I remember when I purchased my domain name, tomphotography.co.uk, I’ve created an email address through my web hosting. It was in my domain, something like office@tomphotography.co.uk. Just normal email, but the problem was that the email interface (gui) was just awful. I couldn’t get used to that, it was very difficult to organise emails, all the time things got lost and it looked like it was from the 90’s. So I quickly configured this email address in my Mac Mail. That was a pain too, some weird smtp/pop3/imap server names, problems with secure connection, ports blocked or not working – what a mess!!! Then I moved to Gmail and ended up losing the professional “@tomphotography.co.uk” part of my email address. That’s it.

Business email through Gmail

After some time I realised I could have both! It was possible to use Gmail with a custom domain name! You can have your email like hello@tomrobak.com in Gmail within minutes. Brilliant solution for every business. That’s why I introduce to you G Suite or you can call it Google Apps for Work (old name).

G Suite is a set of intelligent apps including Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Hangouts, and more — designed to bring people together, with real-time collaboration built in from the start. And there’s a lot more on the way. When organisations break down silos, connect people and empower them to work together, they get the speed, agility and impact needed to compete in today’s market. When your business is powered with G Suite, information can flow easily between apps, devices, people and teams. Imagine the future of your business, if this was how it could be… But lets focus on Gmail in your domain.

gmail g suite google apps for work - How and why use Gmail with your own domain?

5 reasons why you might want to use Gmail with your custom domain

Security and SPAM protection. Yes, this is what I love the most in Gmail. Lets be honest, how many times you hear from your clients that they didn’t receive your email huh? Or how many people filled a contact form on your website but you didn’t receive it (with this you actually won’t know unless your contact form saves enquiries into database). Here is my the biggest YES. Start using Gmail in your domain for that reason.
Having own domain in email address makes you appear more professional. I used to use “tom.robak@gmail.com,” which gets the point across, but doesn’t execute the same level of professionalism that a branded email address. I mean, you’re promoting your business, not Gmail’s.
Let’s face it, most of the email software included in your web hosting really sucks. It appears to have been built in the 90’s.
Gmail is kind of awesome. I’ve tried several other email providers like outlook.com, Yahoo, HotMail, ZOHO and I always go back to Gmail. I appreciate its clean interface and the way it’s organised. I also love that I can use Google Drive 30GB, which really helps when working with clients. Plus the configuration in Mail App is so easy. Just Add Email, enter your email address and password – most softwares recognise it as Gmail and do all configuration for you. The easiest setup ever.
Built-in chat: text, voice, or video. With just one click, you can chat in Gmail with the people you already email or reply to emails by chat. You can even talk face to face with Gmail voice and video chat. All you need is a webcam and mic.

gmail custom domain 1 - How and why use Gmail with your own domain?

How to configure Gmail with your domain

I reckon you have your domain already, if not, purchase one. I purchase all of mine from GoDaddy.com.
Go to G Drive website.
Click “Get Started” and then enter your basic information in the steps that follow in order to create your account.
Once your account will be created you need to sign to your new email.
Follow the steps on the screen

g suite configuration - How and why use Gmail with your own domain?

custom domain gmail - How and why use Gmail with your own domain?

Verify your domain. You have some options here. In my opinion the easiest one is to upload HTML file to your hosting. However for you the easiest way might be adding meta tag to your WordPress via theme or via plugin Head Meta Data. It’s easier than it sounds, I promise!

gmail verify custom domain - How and why use Gmail with your own domain?

Now you can confirm this step and go to editing MX records. This is also easy step. Here is the manual how to setup MX records for specific hosts. You could always ask your hosting support to do that for you.