Update as of January 2013: Google no longer offers Gmail under Google Apps for free.
Already have your own domain but still using @gmail.com or @yahoo.com email addresses? Did you know that you can actually setup custom emails using your own domain AND Google Mail for free? Yes, you can do this through Google Apps.
Let me show you how to setup your domain for custom email through Google Apps using Moniker. It’s basically the same way for other domain registrars, so it’ll be easy to follow. Also see my tutorial on how to register and setup your domain on Moniker.
Before I go ahead with the tutorial, some things you might want to note first:
- This tutorial is for the FREE option on Google Apps. This is limited to only 50 users, which I know is more than enough for those who only want to have one custom email for their domain.
- Custom emails through Google Apps use Google Mail to handle and manage your emails. So, if you’re already familiar with Gmail, then, you’re good to go.
- You can also setup custom emails or even link your Gmail account if you prefer to receive your emails through Outlook. However, I strongly recommend you stick with Gmail for all the added security Google provides (anti-virus, spam filter, etc).
This is a long post as I’ll cover everything ’til your custom email is all setup. Please share or comment if you found this useful. Thanks!
Part 1: Initial Setup of Your Domain on Google Apps
For this tutorial, I used my domain icafeblog.com.
1. Go to Google Apps main page. You should see this welcome page.
Click on the first Learn More button, under Google Apps. Like what I mentioned earlier, this guide is for the free access to Google Apps.