Also known as “business email” or “professional email,” custom domain name email is a MUST-HAVE if you are trying to look like the real deal online. What sounds more legit: hello@yourdomain.com or sweetpea122ab@gmail.com?
Join me as I attempt to navigate through the best business email options for solopreneurs and micro business owners (both paid and free!).
Listen now!
What is Custom Domain Email?
Some may refer to this as “business email” or “professional email.” I’m calling it exactly what it is: custom domain email, and I’m going to help you navigate through your best options for setting this up as a solopreneur or micro-business owner.
Instead of having an email address that’s @gmail.com, or @yahoo.com, or @hotmail.com or something like that, you can use your own custom domain. For example, my custom domain email is hello@bytesizedstrategy.com.
If you have a domain name, you can have custom domain email.
Anyone, anywhere – if they own a domain name – can have a custom domain name email address. It just takes a little bit of configuring.
If you don’t have your domain name registered yet, be sure to check out the Definitive Guide to Domain Name Strategy. It’s jam-packed with tons of helpful tips that will help you choose the right domain name for your brand.
Why do you need it?
Because it looks more professional.
That’s the #1 reason and it carries a lot of weight.
What looks and sounds more legit? Emailing me at sweetpea182711ab@gmail.com (which does not exist, or if it does, I’m not affiliated with it…!), or hello@bytesizedstrategy.com? The latter is the right answer.
Navigating Your Options For Custom Domain Email
There are a variety of ways to set this up. Full disclosure: there are other services and ways to do this that we are not discussing here. There are countless options out there, but I only want to discuss options and set-ups that are the most popular, the most fitting for the majority of super small business owners, and perhaps most importantly – options I’ve actually tried before.
Disclaimer: these options constantly evolve.
These services make frequent changes to their prices, what’s included in each plan, and even the names of the plans.
(Google Workspace, for example, rebranded in 2020, changing its name from “G Suite,” which they’d used for only 4 years. Before G Suite, they called it “Google Apps.” Lucky for us – I don’t think the price has changed much throughout the years!)
My goal is for everything to be current when you are reading this, BUT always check with the services themselves to make sure.
Determine your budget.
There are FREE custom domain email options, as well as PAID ways to do this.
We’ll be discussing both here.
If you decide on a paid option, the cost is only about $6 per month, which isn’t excessive. BUT, the free options aren’t terrible, so don’t worry if that’s not in the budget.
Option 1: Google Workspace
If you already have a Gmail account and you like the Gmail interface and you like working with other Google products, like Docs, Sheets, Slides…strongly consider this option.
Let’s look at the plans & what they come with:
The cost for the starter Google Workspace plan that most of us solopreneurs and micro business owners will need is only $6 per month.
Google Workspace uses the same exact interface that you’re already familiar with, which is super handy.
Google Workspace comes with video and voice conferencing too – honestly I’ve never used this because Zoom is where it’s at, amirite?
You also get 30 GB of cloud storage.
My personal experience with Google Workspace:
I’ve been using Google Workspace for my businesses for YEARS and of course, since it’s a Google product, it’s reliable, secure, and all that good stuff.
This is the option I most commonly recommend so again, if $6 fits your budget and you’re a Google kinda person, go with the Google Workspace option!
The plans and pricing are also very straightforward in my opinion, unlike our next option. (Buckle up!)
Option 2: Microsoft 365
If you’re still in the market for a paid option but don’t like Google, and Microsoft is more your jam, there is an option for you.
Be warned: there are A LOT of plans available and they seem to update them pretty frequently. Hold on – we’re gonna hit a bit of turbulence here because the offerings are a bit difficult to wrap one’s head around. I had to brew myself another cup of coffee as I was trying to sort through them all!
GoDaddy x Microsoft 365 Options
It’s important to note that GoDaddy and Microsoft have a “strategic partnership” that brings exclusive Microsoft 365 email products to GoDaddy.
Full disclosure – in my research for this episode, I stumbled on more than one article detailing why Microsoft 365 for GoDaddy is NOT good. There seems to be a lot of customer support related issues, and customers who have issues when they are trying to migrate their accounts.
(I can’t vouch for any of that because I haven’t used it personally, I’m just telling you what I’ve read.)
Although I personally would opt to avoid the GoDaddy options here, I know a lot of y’all are with GoDaddy so I want to do my due diligence and cover the options you may run into if you choose to set up your email through them.
The goal, I guess, of bringing these exclusive Microsoft 365 plans to GoDaddy is to make the set up process more seamless for users. So if your domain name is already registered with GoDaddy, setting any of these plans up should be pretty seamless.
If your domain name ISN’T registered with GoDaddy, don’t worry – you can still use Microsoft 365, just not through GoDaddy. And even if you have a domain registered with GoDaddy but don’t want to use a GoDaddy Microsoft 365 plan, you can still use a regular Microsoft 365 plan. Which is what I’d professionally recommend anyway. The set up process may just be slightly more technical. Don’t be scared.
Let’s look at the plans & what they come with:
Are you still with me?
If you DO go the GoDaddy route, the most basic GoDaddy Microsoft 365 plan is called “Email Essentials.” It lets you have the custom domain name email address, plus a calendar and 10 GB of email storage. The intro price is about $2 per month, but then it gets upped to $6 per month when you renew. The “Email Plus” plan is the same thing, except you get 50 GB of storage and it’s $1-$2 more per month than the most basic plan.
Then, there are higher tier GoDaddy Microsoft 365 plans that give you access to online versions of Microsoft products like Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, plus 1 TB of online storage. The “Online Business Essentials” plan has an intro price tag of $7.99 per month and is $10.99 per month when you renew. There are 2 more plans too that give you even more stuff for more money per month.
“Regular” Microsoft 365 Options
Microsoft 365 Business Plans are not part of the GoDaddy partnership and are instead set up directly through Microsoft.
Again, if going with Microsoft 365 for custom domain email, this would probably be my preference since there doesn’t seem to be as much negative press surrounding them like the GoDaddy partnership options.
PLUS unless my math is wrong, I’m pretty sure it’s more cost effective, anyway!
Let’s look at the plans & what they come with:
The intro plan is called “Microsoft 365 Business Basic“. This is $5 a month and comes with the email account, 1 TB of cloud storage, access to web and mobile versions of Microsoft apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and so on.
The next tier plan is “Microsoft 365 Business Standard“, at $12.50 per month. Honestly – this plan is probably overkill for most of us solopreneurs and micro business owners UNLESS you are really looking to utilize the online meetings and collaboration tools, like through Microsoft Teams.
My personal experience with Microsoft 365:
I have one email address I use set up with Microsoft 365, as one of my clients uses them exclusively. As someone who has barely touched a Microsoft product since the late 2000s, I have found the email interface a bit difficult to get used to. I’m a Google gal through-and-through, but if you prefer Microsoft, Microsoft 365 is a fine option for your email!
Option 3: Zoho Mail (Free)
Zoho is not a household name like Google or Microsoft. Zoho has headquarters in India and it offers a similar suite of software as the previous two names. One of the things it offers is Zoho Mail.
Let’s look at the plans & what they come with:
Zoho Mail has extremely affordable paid options, BUT there is also a free plan! It is a bit easy to miss on their website, but there is a “Forever Free Plan” that offers 5 GB per user with a 25 MB attachment limit. They have a nifty app you can use to check your Zoho mail on your phone, too.
My personal experience with Zoho Mail:
I’ve been using Zoho for about half a year now and I think it’s decent. I have had no problems with email deliverability. The interface is a little different than what I am used to, having used Google for so long.
Personally – if I am going to PAY for email, I’d rather just cough up the $6 a month and use Google. But, especially for beginners, or if you maybe have a secondary domain that you want email at but it’s not going to be your main inbox, I think the Zoho “Forever Free” plan is awesome and I would recommend.
Option 4: Through Your Web Hosting (Free, Usually)
This won’t be for everyone, because not everyone uses a web builder that requires a web host. (For example, if you’re using Squarespace, they don’t offer free mail like this.)
But – if you have a self-hosted WordPress website, you have a web hosting plan.
Not all, but some web hosts allow you to create custom name domain emails FOR FREE.
This is probably the least desirable option, but can certainly do in a pinch.
Free email – but there are downsides
This is usually called “webmail” but could go under a different name.
Sometimes the spam filters are not as powerful as Google’s or Microsoft’s.
And I guarantee you the inbox interface for webmail is NOT good. Lots of them look like they are stuck in 1998 and just aren’t the most user-friendly or exciting to have staring back at you.
There are also workarounds to the downsides
If you hook your email account up to, for example, the Apple Mail App on your iPhone, then, of course, it doesn’t matter that the standard interface is ugly because you’ll be using your mail app and not dealing with it anyway.
Another workaround with this is you can create a redirect and alias in your regular inbox. Let’s say you have a regular yourname@gmail.com account that you have been using for business emails. You can redirect your custom domain name email to that gmail inbox – so any email that gets sent to you@yourdomain.com will get forwarded to your regular inbox. And you can take it a step further by setting up an alias, which will allow you to send emails from the regular inbox but it will look like it’s coming from the you@yourdomain.com address.
(I know this sounds a bit confusing, but honestly the set-up is fairly easy and I just completed this for a client a few weeks ago. I’m not going into the technical set up details of any of these options here today, I am just giving you the information and letting you know it’s possible!)
Further Considerations
We’re not done yet!
Migrations can be challenging
Let’s say you start your custom domain email out with Zoho, but then a year later, you decide you want to switch to Google Workspace. Or migrate from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace. Or whatever.
Migrations are possible – but, in my opinion, they are often a pain in the butt. And I say that as a very tech competent person.
Look for a free trial before you commit
I encourage you to pick the right fit for you right from the get go, to avoid the migration process if possible.
I believe both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have free short-term trials, so you can try before you buy and make sure you like it.
Forward copies of important emails to an account you’ll always have access to
I also encourage you to keep a clean, organized inbox, making sure you have copies of the most important emails forward to an account you will always have long term access to.
This will make any migration less stressful, knowing you have back-ups of all the important stuff.
It also will help if, for whatever reason, you lose access to your custom domain name email.
Maybe something happens and you forget to renew your domain name registration, and then you subsequently no longer have access to your custom domain name email. That would not be good.
Take extra care if you need to change domain name records (DNS)
Take extra care if you change your website host, website building platform, or a similar situation.
These situations may involve updating your DNS records, which could affect the records already in place that are working to properly deliver your email.
Ensure all records you need for your email remain in tact!