I Told You That You Don't Need to Understand All the Technology.
Here's How I Actually Did It.
Why I decided my domain email needed attention
Did you ever notice the email addresses that spammers use? It's the free ones like gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. Don't get me wrong. Those are good to use for your family & friends... but not for your business
Years ago it dawned on me that I didn't want to be in that category. Meaning the ISP's (Internet Service Providers) that route all your mail for you see exactly that! High volume email from free email services and they evaluate it as spam. What you need to get out of the ISP's Spam category is your own domain-based email. That gives you a professional identity and lets you properly authenticate the email being sent from your domain.
What I thought I needed to learn
SMTP, MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC (collectively known as DNS settings on your domain) and the apparent technical swamp initially looked daunting.
But when I learned what they did for me and my email I got it!
Here's a short explanation of each:
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
What it does: Lists the specific IP addresses and servers allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain.
How it is used: The receiving mail server checks the sender's IP against the domain owner's published SPF list to see if the source is authorized.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
What it does: Adds a hidden, cryptographic digital signature to every outgoing email.
How it is used: The receiving server uses the domain's public key from the DNS records to verify the signature, proving the email genuinely came from that domain and was not tampered with during transit.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)
What it does: Ties SPF and DKIM together and sets rules for how receiving servers should handle emails that fail authentication.
How it is used: Domain owners use DMARC to instruct mailboxes whether to let failing emails through, send them to quarantine (spam), or reject them entirely. It also sends reporting data back on who is trying to send mail as your domain.
What I actually did
I contacted my webhost and said "How do I implement all this for my domain-based email". And they had a simple answer: Send us $25 and we'll implement it for you.
Now I'm not for spending extra money but for a one time cost of $25, I can stay out of the spam filters and look professional, count me in!
Where I got confused or stuck
Here's my #1 tip: Have all the info you need for your webhost to do the job. My problem was I thought I had all the info but after I gave them the wrong username/password TWICE (I looked in the wrong place), they were starting to wonder if I had left my senses. Just make sure you have that kind of info, some ISP's won't need it, some will (like mine did)
Tip #2: The other thing you need to do to use domain-based email is find out how to send and receive using it. It's not hard and again, your domain host or registrar can help you with this. You can even use the Gmail interface that Google provides for your domain-based email. You just need to know that up front and give that info to your webhost.
What I learned I did NOT need to know
I quickly learned that I did NOT know how to create DNS service entries for my domain on my own. Could I have learned it and saved $25? Probably. But my time is worth more than that!
How I knew it was working
Your webhost will give you is the how to access your domain-based email after they set up your DNS settings. Once you get that done, you can email and get emails from your new domain-based email.
What I'd tell somebody doing it today
It's a one and done kind of thing. Once you get your own domain (website address) the next step is this; get your Domain-based Email to use to work with it. Your webhost will tell you how to access your domain-based email after they set up your DNS settings.
Next steps
Recommended Webhost: Profit Hub Geared for Online Digital Marketers
Recommended EMail provider: Verified EMail Perfect match for Profit Hub hosting