How to create a business email address

Why use a business email address

An address like rakesh@yourbusiness.in tells customers, suppliers and banks that they are dealing with a real business. A free webmail address like yourbusiness123@gmail.com works, but it is easier to impersonate, harder to hand over when staff change, and looks less established on a quotation or GST invoice.

To create a business email you need two things:

1. A domain you own, such as yourbusiness.in. If you do not have one yet, read domain vs hosting for what to buy.
2. A mail service that hosts the mailboxes and handles sending and receiving.

Choose where your mailboxes live

There are three common options. Each works well; the right one depends on your team size, budget and how much you rely on shared calendars and documents.

	Mailboxes in your hosting plan	Google Workspace	Microsoft 365
Cost model	Included in the hosting price, up to the plan's mailbox limit	Per user, per month subscription	Per user, per month subscription
Managed in	cPanel or Plesk	Google Admin console	Microsoft 365 admin centre
Webmail	Webmail included with the control panel	Gmail interface	Outlook on the web
Extras	Basic email, forwarders, autoresponders	Calendar, Drive, Meet, Docs	Calendar, OneDrive, Teams, Office apps (depending on plan)
Best for	Small teams that mainly need email, tight budgets	Teams already used to Gmail and Google Docs	Teams that live in Excel, Word and Teams

Prices for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 change and vary by plan, so check their official pricing pages before you decide. Zoho Mail is another option many Indian businesses use, with its own per user plans.

You can also mix: keep the website on your hosting and run email on a separate service. You just point the domain's MX records to that service instead of your host.

ODHOST note: Every ODHOST shared hosting plan includes email accounts on your own domain: Spark 5, Boost 25, Thrive 40, Turbo 80 and Elite unlimited. See email hosting for details.

Pick a naming convention before you start

Decide on a format once and apply it to everyone. Changing later is painful because people have already printed visiting cards.

Format	Example	Notes
firstname	priya@yourbusiness.in	Friendly; clashes once you have two Priyas
firstname.lastname	priya.nayak@yourbusiness.in	Scales well; slightly longer
first initial + lastname	pnayak@yourbusiness.in	Short; less personal

Then add a small set of role addresses that survive staff changes:

• info@ or hello@ for general enquiries
• sales@ for quotations
• accounts@ for invoices and GST correspondence
• support@ for customer service

Role addresses can be full mailboxes, or forwarders that deliver to one or more personal mailboxes. Forwarders do not count as mailboxes on most hosting plans, which helps on smaller plans.

Create a mailbox in cPanel

On Linux hosting with cPanel:

1. Log in to cPanel and open Email Accounts in the Email section.
2. Click Create.
3. Choose the domain if you have more than one.
4. Enter the username, for example priya.nayak.
5. Set a strong password, or choose to send a setup link to the person's existing email.
6. Set the storage limit. Keep it modest per mailbox so one heavy user does not fill your plan's disk space.
7. Click Create.

To add a forwarder such as sales@ → priya.nayak@, open Forwarders, click Add Forwarder, enter the address and the destination.

Menus vary slightly by cPanel version and host, but these tools are standard. The guide on what cPanel is gives a tour of the rest of the panel.

Create a mailbox in Plesk

On Windows hosting with Plesk:

1. Log in to Plesk and open Mail.
2. Click Create Email Address.
3. Enter the part before the @ and choose the domain.
4. Make sure the Mailbox option is ticked and set a size if you want a limit.
5. Set a password and click OK.

To make a forwarder only, open the address's settings and use the forwarding tab, or untick Mailbox when creating it.

Publish the DNS records email needs

Mail will not arrive, or will land in spam, unless DNS is correct.

Record	Purpose
MX	Tells other mail servers where to deliver mail for your domain
SPF (TXT)	Lists servers allowed to send mail as your domain
DKIM (TXT)	Publishes the public key used to verify your mail's digital signature
DMARC (TXT)	Tells receivers what to do if SPF and DKIM checks fail, and where to send reports

If your domain uses your host's nameservers, the host usually creates MX and SPF records automatically. In cPanel, the Email Deliverability tool shows whether SPF and DKIM are valid for each domain and suggests the correct values.

If your DNS is elsewhere (at the registrar or a CDN), copy the records from your control panel into that DNS editor. For example:

yourbusiness.in.         3600 IN MX   10 mail.yourbusiness.in.
yourbusiness.in.         3600 IN TXT  "v=spf1 a mx ~all"
_dmarc.yourbusiness.in.  3600 IN TXT  "v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourbusiness.in"

Use the exact values your control panel shows; the mail hostname above is only an example. The guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC explains each record and how to tighten DMARC over time.

Set up email on your phone and computer

Use IMAP, not POP3, so mail stays in sync across phone, laptop and webmail.

You need four details: the incoming (IMAP) server, the outgoing (SMTP) server, the port numbers and the full email address as username.

1. In cPanel, open Email Accounts and click Connect Devices next to the mailbox. It shows the exact server names and ports for your account. In Plesk, look for the mail client settings in the Mail section, or check your welcome email.
2. On Android (Gmail app): Add account → Other, enter the address, choose Personal (IMAP), then enter the server details.
3. On iPhone: open the Mail accounts section in Settings (its exact location varies by iOS version), choose Add Account → Other → Add Mail Account, then choose IMAP.
4. In Outlook: add the account and choose IMAP under advanced setup.

Common secure ports for these protocols are 993 for IMAP over TLS and 465 (or 587 with STARTTLS) for SMTP submission. Always use the values your control panel or host gives you. Step by step screenshots are in the help article on setting up email in Outlook and Gmail.

ODHOST note: Mail server hostnames and ports depend on your server. Use the values in cPanel's Connect Devices page, your Plesk mail settings or your welcome email, or ask support by ticket.

After setup: four habits that keep email working

1. Send a test to a Gmail and an Outlook.com address and check it lands in the inbox.
2. Watch storage. Full mailboxes bounce new mail. Archive old mail or raise the quota.
3. Use strong unique passwords for every mailbox. A hacked mailbox sending spam can get your whole domain blocked.
4. Do not send newsletters from your everyday mailbox. Use a proper email marketing service for bulk mail to protect your domain's reputation.

If messages still go to spam, work through emails going to spam.