Emails are essential in communication when running a business.  It is recommended for a business to have its own email address using its business name as a domain e.g. info@yourbusinessname.com.  It gives the impression that a business is legitimate and gives it credibility when it uses its own domain for emails, as compared to emails using free email providers like gmail, yahoo, and the likes.  

What is Zoho Mail?

Zoho Mail is an email provider that gives you the option to create personalized email address e.g. yourname@yourbusinessname.com.  

Advantages of using Zoho Mail

One of the advantages of using Zoho Mail is that if you haven’t registered your domain yet, you can register it through them when you sign up for a custom email address with them.  You can also set up multiple email accounts for your domain, and they offer a free plan for businesses with five users or less.

Why you should use a custom email address

You should use a custom email address for your business because it makes your business stand out and have its own identity.  In addition, it gives credibility to your business when you use custom email addresses.  Which business email stands out and looks more authentic: john_smithtailors@gmail.com, or john@smithtailors.com?

How to Configure your domain to work with Zoho Mail

Step 1.  Choose a Plan

You can opt for the Free Plan, which is best for small businesses with less than 5 users and has a 5gb limit per user.

Step 2.  Register your Account

If you already have a domain registered, choose the option “Sign up with a domain I already own”

Step 3.  Input your details

Fill in the form with the required fields.  Tick the “I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy” checkbox, and click Proceed.

Confirm that the details you filled in are correct, and click Sign Up.

Step 4.  Verify your mobile number

A seven-digit verification code will be sent to the mobile number you provided in the previous step. Enter the code you have received in the text box, and then click “Verify my mobile”.

Step 5. Verify your Domain

You need to verify ownership of the domain that you have set for your custom email.  Check the dropdown list if your domain provider is listed.  If not, choose “Others”.

The easiest way to verify ownership of your domain is through the TXT Method.

How to verify your domain through the TXT Method:

1. Log in to your account with your Domain registrar. (Your Domain’s Administrative DNS Host).
2. Open your Domain Management Page to update the DNS Records (DNS Manager or DNS Control Pane or Advanced DNS editor).
3. Locate the option to add TXT records (Generally found under DNS Records, you can also consult the help page of your registrar in case you are not clear).
4. In the Name / Host / Alias / TXT, please leave it blank or add “@”
5. In the Value / Points To / Destination field add zoho-verification=zb86188817.zmverify.zoho.com
6. If the TTL is editable, reduce the TTL to 300 seconds or the minimum possible value recommended by your Registrar.
7. Click Save or Add Record option to save the TXT Records.

Step 6.  Wait for the changes to take effect.

Updating the TXT Records on the server takes anywhere from one hour to 24 hours.  After which, you can now start sending and receiving emails using your custom email address!