ones.
• Two-factor authentication to sign in to email.
• The website form sending from an address on your own domain.
• Email backup or retention if it matters to the business.

Moving from a free account

New accounts are created, old messages and contacts imported, and the old address forwards for a while. The switch needn't disrupt day-to-day work.