Look Professional with a Custom URL for Your E-mail

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In business a professional image is always being sought after.  One of the first things prospective clients are going to see is both your website and your e-mail address. Whether it be through searching online or meeting a representative of your company at a networking event, a prospective client is going to see an e-mail address to contact you.  Which would you rather see as a customer:


ottawaflowerstore@gmail.com

OR

info@ottawaflowerstore.com

Most customers would choose the latter as it seems like a more professional looking company.  

The big secret?  It doesn't take a fortune to have a professional looking e-mail account, in fact it may even be free!

Google provides free ad supported e-mail accounts with an "@gmail.com" address.  However, Google Mail (or Gmail as it is more commonly known) does support sending and receiving e-mails from a URL if it is properly configured.  Below is how to do it:

Note: For explanatory purposes let's pretend we are setting up our new e-mail address of "info@ottawaflowerstore.com" 

Let's start at the very beginning to make it easy right after selecting your domain name for your business. Let's presume you have registered the domain name (i.e. URL) of ottawaflowerstore.com with an internet domain name registrar (e.g. GoDaddy, etc.). Here is how to move forward from here: 

CREATE A GMAIL ACCOUNT:

1. Create a Gmail account (Google's E-mail client) by visiting www.gmail.com and clicking on "Create an Account".  Follow Google's prompts until you have your "@gmail.com" address and password.  NOTE: Leave this browser window or tab open, we'll need it later.

2. In a new web browser tab or window, login to your domain registrar and:

a) Setup an e-mail address (info@ottawaflowerstore.com) 

b) Setup an e-mail forwarder for the e-mail address you want to create (i.e. info@ottawaflowerstore.com) and forward it to the "@gmail.com" you chose in step #1. For our example "info@ottawaflowerstore.com" would now be set to forward to "ottawaflowerstore@gmail.com"

TIP: You may need to check out the help menu or inquire with your domain registrar for help for either of the above steps.

CONFIGURING G-MAIL:

3. Now that we have the e-mail address created and an e-mail address forwarding to our Gmail account, we need to configure Gmail properly to send mail out.  Return to the Gmail window/tab, click on the gear icon drop down menu and select "SETTINGS".

4. Click on the "ACCOUNTS AND IMPORT" tab.

5. Scroll down to where it says "Add another email address you own".

6. A Popupbox should open.

7. In the Name field, enter the name you want to appear on your e-mails (i.e. Ottawa Florist)

8. In the e-mail address field enter your new e-mail address that you created in step #2, above, with your registrar.

9. Uncheck "Treat as an Alias"

10. Click "Next Step"

11. Change the SMTP server entry to read: smtp.gmail.com

12. In the Username section enter in your Gmail address (i.e. ottawaflorist@gmail.com)

13. In the Password section enter in your Gmail address' password.

14. Change the Port to read "465"

15. Choose "Secured Connection using SSL"

16. Click  "Add Account"

17. One of two things are going to happen, either:

a) a verification screen will show up.  In this case, skip to step 24.

OR

b) An error message in red letters will show up.  In this case, continue below with step 18.

18. Leave the previous window open and return to your G-Mail mail account inbox.

19. Look for an e-mail from "Google".  TIP:  If you don't see it yet, wait at least 5 to 10 minutes as sometimes it takes a while to arrive.

20.  Open the e-mail from Google and select "http://support.google.com/mail?p=client_login" link from the e-mail.

21. On the newly opened window select the "https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha" link.

22. Click on "Continue" or follow any instructions on this page.

23. Return to the G-Mail set up screen still open from step 17 and retry steps 11 to 17 again.

VERIFICATION OF E-MAIL ADDRESS: 

24. Gmail will now send you a verification email to your new email address.  Open the e-mail and follow the instructions.

Enjoy your new professional e-mail from the cozy comforts of Gmail!

Need help with creating your professional e-mail address?  Suddcorp Solutions can help!