How do I create a professional business email with my domain?

Why a domain-based email matters

An email address that ends in your own domain, rather than a free provider, tends to look more credible to customers and partners. Whether you run a shop in Lisbon or a consultancy in Toronto, an address like sales@yourbusiness.com is instantly more recognisable than a generic free account.

It also keeps your communication consistent with your brand and easier to manage as your team grows, since you control the mailboxes rather than relying on personal accounts.

What you need before you start

To set up business email, you need a domain name and an email hosting service. Some hosting plans include email hosting as part of the package, while others let you add it separately alongside a shared hosting or business hosting plan.

• A registered domain name
• An email hosting plan or feature
• Access to your domain's DNS settings, to add the required mail records
• A webmail login or an email app such as Outlook or Apple Mail

Setting up your mailboxes

Once email hosting is active, you typically create mailboxes from a control panel, choosing an address such as info@yourbusiness.com or a person's name for individual staff. The exact allowance for how many mailboxes and how much storage each one gets is listed on the plan page, so check there for specifics before choosing a plan.

After creating a mailbox, you set a password and can then access it through webmail in a browser, or configure it in a desktop or mobile email app using the settings your provider supplies.

Connecting DNS records for email

For mail to be delivered correctly, your domain needs MX records pointing to your email hosting provider, along with supporting records that help prevent your messages from being marked as spam. Most email hosting services provide these records ready to copy into your DNS settings.

• Add the MX records supplied by your email hosting provider
• Add any supporting authentication records they recommend
• Allow time for the changes to take effect before testing
• Send a test email to confirm delivery both ways

Keeping business email organised

As your team grows, it helps to use role-based addresses such as support@ or billing@ alongside named ones for people, and to periodically review who still needs access. If you run into setup issues, /contact can help troubleshoot mail delivery or DNS record problems.