Using Google Apps (Free) to create a custom email address
So you own a website domain, such as www.BestAttorneyEver.com
But you are emailing people using gmail or hotmail or yahoo or aol.
And you are feeling just a bit unprofessional about that.
Good news!
There is a free tool that will allow you to log into your email using the familiar GMail interface, accessible from any web connection or on your smartphone, but still email using a custom email address, such as Gus@BestAttorneyEver.com.
If you know anything about servers or email service, what you are getting from Google is a free email Exchange server. Once you set up your email using this free service, you can move your web hosting and even your domain in the future, and your email will not be disrupted.
You can log into your email anytime, anywhere, and you can share calendars with other employees who also have their email on the service.
With Google Apps, you can have up to 10 email addresses before you need to upgrade to the paid account. Even the paid account doesn’t cost much, compared with the cost of setting up email on a real Microsoft Exchange Server.
The How
There are a lot of steps to the process, and you have to verify your domain and do some technical stuff. We have developed a process so we can set this up for you in less than one billable hour. Once we do that, there are no other costs.
Or you can do it yourself following the instructions in the Google Apps setup screens.
The Downsides
Of course there are some drawbacks. If you are already using Google with a regular Gmail address, you will have to log out of that account to log in with your Google Apps address. The way I get around this is to open my Google Apps account email in a different browser. I use Chrome most of the time, but I’ll open a Firefox internet browser to access the other account to avoid conflicts.