Business email vs Gmail: why use your own domain?

Five reasons it matters

1. Trust. Clients, suppliers and banks take accounts@yourcompany.co.uk more seriously than a free webmail address — and fraudsters rely on free addresses looking plausible.
2. The address belongs to the business. When someone leaves, their mailbox and its history stay with you, and you can redirect their mail to a colleague. A personal Gmail account leaves with them.
3. Control. You decide who can access which mailbox, enforce multi-factor authentication, and wipe a lost phone.
4. Protection from spoofing. With your own domain you can publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC so nobody else can send as you. You cannot do that for gmail.com.
5. Deliverability. Properly authenticated mail from your own domain is more likely to reach inboxes than business mail sent from free accounts.

What it costs

A domain name is typically under £15 a year, and business email starts from a few pounds per person per month. Our guide to business email costs in the UK compares the options honestly, and how to get a business email address walks through the set-up step by step.