How To: Custom Brand your Email with Google Apps

Updated: Febuary 1st, 2010

I recently purchased a few new domains and I set them up with Google apps powered email accounts.  Now I have a custom branded email address that ends in: @garinkilpatrick.com, so feel free to email me, and the message will go directly to my cell.

By following the steps in this blog post you will be able to set yourself up with yourname@yourdomain.com and access your custom google powered email account from anywhere with the Internet.

google-apps-3

According to Google over two million businesses already run Google apps.  Google offers two versions of Google apps; standard edition or premiere edition.  Premiere edition is free for schools, costs $50 USD for everyone else, and comes equipped with 50 times as much email storage as standard edition.  Premiere has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, 24/7 customer service, and a 30 day free trial.  Standard edition is free and offers full Gmail functionality.

Google apps is perfect for businesses since it offers up to 25 unique user accounts per domain.  In addition to Gmail powered email google apps also has online “apps” that allow for document and spreadsheet storage, collaboration, and privacy controls.

Google also has mobile email apps for almost every kind of phone, including Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, and more.

To get started installing Google Apps you will need to tell Google what your domain is.  If you do not own a domain yet simply go to GoDaddy and buy yourself one.  GoDaddy is the worlds largest registrar and they have competitive prices and great customer service.  If you are going to buy a domain from GoDaddy Google a search for Godaddy Coupons first and you should be able to find a coupon code.

sign-up-for-google-apps

Next Google will want you to:

  • Upload a file to your domain to prove you own it.

This part can be expensive if you do not yet have a hosting account.  I pay for a deluxe hosting account already so if you would like me to host Google Apps file for you for a great price just contact me and I’ll be happy to help.

  • The Google apps file that must be hosted for apps to work is an .html file that must be named googlehostedservice.html. Google will tell you a specific hexadecimal key that you must copy/paste into the body of the file.
  • After you upload googlehostedservice.html to your domain to verify your ownership Google will allow you login to Google apps.

At this point you will be able to access your new domain email accounts by logging into:

http://www.google.com/a/yourdomain.com

For example here is one of my login screens:

http://www.google.com/a/garin.ca

google-apps-login

  • After you log into apps you will need to “Activate” the email app.
  • Now you will need to change the GoDaddy mail exchange (MX) records for your domain so that emails sent to your domain will redirect from GoDaddy to Google Apps.  Don’t worry, Google offers step by step instructions about how to make these changes, it just takes a bit of time and patience to follow the steps.

Once the mail exchange records are changed it takes between 24-48 hours for the initial connection to register, but once the connection is made you will be ready to enjoy Google apps!

google-apps-2

With Google apps you can enjoy the convenience of Google powered custom branded email addresses that you can access from anywhere.

If you have any troubles with the install process feel free to contact me and I will make sure to get back to you and help you out.

  • Tim W.
    Thanks for showing us the "inside" look at the business end of setting up Google apps. I think this is great for small/medium sized businesses. Our company would never give up it's own corporate e-mail infrastructure for this. There are SLAs that we need to maintain with external clients and the more direct control we have over that...the better for us. Then there is the issue of "privacy". Having another 3rd party having access to company specific things does not appeal to us. Then again, we aren't the current target audience for this.

    I think I"ll be able to remember your e-maill address. LOL
  • Thanks for the comment Tim. SLA = Service Level Agreement I am assuming. With the issue of privacy, Google is one of the most trustworthy corporations out there, but if there is highly confidential intellectual property that must be contained I can certainly understand having an internal system. I wonder whether your internal system is accessible online though. Perhaps it is, my York University email address is web based, but it has glitched on me several times and ruined emails I was composing. Comparatively, I have never had any downtime, or glitches, with Google Apps.
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