{"id":1885,"date":"2026-05-13T13:08:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:08:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:08:03","slug":"setting-up-business-email-with-your-own-domain-a-step-by-step-uk-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duport.co.uk\/blog\/setting-up-business-email-with-your-own-domain-a-step-by-step-uk-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting Up Business Email with Your Own Domain: A Step-by-Step UK Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Setting Up Business Email with Your Own Domain: A Step-by-Step UK Guide<\/h1>\n

Learning how to set up business email with your own domain in the UK is a vital first step for any professional brand. You\u2019ve got a domain (or you\u2019re about to register one) and you want something like yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk to work, without it turning into a technical project. A lot of guides either skip straight to clicking buttons in GoDaddy or Wix, or go the other way and drown you in DNS theory before anything is set up. Duport has been doing UK company formation and small business setup for 28 years, and the order below is the one we use when setting this up for clients, mainly because it avoids the usual back-and-forth when something doesn\u2019t work first time.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Register your domain at an independent registrar, not your website builder<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s usually better to buy your domain through an independent UK registrar, mainly so you\u2019re not stuck if you want to move things later. A .co.uk domain costs around \u00a38 to \u00a315 a year. Buying through Wix or Squarespace is convenient at first: Wix gives you the first year free on annual plans. The catch tends to show up at renewal, when the price jumps to about \u00a317 a year, and WHOIS privacy protection is a paid add-on. The bigger issue is portability: a domain registered through your website builder can be awkward to move, especially if email is already tied into it. This is where people usually get stuck, when you try to change platforms, you might never need to move it, but if you do, you\u2019ll be glad it\u2019s not locked in. We\u2019ve had a few cases where moving the domain took longer than building the new site. Your domain is something you\u2019ll likely keep long-term, so register it where you control it. Duport’s domain registration<\/a> starts from \u00a320.99 a year if you would rather not pick a registrar yourself. We have covered the wider Wix lock-in problem in Why Wix Doesn’t Work for Small Business UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Choose your email provider<\/h2>\n

For most UK small businesses, the choice is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, with a small UK email host as a cheaper option if all you need is mail. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 give you a mailbox at your domain. Both also include calendar, video calls, file storage and the document apps your suppliers already use. UK email-only hosts (Fasthosts, 123 Reg, Zen) work out cheaper if you do not need the document suite. One shortcut that catches a lot of people out is using simple email forwarding, where yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk simply forwards to a personal Gmail address. It works fine for receiving emails, but the moment you reply, it comes from your Gmail account instead, which looks odd to clients as they still see your Gmail address instead. We see this quite a bit with sole traders starting out, it works for a few weeks, then gets changed once replies start looking inconsistent, better to get it sorted from the start.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Add MX, SPF and DKIM records at your registrar<\/h2>\n

At this stage, you\u2019ll need to add three DNS records: MX, SPF and DKIM. It sounds technical, but your email provider will give you the exact values. The MX record points your domain at the provider’s mail servers. SPF (a TXT record) lists the IP addresses allowed to send mail as you. DKIM (also a TXT record) holds a public key that proves a message wasn’t faked in transit. Save the records and give it a bit of time to settle. This catches people out because everything looks right, but nothing works yet. In most cases, DNS updates within a few hours, but occasionally it drags into the next day (48 hrs), which can be confusing if you\u2019re testing straight away. Skip SPF or DKIM and your email still sends. The catch is it lands in spam, especially when you mail Gmail or Outlook addresses. Google has rejected non-compliant bulk mail since 1 February 2024, and Microsoft followed suit on 5 May 2025. SPF and DKIM used to be optional, but now they\u2019re pretty much essential if you want emails to land in inboxes reliably.<\/p>\n

Step 4: Test that mail arrives, then test it doesn’t land in spam<\/h2>\n

Send a test email from your new address to a Gmail account and an Outlook account, then check the headers. In Gmail, click the three dots and choose “Show original”. In Outlook web, click the three dots and choose “View message source”. What you\u2019re looking for are two lines: \u2018spf=pass\u2019 and \u2018dkim=pass\u2019. Both passing means your setup is right. If either one fails, it\u2019s usually something small, often just a typo in the TXT record. Go back and copy the values your provider gave you exactly. Then send a normal-looking email to yourself, something you\u2019d send a client (a subject line, a sentence, and a link) to your own Gmail address. If it lands in Spam or Promotions instead of the inbox, something\u2019s still off, your authentication setup likely needs another check and Step 3 needs a second look.
\nIf you are still deciding whether the website that goes with this email is worth paying for, Should I Hire Someone to Build My Website?<\/a> breaks down the trade-off in real numbers.<\/p>\n

A step that often gets missed at this point, it tends to get picked up later when something flags it, is the legal side of the website. Whether you build the website yourself or have it done for you, your site needs to meet UK requirements. That means a privacy policy, a cookie notice, terms and conditions, and the right business information in your footer. Most builders will give you template pages, but they don\u2019t check whether your business details or policies are correct. Already have a website? Run it through our free compliance checker<\/a> to see what is there and what isn’t.<\/p>\n

Want this set up for you?<\/h2>\n

If you would rather not touch DNS at all, Duport’s website build<\/a> handles it for you. The package includes domain registration, a professional email at your domain, and the SPF\/DKIM records that stop mail going to spam. Live in 72 hours, and it doesn\u2019t take much of your time to get set up, around 30 minutes. Duport’s website build starts from \u00a3360. Mention this article when you get in touch and we’ll honour the \u00a3144 rate. If you are still forming the company, the Full Bundle covers formation, domain, email and website together. \u00a3244 upfront, then \u00a394 a year. Either way, you do not have to learn what a DNS record is.<\/p>\n

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FAQs<\/h2>\n