Blog

If you already have an email address based on your firm name or web site, like Michael@McCreadyLaw.com, read no further.  This article is for those lawyers who still have a gmail.com, sbcglobal.net or even aol.com email addresses.  It is really easy to create your own domain name email address.  Keep reading to learn how.

Let’s say you want your email address to have a professional name, such as Jane@superiorfamilylawyer.com. (That website doesn’t actually exist.) But, at the same time, you also need to enjoy all the benefits one of the most popular email programs, Gmail, can offer.

Most people think you can’t have both. On the one hand, you could contract with a seller of domain names to host your custom email address. Professionals, such as lawyers, can feel comfortable using them, because they contain your website’s domain name, not the of an email provider, such as Gmail.com.

The problem is that many web-hosting companies, which provide them, also offer horrible email interfaces that only masochists might love.

Alternatively, you can list yourself as something like janethefamilylawyer@gmail.com. By doing so, you enjoy all the benefits Gmail has to offer, including their wonderful interface and ease of use, but that email address looks very amateurish.

Fortunately, you can have it all by using Gmail and still listing yourself with a custom email address.

Here’s why you might want to do that instead of relying on a random web hosting company to host your email:

1. Gmail has state-of-the-art security and filters spam very well.
2. Google’s Apps for Work offers 30 GB of storage.
3. You can manage email using mobile devices.
4. Gmail works on almost all types of devices.
5. It plays well with Microsoft Outlook and even syncs with old Outlook programs.
6. You can use Google Calendar and Hangouts.
7. You need not deal with advertisements.
8. You’ll enjoy 24/7 tech support.
9. Gmail plays well with WordPress.

How it Works

Now that you know why you might consider using Gmail to host your custom email address, you need to understand how to get Gmail to do so. Simply do the following:

1.    Buy your domain name if you haven’t already done so. You can purchase it from many different firms. To find them, go to your search box and enter “list of companies selling domain names.”

2.     Click on the Google Apps for Work site and follow the prompts. You can test it for free. Set up your account using Google’s “Custom” or “Express” system. Unless you’re a geek who needs absolute control, select “Express.”

3.    Verify your domain name. To do that, place your HTML tag into the home page of your website. You might think only a nerd with a PhD can do it, but it’s actually quite easy. Simply copy the code that Google provides into your website’s “head” section.

•    First, use this plugin to get an editable “head” for your website.

•    Second, Google provides the code you’ll write into the “head” section plugin you just obtained.

4.    After inserting the code for the “head” into your website’s homepage, click “verify.”

5.    Finish by logging into your Google Apps for Work account and select “users”, which is Google’s term for custom email addresses. Adding yours (e.g. Jane@superiorfamilylawyer.com) costs $5 per month or $50 a year. A great price for what you get.

That’s all there is to it. Once you’ve followed the instructions this article provides, you will have a custom, professional email address in Gmail’s rock solid program, proving that occasionally, you actually can have your cake and eat it too.

Let me know if you found this article helpful or let me know another topic you may find interesting.  Click here to contact me now.