How to get email at your own domain (you@yourbusiness.com)

Plenty of businesses that run just fine still send email from an improvised address on a free email service, something like mybusiness.medellin24@.... It works. But every message that goes out carries a quiet signal: "I'm still on a free email account." An address like hello@mybusiness.com says the opposite, and setting it up is simpler than it looks.

This guide covers what a custom-domain email is, why it's worth it for a business, and how to get one running, step by step.

What a custom-domain email is

Your email address has two parts, split by the @ sign. In hello@mybusiness.com, the right-hand side (mybusiness.com) is your domain: the same name your website uses. A custom-domain email simply uses that name instead of a free provider's generic domain.

It's the difference between cafearoma.sales@... and hello@cafearoma.com. The second one carries the business's name, not the provider's, and looks like a real business.

Why it's worth it

It's not just about looks. Email at your own domain gives you concrete things:

• Trust. A customer who gets an email from your own domain takes you more seriously. It's clear there's a company behind it, not an improvised personal account.
• You own it. You control the domain; it doesn't hang off one person's personal email account. If whoever handles email changes, or you grow and hire someone, the addresses still belong to the business.
• Brand consistency. Your site, your cards, your invoices and your email all speak with the same name. Everything points to the same place.
• Multiple addresses. You can have hello@, sales@, billing@ or support@, each for its purpose, all under the same domain.

What you need

To have email at your domain, you need two things:

1. A domain. It's your business's name on the internet, like mybusiness.com. You buy it from a domain registrar and pay a yearly fee. If you already have a website, you probably already have one.
2. An email provider that lets you use that domain to send and receive. This is where the choice matters.

Your options for email

There are a few paths, and it helps to know them with their upsides and their catches:

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Powerful and well known. The catch is that they charge per user, in dollars, and come with a whole suite of tools (documents, spreadsheets, storage) you may not need if all you want is email. For a small business it can be more than necessary, and the initial setup isn't always friendly.

The email that comes with your hosting. If you signed up for a web hosting plan, it sometimes includes mailboxes. They tend to be basic, with poor tools and, above all, deliverability problems: it's common for your emails to land in the recipient's spam folder. For something as important as making sure orders reach you, that's not ideal.

A provider focused on email. Some services do one thing: email at your domain. You connect the domain, create your mailboxes, and you're done. It's the most direct path if what you want is an inbox that just works, without paying for things you won't use. nanimail is one of these, built so any small business can set it up without technical help.

There's no single right answer. If you already live inside Google's tools, Workspace makes sense. If you just want good email with your name on it, a focused service will feel simpler.

How to do it, step by step

Whatever provider you pick, the path is similar:

1. Get your domain. If you don't have one yet, buy it from a registrar. Pick a short name that's easy to say over the phone.
2. Choose your email provider based on what we covered above.
3. Connect the domain. You do this by adding a few DNS records (called MX, SPF and DKIM) in your domain's control panel. It sounds technical, but a good provider gives you the exact values and walks you through it. At nanimail, for example, we show you what to copy and check that it's set up right.
4. Create your mailboxes. Define the addresses you'll use: hello@, sales@, whatever your business needs.
5. Start sending and receiving. Set up your email on your phone and computer, and that's it.

The only slightly scary step is the DNS records, and it's a one-time thing: you set it up at the start and never touch it again.

In short

Going from a free email address to email at your own domain is one of those small changes that show: your business looks more serious, you're in control, and everything carries the same name. The technical part is less than you'd imagine, especially if you choose a provider that helps you through the setup.

If you want the simple path, without the setup headache or overpaying, that's exactly why we built nanimail.