Short answer: A business email address uses your own domain, like name [at] yourcompany.com. You need the domain, an email service such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, and access to the domain’s DNS settings. You prove the domain is yours, create the mailboxes, point the MX record to the service and turn the email on.
What you need before you start
The first thing is the domain itself; our guide to domain names explains what you are buying. You also need to sign in where the domain is managed, usually the company where you bought it or the one that hosts your website, as Google puts it.
Then pick the email service. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both work with your own domain, and both ask you to change the domain’s DNS records; our guide to DNS explains what those records are.
Why the service asks you to verify the domain
Google says DNS records are the best way to make sure the owner of a domain is the one signing up. It warns that other methods, such as HTML strings or meta tags, can be used by malicious actors to create fraudulent accounts.
Google gives you a deadline: verify within the first 9 days of the free trial or when you start a paid contract. Adding its verification record takes about 10 minutes, and confirming it can take up to an hour.
Microsoft 365 can do this part for you. If your registrar supports Domain Connect, Microsoft 365 confirms that you own the domain and adds the DNS records its services need. If not, you add them yourself.
What the MX record does
When someone sends you an email, the sender’s computer looks up the MX records for your domain to know where to deliver it. After you sign up for an email service, you change those records so messages reach the new service.
| Step | Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Prove the domain is yours | A TXT record with Google’s verification code | A TXT record, added for you if your registrar supports Domain Connect |
| Send the mail to the service | An MX record with the value smtp.google.com | The DNS records the admin center lists for email |
| Turn the email on | Activate Gmail in the Admin console | Add users and mailboxes before the MX record |
Our summary of Google Workspace Admin Help and Microsoft Learn, read November 6, 2026.
Google asks you to remove any other MX records, because email might not work correctly if old or incorrect ones stay. New MX records can take up to 72 hours to take effect.
How to create your business email address
- Get a domain if you don’t have one, and find out which registrar manages it.
- Choose the email service, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
- Sign up and start the domain setup in the service’s setup tool or admin center.
- Verify the domain with the TXT record the service gives you.
- Create the users and mailboxes for everyone who needs an address.
- Replace the old MX records at your registrar with the service’s MX record.
- Turn the email on in the service and send yourself a test message.
Before you switch the MX record
- You can sign in to the registrar that manages your domain.
- The service shows your domain as verified.
- Everyone who needs an address has a user and a mailbox.
- You know which MX records to remove.
- You know the new MX record can take up to 72 hours to work.
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC are next on your list.
RememberThe domain proves who you are, the MX record decides where mail goes, and the mailboxes catch it. Set them up in that order and your address works without losing a message.
Once the address works
A working address still needs the records that tell other servers your mail is legitimate; our guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC covers them. Then give every message the same footer with our guide to a professional email signature.
When your list of customers grows, our email and SMS service writes to them twice a month, in the language they speak. Write to us on WhatsApp or through the form.
Quick answers about business email
Can I create a business email address without my own domain?
An address like name [at] yourcompany.com needs a domain you control. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both ask you to prove you own the domain before its email works, and that proof lives in the domain’s DNS records.
How long does it take for business email to start working?
Google says adding its verification record takes about 10 minutes, and confirming it can take up to an hour. New MX records can take up to 72 hours to take effect.
What happens if I don’t verify my domain in Google Workspace?
Google says you must verify within the first 9 days of the free trial or when you start a paid contract. If you don’t, the account is deleted within 21 days of signup, unless billing is set up and the subscription is active.
Why do I have to remove my old MX records?
Google says your email might not work correctly if you keep old or incorrect MX records. The MX record tells other mail servers where to deliver messages for your domain, so only the new service’s record should stay.
Do I need to create the mailboxes before changing the MX record?
Microsoft says to add users and set up mailboxes after adding the domain but before adding the MX record. That way email keeps working while it moves from your old service to Microsoft 365.
Sources
All read on November 6, 2026. Google Workspace Admin Help: Verify your domain for Google Workspace. Set up MX records for Google Workspace. Microsoft Learn: Add a Custom Domain to Microsoft 365.