The value of a business email address (like info@ [your domain] .com) can not be overstated; it lends professionalism to your site. BUT there can be issues with hosts, which is why Gmail should be used to manage your domain emails.
Over the weekend, a client contacted me asking about her domain email account. She’d been unable to access it, and was worried about new client messages; she feared she’d lose the clients’ interest if she didn’t respond fairly soon. She was also concerned because she couldn’t view her old messages either. Uh oh.
I asked her how she views her emails; where did she go to read them? She said at webmail (her host), who had been contacted but still hadn’t corrected the problem. I asked if she also read them in Gmail. She didn’t know what I meant. I explained it to her, and I want to share it with you also, because it’s a wonderful thing that can, in a pinch, save you if you have a problem with your host.
Gmail is a free email platform operated by Google. It’s great on a lot of levels: it has excellent spam filters, it has an easy-to-learn interface, and it allows you to customize a lot of how you deal with messages.
Many of you already have a Gmail account or, like me, several. But specifically, you’ve created an email account for your business (so PetuniasPetPerfection @ gmail. com). If that’s true, then you know what I mean about how easy it can be to customize things, and you may not want to give that up. And I want you to know that not only do you not have to give up your business Gmail account, but you shouldn’t! Gmail is a vital tool for managing your business messages, and you need it.
How can Gmail help manage your domain / business email? By pulling your messages from your domain email account so they may be read and stored within your Gmail account. Gmail actually goes to your host, enters using your login information, and fetches all new messages. It pulls then categorizes them so they can be read in your normal Gmail feed. How incredibly cool is that?
There are a bunch of benefits to doing this:
- You don’t have to learn how to use another interface just to read your messages.
- There’s a Gmail app for Android and iOS, so you can read your messages when you’re in the field.
- The Gmail interfaces (on both your computer and on your phone) are easy to use.
- Because their spam filters are so great, you’ll see fewer (no?) time-wasting messages in your feed.
- When was the last time you heard “Gmail is down?” Don’t remember? That’s because it doesn’t happen often, if at all. So this is one very very reliable system.
- If you leave your host, you don’t lose your message history
- If your host has a tech problem, you’ll still be able to access your past messages.
- And best of all: All of your messages are backed up in the cloud, so if your phone / laptop / tablet / host has problems, you can use another device to log in, and your messages won’t be lost.
I speak from experience with this setup. My personal Gmail account pulls from four other accounts, and my second Gmail pulls from my business account as well as three others. I’ve used this setup for at least five years, so I know it works.
I started doing this forever ago, because I used to read my email on Outlook. That computer died, and I had to reinstall all my software. Guess what I lost? Yup, my email history, because at the time, Outlook lived on my computer and when it died, so did my records. My fix? Get Gmail and say goodbye to my ISP’s account.
To find this tool, log into your Gmail account and look in your setting under Accounts and Import. It’s one of the best – and most cost efficient – things you can do for your business, and I promise you won’t regret it!
If you need help setting up your Gmail to fetch your business emails, or for any other services, please contact me at Amy@petsitterseo.com.
