One of the things every musician should consider at the start of their career is using Custom Domain Email. After acquiring a domain and setting up a website at yourdomain.com, it’s only reasonable to set up a domain name email to go along. Sending out concert proposals, newsletters and emails to music industry people, agencies etc. from yourname@gmail.com will make you look unprofessional and could be easily overlooked.
Fortunately, there is a free and easy solution for you to own a proper email address like yourname@yourdomain.com offered by Google Apps. This way you’ll be able to handle several different emails (like info@yourdomain.com, yourname@yourdomain.com, etc.) coupled with a nice Gmail-like interface you all know. Besides, you’ll get 7 gb of free space for each user and several other advantages from Google such as: Uptime, speed, long-term stability, ability to access email in your browser at mail.yourdomain.com as well as by using IMAP or POP, excellent spam protection and many others.
After registering your domain here, you’ll be promted to enter your details and prove you actually own that domain by setting a simple TXT record at your host’s Cpanel. Finally, in order for your email to work properly, you’ll need to enter MX records and a CNAME record to be able to access your email directly at mail.yourdomain.com.
Follow this step-by-step tutorial and you’ll be using your custom domain email in no time!
1. Register your Google Apps Account here.
Google will then lead you through a few steps to prove you’re the owner of the claimed domain. You’ll be given a verification code to set up a TXT record. To do this, simply copy that code and go to your host’s Cpanel. Click on Advanced DNS Zone Editor, select the domain you’ve just registered at Google and enter the following details:
- Name: yourdomain.com. (your domain with a dot at the end)
- TTL: 14400
- Type: TXT
- Address: [copy the verification code here]
Go back to the Google Apps page and click the Verify button.
2. Create MX Records
Next you’ll want to set up new MX records for your email to function properly. Under Mail menu of your host’s Cpanel, select MX Entry. Add new records of Google Mail Servers along with their priorities as listed here.
If you have any trouble setting the MX records, visit this link.
3. Create a CNAME Record
The last thing you need to do do is setting a CNAME Record if you’d like to access your email at mail.yourdomain.com, which I find very practical. Once again, go to your host’s Cpanel and click on the Simple DNS Zone Editor. Select your domain, go to the “Add a CNAME Record” box and enter:
- Name: mail.yourdomain.com.
- CNAME: ghs.google.com
If there is an existing mail.yourdomain.com that you haven’t entered, you should delete it! Again, if you have any issues setting a CNAME record, click here.
4. Change the URL of where you and your users access email
The last thing you should do is to visit Google Apps homepage, sign in by entering your domain and selecting Go to domain management. You’ll be asked to enter your username and password once again. Next, under Service Settings, select Email and you’ll immediately see the option for changing the URL at which your users may access their email. Select the 2nd option – mail.yourdomain.com.
That’s it! You might have to wait up to 48 hours for the DNS changes to take effect. Then, you should now be able to access your domain email at mail.yourdomain.com. In the meantime, you can access your new Inbox directly at your Google Apps Homepage or route it to an email client using POP or IMAP.