How to create your own branded email address (in 3 easy steps)

Memorable, professional, trustworthy, flexible… there’s loads of reasons why every business, not matter how big or small, should have their own branded email address.

In fact, I’d argue the smaller your business, the MORE important it is to have your own custom email address. As a positioning tool and trust mark, I’d put the email address up there with Trustpilot reviews, customer quotes and product reviews.

✅ james@expertplumber.com

❌ theexpertplumber77@yahoo.com

Here are the key benefits of having your own branded email address:

• Branded email addresses look more professional.
• They are easier to remember.
• Custom email addresses help build a prospective customer’s trust you’re a legitimate business.
• You essentially promote your brand with every email you send.

You could use the free webmail that comes with free mailboxes, but these are often clunky, slow to load, lacking in features and a pain to use.

I’ll show you how to get set up in under 5 minutes, connecting your mailbox to GMail’s familiar UI, using SMTP/POP3 credentials

This sounds complicated, but it really isn’t.

You’ll be able to receive and respond to emails from your branded email address using GMail’s familiar interface. The great thing is, if you receive an email to your branded domain, GMail will automatically respond using that email.

1. Create your branded email address

The first step is to register a domain name and create at least one mailbox. 99.99% of all web hosts/domain registrars include free mailboxes and they are very easy to set up.

Chances are you’ve already got a domain name, but if not, shop around for the best price.

The likes of GoDaddy and 123 Reg have good first year offers but then jack up the prices. Choose a registrar with prices that are always low.

2. Receive emails in GMail using POP3

You’re going to use something called POP3 to connect GMail to your email address.

This is managed by the company you used to register the domain name and set up the mailbox.

If you’re not sure where your POP3 settings are, simply Google “[brand] change pop3 settings” and their ‘how to guide’ will be the top result.

Once you have that info in front of you, open GMail in another browser tab, and follow these steps:

1. In GMail open settings by clicking the gear icon in the top-right corner and then select ‘See all settings’.
2. Go to the ‘Accounts and Import’ tab.
3. Navigate to the ‘Check mail from other accounts’ setting.
4. Click ‘Add a mail account’.

You’ll now see a pop-up. In the first window, enter your email address. On the next step, choose ‘Import emails from my other account (POP3)’. Then enter the following information:

• Username: Typically your full email address.
• Password: The password that you set when creating your email address.
• POP Server and Port: Get this from your email host. Again, if you’re not sure where to find it, a quick Google will do the trick.
• Tick the “Leave a copy” box.
• Tick the “Always use a secure connection” box.
• Choose to add a label.
• Click “Add Account” to set up

Those steps have dealt with incoming email, but you also want to be able to send email using the branded domain name.

3. Allow GMail to send emails using SMTP

The next stage is to configure your GMail account to be able send emails through your branded mailbox’s SMTP server.

Get your SMTP info from the domain host (Google is your freind if you’re not sure where it is).

Once you have the SMTP server info, head back to GMail:

1. Accounts and Import.
2. Find the “Send mail as” setting.
3. Click “Add another email”.

In the pop-up that appears:

• Enter your name/the name you want people to see.
• Enter the branded email address you’re using.
• Tick the “Treat as an alias” box

On the next step, enter the SMTP information you got from your host:

• SMTP Server and Port: Get from your host.
• Username: Typically your full email address.
• Password: The password that you set when creating your email address.
• Use the secured connection method GMail recommends.
• Click Add Account.

GMail will send a confirmation code to your branded email address. Click the link in the email and then click “Confirm”.

And you’re done!

You now have a fully branded email address you can receive/send email from using GMail.