We’re deep into the Social Media Rockstar series, and before I got into the next vital piece of the puzzle, I wanted to do a brief recap and then introduce the next part.
Once you’ve got a domain name, the first thing you’ll want to do is set up a professional email account for that domain name. This will communicate to potential clients or employers that you are a serious professional. This is how Social Media Rockstars do it!
I can’t tell you how many times someone has handed me a business card that was ruined with a generic email address. It could be the most well designed business card in the world, but if the contact email is “[email protected]” (or worse, [email protected]– yikes!) then it is completely ruined. There is no excuse for this! So let me walk you through how to set up a professional email address for free with Google Apps.
[This is part of the Social Media Rockstar series. You can catch up on the rest of the posts here.]
This will take you roughly 30 minutes to set up, and it’s not all that difficult. Well, depending on where you bought your domain name, it may be more difficult. If you’re domains are registered through 1and1, I am sorry and good luck.
The walk-through
1. Go to Google.com/apps
Once there, click “Start Free Trial”. This free trial will automatically default to a free account (even though they don’t really tell you that). So don’t worry about having to put in any payment information. Just sign up.
2. Take the “Express” route
Once you choose “Express”, you’ll be taken through a number of screens that will walk you through the set up process. Take the time to read through the screens. When you’ve finished reading a segment, hit the “Next” button at the bottom.
3. Verify your domain
This will be the most technical of all the steps, but you have a few options to work with. In order to verify that you own the domain you can:
- upload an HTML file
- add a meta tag to your site’s home page
- use your Google Analytics account
- add a DNS record to your domain through your registrar
Unless you know how to upload an HTML file, choose “Alternate methods”. The alternate methods are actually easier anyways.
If you already have a site up and running, I recommend the “meta tag” option as it’s probably the quickest route. However, if you don’t even have a website yet (which we’ll get to later in this series) then you’ll have to choose the last option, “add a DNS record…”.
Whichever method you choose, Google will actually walk you step-by-step through the process. So, there’s really no need for me to go through each one here. That would be quite redundant.
Once you’ve taken the necessary steps, you can click the “verify” button and proceed to the next step. You now have officially set up Google Apps for your domain! But hold on, because we’re not done yet.
4. Set up Gmail for your domain
Now you just need to let Google walk you through adding Gmail to your Apps account. This involves changing your domain’s MX records in order to connect to Google’s mail servers. This will be pretty straight forward for most domain registrars, unless of course you’re on 1and1, in which case you should just contact them to do this for you.
In my case, I host all my domains and websites through Bluehost. They make it super easy to set up Google Apps by allowing me to just hit one button and it automatically makes all the MX changes for me. I love me some Bluehost!
If your registrar doesn’t have a one-click Google Apps install, just follow Google’s instructions.
Start by clicking the check box to route your mail through Google’s servers. Click “next” and from there you can choose your registrar from the drop down list. Google will provide specific instructions for your specific registrar. Once you’re finished, hit “Next” and check the box that says “Yes, I changed mydomainname.com’s MX records to route mail to Google”.
Once you’ve completed all the necessary steps, it will then let you know that the MX records may take up to 48 hours to update. In most cases it will only take a few hours. Just click “Next”.
You will now see “your Gmail address” to access your email from. You can ignore this. All you have to do is go to Gmail.com to log in with your domain email credentials and you’re in. (Most people may not know this.)
Hit “Next” and Google will start you though the process of adding other apps like Calendar. This isn’t necessary unless you’d like to set it up. If email is all you’re looking to set up at this time, you’re all done! You can hit the “Dashboard” tab, if you want, and familiarize yourself with your new Google apps account.
Once all the servers are updated, you can start handing out your brand new professional email address! You’re officially closing in on becoming a Social Media Rockstar!
Of course, if all this is too complicated for you, or you just can’t seem to figure it out, you can always hire me to set it up for you! 
The next step will be to get your domain pointed somewhere. I’m really excited to cover this one! Stay tuned!
Have you set up your domain’s email address yet? Do you have any questions about setting this up? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
If you purchase the product or service referenced from one of the links above, I will receive an “affiliate commission.” I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I’ll be walking through this tutorial this weekend most likely!
Very helpful Dustin. Thanks!
Youre welcome Andrew!
Aesomesauce write up Dustin! Finding gems like this when doing searches are a life saver when trying to do this stuff. I am sure this will be a blessing for many for years to come.
Thanks for doing it! It will help many people!
Dude! You rock! This is awesome! I’m so doing this tonight! Now I won’t be “the old dude at work with the Verizon email “.
Thanks for the well laid out instructions!
Great stuff!
I hope it helps Scott! Let me know if you run into any snags along the way.
Will definitely create one for my new domain name wuhoo!
Thanks for dropping by on my site Dustin! I’m still working on it. LOL! I wonder how I should design my header.. I’m still working on my logo and other stuff.
Well, you’re off to a great start!
i haven’t post a lot lately.. I’ve change some of my strategies.. hopefully for the better.
The other day, the Google Apps caught my eye. I started to sign up for it. I’m glad that I waited for this post!!!
I’m glad you did too! Now go git-r-done!
Done and done! Well, kind of done! Apartment Life created one for us to use as a CARES Team. All of a sudden, I feel legitimate
However, I need to create one for my own endeavors.
I’ve had so much going on the past week. Haven’t had a chance to get around on the blogs much…thanks for sharing this post! It was very thorough!
Thanks for the tips, Dustin.
Things are looking good….there is a but, though.
I have a G+ account and now a G+ acc. in Google Apps (which I’ll have to build from the ground up as there is no merging tool, yet). So which account would you recommend I go with, or persevere with them both?
Are they both under your real name?
Thanks a lot for the great post on CREATE A PROFESSIONAL EMAIL ADDRESS WITH GOOGLE APPS. This is very helpful for a newbie like me.
I love this! But when I go to do it now, it says I can only buy a domain or use something @mygbiz.com. I can’t use a domain I already own. Did Google take this free ability away from us?
Try using this link Bob. That should work.
Awesome, thank you! Very quick response too!
Oh no! I was wondering why it kept telling me that billing would start in a month. Turns out Google JUST made this a pay-only service. That stinks! Is there anything else like this out there?
http://www.crn.com/news/cloud/240144061/starting-now-no-more-free-google-apps-for-small-businesses.htm
Yea, I just got the email today about the changes. Thankfully, I will grandfather into keeping my free accounts. I don’t know of anything else out there, but rest assured if there is, I will find it and write about it.
Like Marcus stated in a previous comment, I almost signed up for this the other day but decided to wait – I’m glad I did! This tutorial literally walked me through setting up this system for my church – with no problems at all. Thank you so much, Dustin! Although we will have to pay for it, I’m sure the church will not mind seeing as the current email system (through the internet provider) is so painful, is not user-friendly, and is unprofessional. Thanks again!