Professional Email on Your Own Domain

The FTC puts the risk in one sentence: "Without email authentication, scammers can use your domain name to send emails that look like they're from your business" (FTC).

That's the less obvious reason to set up email on your own domain properly. The obvious one is simpler: an estimate from office@smithcomfort.com looks like it came from a company. The same estimate from smithhvac1987@ a free webmail service looks like it came from a guy. Both might be you, but the homeowner can only judge what they see.

This guide covers the addresses to create, the setup steps, and the three DNS records that keep your mail out of spam folders.

What you need first

1. A domain you own. If you don't have one yet, read choosing a domain name for your HVAC company and check names with the domain availability checker.
2. An email provider that supports custom domains. Many business email services and some web hosts offer it. Some website plans include it, others charge separately or don't offer it; ask.
3. Access to your domain's DNS settings, usually at the registrar or wherever your website is managed.

The FTC suggests asking any host or provider two questions up front: "Can my business email use my business website name?" and "can you help me set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication technology?" (FTC). If the answer to either is no, keep shopping.

Which addresses to create

Plan this before you sign up, because some providers charge per mailbox.

Personal mailboxes for people who need their own: the owner, an office manager.

Role addresses that customers and vendors use:

• service@ or office@ for customer requests, estimates and scheduling
• billing@ for invoices and payments, if someone other than the owner handles them
• jobs@ if you're hiring

Role addresses can often be set up as aliases or shared inboxes that deliver to one or more people. When an office manager leaves, office@ keeps working and nothing printed on your trucks or invoices has to change.

Avoid giving every technician a mailbox unless they really email customers. Fewer accounts means fewer passwords to protect.

Setup, step by step

The exact screens differ by provider, but the order is the same:

1. Sign up and add your domain in the email provider's admin panel.
2. Prove you own the domain. The provider will give you a DNS record to add.
3. Add the MX records the provider gives you. These tell the internet where to deliver your mail. If you had email on this domain before, changing MX moves delivery to the new provider.
4. Add SPF, a DNS record listing which servers may send mail for your domain.
5. Turn on DKIM in the provider's admin panel and add the DNS record it gives you. DKIM signs each outgoing message.
6. Add DMARC, a DNS record that tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails the checks.
7. Send test messages to a Gmail address and an Outlook address. Check that they land in the inbox and that the message details show the SPF and DKIM checks passing.
8. Set up the address on your phone, because that's where you'll read most of it.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC in plain words

The FTC explains it this way: SPF verifies that a mail server is allowed to send email for your domain, DKIM puts a digital signature on outgoing mail so the receiver can tell it wasn't changed, and DMARC checks that the address you see in the "from" line matches, and lets you tell other servers what to do with email that looks like it came from your domain but didn't (FTC).

The big inbox providers now expect this. Gmail's sender guidelines require all senders to "set up SPF or DKIM email authentication" for their sending domains (Gmail Help). Senders of more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail accounts need SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and their marketing messages must support one-click unsubscribe. For those bulk senders, Gmail says "your DMARC enforcement policy can be set to none" (monitoring only), though a stricter policy protects your domain better against spoofing.

You probably won't send 5,000 emails a day. Set up all three anyway. It costs nothing but a few minutes, and it protects your name.

If you send marketing email

A note on a customer's invoice is one thing. A newsletter promoting fall furnace tune-ups is a commercial message, and the CAN-SPAM Act applies. The FTC's compliance guide lists the main rules (FTC):

• Header information must be accurate and identify your business.
• "The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message."
• Disclose clearly that the message is an advertisement.
• Include your valid physical postal address.
• Tell recipients how to opt out, and honor opt-outs within 10 business days.

The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. Each violating email can bring penalties of up to $53,088, according to the FTC's guide (as of its January 2024 update). If you'll send seasonal reminders, see seasonal website updates for content ideas, and use a proper email marketing service that handles unsubscribes.

Moving off your old address

Don't flip a switch overnight. Over two or three weeks:

1. Set an auto-reply on the old address: "We've moved to office@yourdomain.com. Please update your contacts."
2. Update the address on your Google Business Profile, website, invoices, estimate templates and voicemail.
3. Change the login email on accounts that matter: supplier portals, the registrar, your bank, your payment processor, your Google Business Profile.
4. Order new business cards and update truck lettering if the old email is on there.
5. Keep the old account open and check it weekly for a few months. Some customers will keep using it.

Finish with a signature

A plain, consistent signature on every email gives the customer what they need without hunting: name, title, company, phone, website and license number if your state requires it on advertising. The email signature generator builds one you can paste into Gmail or Outlook. You can add your Google review link to it too (see review links and QR codes).

A domain is the base for your email, your website and your signage. If you don't have a site on that domain yet, DIPAZE Websites can build a free preview for your company. The plan is $25/month with the site, hosting and domain included, and you can cancel anytime. Email on your domain isn't included in the plan; you can add it with providers like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and we can help point the DNS records. Whichever provider you choose, ask exactly what's covered.