February 26, 2010

The modern small business should be able to move seamlessly between office, home, and mobile using the best tools available on the web. A free, consumer-level Gmail account provides a great solution for routing your business e-mail address into what is essentially a web-based Outlook client; one that is universally synced across all devices, and offers far better storage, search, and customization features.

Do I Even Need a Business E-mail Address?

You may already be using and touting the virtues of web-based e-mail for your business. But too often, we see messages from business contacts with addresses like businessname@gmail.com, or company@hotmail.com. While functionally for the user this approach offers the same benefits as what I'll discuss below, to the outside world, using a free web e-mail account to do business may seem unprofessional.

It used to be a Catch 22. You want to look professional with a domain-based e-mail address, but POP3 e-mail was often limited to desktop-based clients like Outlook that you could only use effectively from the one computer where it was configured to send and receive mail.

Gmail is one of the first web-based services to change all that, and by most measures, it's still the best. Now you can use your professional POP3 domain e-mail address on the web, from any internet connection, including your mobile. Here's how to set it up.

NOTE: This tutorial refers to POP3 e-mail accounts that can be registered through common hosting companies. If your business uses a larger internal network or a Microsoft Exchange server, you should contact your IT person to find out if you are capable of routing messages through Gmail.

Step 1: Say Goodbye to Desktop E-mail

Pick a day to say goodbye to desktop e-mail. With the setup below, once you start using Gmail as your client, your Sent and Received items will no longer match in Outlook. You should disconnect Outlook from your e-mail address and simply use it as an archive for old items going forward.

If you're new to Gmail, be sure to get familiar with it before making the transition, as it organizes incoming mail somewhat differently than traditional desktop clients.

Step 2: Auto CC Your Incoming E-mail

The next step is getting incoming traffic flowing to your Gmail address.

Gmail does have options to fetch messages from a POP3 server the way Outlook does, but I have found this approach to be tempermental. For this tutorial, we are going to work around those potential issues.

Log in to your domain e-mail hosting service and visit your e-mail account settings. These could be located in different places, depending on your hosting company, but should be easy to find.

Look for a feature to enable "CCing" of incoming e-mails. Most e-mail hosting platforms (like GoDaddy, for instance) should have this functionality. If it doesn't, you may want to consider changing services, or trying Gmail's POP3 download method instead.

Set your name@business.com e-mail address to auto CC over to businessname@gmail.com. Once that takes effect, all of your incoming e-mails will appear in Gmail as though they were sent there directly (i.e. without "FWD" in the subject).

Step 3: Configure Gmail to "Send Mail As"

Now go into your Gmail settings, located at the top right of your Gmail inbox. Click the "Accounts and Import" tab. The second item is "Send Mail As." This is where you can configure Gmail to send e-mail as if it was from your name@business.com account.

Click the button "Send Mail from Another Address" and enter your name and business e-mail in the pop-up window.

Click "Next Step" to configure your settings.

This part is important. You'll want to route your outgoing messages through your business e-mail server, and not through Gmail. This will ensure recipients don't get messages from you with "business@gmail.com On Behalf of name@business.com" in the From field. This would look unprofessional, and defeat many of the reasons why we're setting up this account in the first place.

Be sure to select the second option, "Send through SMTP servers." To configure this, you should refer back to your settings in Outlook. Depending on your e-mail service, the server name and port settings will vary, but whatever settings you were using in Outlook to send e-mail should apply here in Gmail as well. To check your Outlook server settings, go to:

Tools > E-mail Accounts > View or Change Existing E-mail Accounts > Choose name@business.com

Your "Outgoing SMTP mail server" should be shown here, and your port settings will be under More Settings > Advanced Tab.

Step 4: Verification

Once these settings are in place, Gmail will need to verify that you indeed own name@business.com. Click "Send Verification" and Gmail will send a code number to your business e-mail address. Grab the code and enter it back into the pop-up window. Click "Verify."

Step 5: Make it Your Default Account

Now that name@business.com is added, set it as your default account so that all incoming and outgoing mail is automatically routed through this address.

While in the "Send mail as" section, click "make default" next to your business e-mail address. Below that, you may also want to select "Always reply from default address" to ensure that no e-mails are ever sent from businessname@gmail.com.

Step 6: Testing

Now you should be ready to go, but be sure to test your account settings before heading back to work. When you compose a message in Gmail, it should now be from name@business.com. Send a test message to an outside e-mail address or a colleague to ensure that it is coming from the right place, and that replies are being routed properly. During any message transaction, neither you nor your recipient should ever see a Gmail address.

If you are having issues sending e-mail, select "edit info" on the account and try different port settings until you find the one that works.

A Reminder: Clean Your Domain E-mail Box Regularly

Remember that with this setup, incoming messages to name@business.com still reside on your hosted e-mail server. If this server has a space limit, you'll want to be sure to log in to that web interface and delete those messages from time to time. Because everything has been auto CCed and archived in Gmail, there's no need to worry about deleting important content. It's all available to you in your new web-based business e-mail client.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

Join the conversation ( 18 )

• Andrew Newbaker 5 months ago

  

  So the statement, "Pick a day to say goodbye to desktop e-mail. With the setup below, once you start using Gmail as your client, your Sent and Received items will no longer match in Outlook." is not entirely accurate. After configuring Gmail for business email, you can enter your new businessname@gmail.com account into outlook or a smartphone and the Forwarders for sent and received messages works just fine. It actually decreases difficulty for setting up email on smartphones and tablets significantly.

• Rodolfo Sabino 1 year 10 months and 16 days ago

  

  I use Google Apps in my personal email and both my 2 companies, it´s awesome, but a little difficult to configure on my website provider, and on Blackberry too, but just a little .. I Recommend !!

• Cathy Larkin 1 year 11 months and 3 days ago

  

  Eliot Sykes thanks for the links to the Gmail canned responses option for creating multiple signatures - just what I was looking for.
  
  Also - Nathan Wrigley - the Google apps link you sent is for a 30 day free trial - but when you click through - here is the free standard edition link: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html
  
  The Premiere edition is $50 per year. I got it included free when I purchased my domain from Google (which had pros and cons - Google apps was s pro - getting the mail MX servers working correctly with Godaddy - was a pain.) I need to check if I am getting standard or premiere.

• Cathy Larkin 1 year 11 months and 3 days ago

  

  One flaw I see in both Gmail and Google Apps is that neither allows you to choose more than one signature. My clients and I would both like to be able to select one signature for personal email, and another for business email; or one for prospective clients, and another for existing clients. I can't be that hard - Outlook has it!
  
  The other problem I see with using Google apps (my.name@mydomain.com etc) as my main email - is that some of the features I want to use are available through Gmail - but not through my Google apps. My google analytics & feedburner are attached to Gmail - not Google apps account - if is frustrating - that makes the option of running things through Gmail more useful.
  
  On the other hand- While Google buzz has not come to Google apps yet, it has come to Gmail. If you are active in social media - and want to use Google buzz - it could be confusing for clients. But it is early days of Google buzz yet. The jury is still out.
  
  Great post

• Shui Haber 1 year 11 months and 3 days ago

  

  how do i add my html signature to my default gmail signature?

• Eliot Sykes 1 year 12 months and 10 days ago

  

  If you want to be able to use multiple signatures in gmail for business then there is built in functionality for that, its just a little hard to find:
  
  http://blog.eliotsykes.com/2009/07/06/gmail-has-built-in-multiple-signatures-its-called-canned-responses/
  

• Brian McDonald 1 year 12 months and 10 days ago

  

  Don't forget to set up email filters; it helps when organizing and managing various email accounts through one gmail account.

• Tom McCallum 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  An article suggesting using Gmail for business email but not Google Apps (instead of consumer gmail) and not IMAP ? Are you kidding ? Have seen some good articles on this site before, but this suggestion shoots credibility in the foot a bit.. AMEX, get some expert columnists in :)

• Tim Fears 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  Lori,
  Labels are Google's implementation of how folders work on traditional email systems. You can setup your account in Thunderbird or Outlook using the IMAP protocol as opposed to POP3, and you'll be able to see the folder structure where your labels are actually folders. The visual difference is that the action combination of label+archive=filing in a folder.

• Lori Schwab 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  All well and good, but the problem for me is the inability to set up folders. I've only seen the ability to create labels. Am I missing something?

• Nathan Wrigley 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  I like what this article suggests. Personally, I would rather own my own domain and use Google Apps - it's totally free and takes about 5 minutes to set up. I wrote an article on how to do it here: http://netzma.com/2009/04/how-to-set-up-gmail-for-your-domain-in-5-minutes/

• Paul Pruneau 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  Great post!
  Thanks so much for the geeky, granular detail on how to execute this seemingly simple task.
  Looking forward to "CCing" my domain email.
  Thanks again.

• CRAIG BREWSTER 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  One advantage of using gmail as your email account is that you never have to change your email address if you change providers. you can also access it from anywhere in the world.
  
  www.apexcarpentrtinc.com

• Padraig Culbert 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  I agree with the Google App approach. It is excellent and I continue to use Outlook as normal. Not a bother so far.

• Tim Fears 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  You beat me to it by 2 min ben ;-)

• Tim Fears 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  Or... you could get Google Apps for your domain (which uses the gmail interface) and eliminate half of those steps. http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/gmail.html

• Ben Ohajuru 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  I would just use the Google App standard version. Takes over the MX records and therefore you get the @business.com with the benefits (and failings) of @gmail.com
  
  http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html

• GABRIELE ENDRESS 1 year 12 months and 11 days ago

  

  This is all well and good, but I personally do not like the Gmail interface very much. I use GoDaddy for both my domain and hosting and I can access my business email both through Outlook and through web mail. The only thing I use from Google for business is their free calendar system which I have synched with Outlook (rather than paying for that service from GoDaddy). That set up works best for my needs and preferences.