The average consumer has 2.5 email addresses. That means, on average, they need to check two or three places (and potentially a lot more) to read all their email.
Having it all land in a single inbox makes it easier to manage and less likely that you’ll overlook something. Google understands this and built features into Gmail that let you manage all your email in one place.
Let’s look at how to link Gmail accounts to all your email addresses.
There are 3 ways you can link your domain email to a Gmail account:
Each of the three options has its advantages and disadvantages so the right choice will depend on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish.
The simplest of the three methods is to have Gmail check your other email accounts and import messages as they’re received. These messages show up in your Gmail inbox so you can read them along with the messages coming to your Gmail address.
You can also use this feature to link Gmail accounts into a single unified inbox in your main account.
The first step to making this method work is to confirm that your other email account supports POP access. This is the protocol that Gmail uses to import the messages so it won’t work if your email provider doesn’t support it.
If your email address is a POP3 account, the following Gmail email settings will set it up to check it for new messages on a regular basis.
Any email sent to your other address will start showing up in your Gmail inbox from this point on. Gmail checks it regularly but not constantly, so be aware that you may not receive a message immediately after it’s sent.
This method won’t let you send email from those other accounts. If you send all your email from Gmail, this may not be a problem but if you also need to send email from that address, the next option gives you that option.
This method is similar to the previous one for receiving email. The messages from your other account will show up in your Gmail inbox when Google checks the account for new mail. But this method also lets you send email through Gmail using your other address as the reply-to email.
If you want your replies to come from the same address the message was sent to, this method works best. Otherwise, when you reply to a message sent to another address, your Gmail address will show as the reply-to email. That can cause confusion if the person who receives it doesn’t recognize the address.
Setting up Gmail to import your email from the other account is exactly the same process as the previous section. Once you’ve finished those steps, you can do the additional configuration for sending email.
First, you’ll need to look up the SMTP server information for your other email account. The SMTP server is the address you use to send email. It’s usually either smtp.youremaildomain.com or mail.youremaildomain.com. You’ll need the address, your username and password, and any special port information required. Your email provider likely has this information in the help section of their website but if not, check with their technical support for the details.
Once you have that information, the following steps will configure Gmail to send from the other address.
Gmail will send a verification message to the other account to confirm you are the owner. Once you click the link in that message to confirm, you’ll be able to send email from that address through Gmail.
To use that address when sending, click the “From” drop-down menu when you’re creating a new message in Gmail and select the other address from the list. You can add multiple addresses if you manage several email accounts, and switch between them as needed.
If you always want to send from the other address, you can click the “Make default” link beside the email address in your Accounts and Import tab in settings. That address will become the default but if you want to use your Gmail address or another email account, you can still select them with the “From” drop-down.
G Suite is Google’s professional application suite for businesses. You have to pay for this option but it gives you the best integration if you have your own domain and want to use it exclusively.
G Suite’s email uses the Gmail interface so it works the same as any other Gmail account. But instead of having a gmail.com address, you can use your own domain. If you want to use a .ie domain, for example, you can have it running completely through Google’s services.
G Suite also offers various other features beyond email. The specifics depend on the edition you choose but you’ll get video and voice conferencing, team messaging, shared calendars, access to the full Google Apps suite, cloud storage, and various other features.
It’s considered a business package but G Suite works well for personal email as well. The cost for the Basic edition is affordable and provides a secure, robust back-end for your email.
Using your own domain for email has several advantages over a generic address like gmail.com or outlook.com.
Buying a domain is a no-brainer for a business but it can be a good investment for personal use as well. The cost is minimal and it gives you a lot more control over your own destiny.
Setting up your own domain to work with G Suite is the most complicated of the three options. You’ll need to update the MX records for your domain to direct all email through G Suite.
This is done through your domain registrar, not G Suite itself. If you registered your domain with Register.ie, for example, you would make the necessary changes through the domain settings page in your account.
This process does take a bit of technical know-how. If you’re not so inclined, check with your domain registrar’s technical support department and see if they can either make the changes for you or walk you through the process.
Every registrar is different so we can’t provide a step-by-step guide for this method. You’ll find the details you need to set up your domain in the G Suite Admin Help. If you provide that information to your domain registrar, they’ll be able to help from there.
Gmail is one of the most powerful email services available. Gmail itself has a lot of great features but there are also a lot of add-ons available for it that give you extra capabilities. None of the other free email services offer the same kind of integration.
Using Gmail to manage all your other accounts means you can use all those extra features regardless of what service those other emails are sent to. Having all your messages in one place helps you avoid missing anything important. And you’ll save far more time in the long-run than you spend learning how to link Gmail accounts.
If you’re looking for .ie domains or hosting based in Ireland, Host.ie can get you set up. 75% of Irish shoppers want to buy Irish so proving that connection can be valuable. Contact us to see how easy and affordable it is to get set up.
