Guides

Guides to business email on your own domain

How to set up mail on a domain you own, what the DNS records say, how to connect a client, and why mail does or does not arrive.

Setting up

From choosing a domain to a mail program that connects.

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How to set up business email on your own domain
How to set up business email on your own domain: choosing addresses, proving you own the domain, publishing the DNS records and connecting mail clients.
MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC: the DNS records a mail domain needs
The four DNS records a mail domain publishes, MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC: what each one says, how they work together and how to check that DNS carries them.
IMAP, SMTP and POP3 settings: which ports and security to use
The mail client settings for a business mailbox: IMAP, SMTP and POP3 ports, which security to choose for each and why encrypted-from-the-start is preferred.
Catch-all email address: when it helps and when it floods you
What a catch-all address does, when it saves a lost enquiry, when it fills a mailbox with spam, and the options: off, a mailbox, an alias or an outside address.
Email alias or mailbox: what to create for info@, sales@ and support@
The difference between an email alias and a mailbox, which suits info@, sales@ and support@, what each costs against a plan and how to forward safely.

Why mail arrives, why it does not, and what the receiving side checks.

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Why business email goes to spam: a checklist
Why mail from a business domain lands in spam and what to check: the four DNS records, a signed message, the content and the habits that build a reputation.
postmaster@ and abuse@: the addresses every mail domain needs
Why a mail domain should answer postmaster@ and abuse@, what RFC 2142 says about role mailboxes, who writes to them and how to keep them useful.
MTA-STS explained: making senders encrypt mail to your domain
What MTA-STS is, where its policy file lives, what the modes enforce, testing and none mean, and what the policy does and does not protect against.