Have you been wanting to set up your own domain email addresses, but weren’t sure how to get started? With Google Apps you can do this for as little as $5 a month, and it’s really easy to set it up. Having your own @yourdomain.com email address looks very professional when dealing with pr, media and brands, so it’s a good idea to get this set up. Here’s how to get it done in just a few steps:
Step One: Start out at Google Apps HERE.
Step Two: Click on the “Start Free Trial” button.
Step Three: Go through the registration process (easy so far right?).
Step Four: Once you have completed the registration process, you need to verify that you own the domain. You can do this through the following options:
- Add a DNS record to your domain configuration.
- Link to your Google Analytics account if you are already set up there.
- Upload an HTML file to your server.
- Add a meta tag to your site’s home page.
I chose number four, because it was the easiest thing to do with Thesis open hook. Just grab the meta tag, and insert it into the WP Head section of Thesis Open Hook. If you don’t have Thesis open hook, insert this into the <head> section before the first <body> section, under Editor in the WordPress Dashboard. Once you verify with Google, you can remove the meta tag.
Step Five: Now it is time to activate your email. Scroll down and under Email click on “Activate Email.”
Step Six: Select your host site from the drop down menu to get instructions for changing your MX records. Log into your host, and follow the steps through completely. Then click on “I have completed these steps” at the bottom.
Once you have completed changing the MX records, bookmark your Google Apps homepage and it’s time to sit back, relax and wait on google to check the MX records (takes about 48 hours).
Step Seven: Now we come to the best part. Once your MX records are official and correct, go to your Google Apps home page and sign in. Click on “Organization and Users” on the top navigation menu, and then “Create New User.” Add the name and email that you want, and continue to do this for as many emails as you wish to set up (up to 50 with this free version of google apps). Click on “Email Instructions” after creating a user to email the login information to whoever you created the email address for.
You will be able to log into your email at http://mail.google.com/a/YOURDOMAINHERE/.
See how easy that was? Now go get set up, and come back to tell us how savvy you are with your gmail!
Crystal blogs at TheThriftyMama.com and WomanFuze.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
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