Your website is built. Now let’s give your business a professional email address to go with it.
An address like joe@your1stwebsite.com looks far more trustworthy to customers than a free Gmail or Yahoo address, and it’s already included with your hosting.
We’ll set it up in cPanel, the same control panel we used back when we installed WordPress.
Log Back Into cPanel
A quick refresher:
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- Go to veerotech.net and log into your account.
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- In the Client Area, open your hosting service and click the cPanel login.
- In cPanel, find the Email section and click Email Accounts.
Your Email Accounts List
The first time you open Email Accounts, the list is nearly empty. You’ll see one System account. That’s your hosting account’s built-in mailbox, and you can leave it alone.
Click + Create to make your first email address.
Create Your Email Address
- Domain: choose your website’s domain. If you only have one, it’s already selected.
- Username: the part before the @. Your domain is added automatically.
- Password: type a strong password, or click Generate to have cPanel make one for you.
Leave Optional Settings alone, then click Create.
Choosing a Username
Common choices are your first name (joe@), info@ or office@. Pick something short and easy to say over the phone.
Write Down Your Password
You’ll need this password every time you log into your email and whenever you set it up on a phone or computer. Keep it somewhere safe.
Your New Email Account
cPanel shows a green Success message, and your new address appears in the list.
To open your new mailbox, click Check Email beside it.
Opening Webmail for the First Time
Webmail lets you read and send email right in your web browser. There’s nothing to install.
The first time you open it, you may see a Consent and Privacy box asking whether cPanel can collect usage statistics. Checking the box is up to you. Either way, click Save and Continue.
Next you’ll see the Webmail home page:
- Open your inbox: click Open. Check Open my inbox when I log in to skip this page from now on.
- Set up email on your device: sends setup instructions so your new address works on your phone or computer.
- Manage Your Inbox: autoresponders (vacation replies),
Your Inbox
Click Open and you’re in your inbox. You’ll already have one message: cPanel’s email with setup information for your new account.
If you’ve used any email program before, this will feel familiar: your folders are on the left, your messages are in the middle, and Compose starts a new email.
Getting Back to Your Email
You don’t have to go through cPanel every time. Go straight to your1stwebsite.com/webmail (using your own domain) and log in with your email address and password.
A Quick Look at Settings
Click Settings in the left-hand bar. You don’t need to change much, but here’s what’s there.
Identities
This is the one worth setting up. Display Name is the name people see when you email them, for example Joe’s Auto Repair. You can also add a Signature with your phone number and website. Click Save when you’re done.
Folders
Turn folders on or off, or create new ones to organize your mail.
Preferences
- User Interface: language, time zone and date format.
- Mailbox View: how your message list behaves.
- Displaying Messages: how emails are shown when you open them.
- Composing Messages: options for writing emails, including when your signature is added.
The defaults work fine. Come back to these later if something bothers you.
Where Do Contact Form Messages Go?
Your contact form sends messages to the Administration Email Address in WordPress under Settings → General. If you want those messages in your new mailbox, change that address to your new one.
Email — Done!
You now know how to:
- Get back into cPanel.
- Create a professional email address for your business.
- Open your mailbox with Webmail.
- Set your Display Name and signature.
- Get to your email directly at /webmail.
Next up: Final Touches, where we give your website its finished look.
Prefer the Down & Dirty Version? Step 16: Email
Our illustrated Down & Dirty guide walks you through setting up your email with numbered instructions, screenshots and checkboxes.
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