This guide helps you set up or configure a free custom/business email. It will guide you step by step on how to properly configure every technical component that ensures email security and deliverability.
By custom or business email, we mean an email like name@yourDomain as opposed to the generalized email service providers like name@Gmail.com or name@yahoo.com, etc.
Why Do You Need A Custom Email?
A custom email will help you build credibility and trust, especially if you are running a business. Most people, for example, will trust an email that bears your business domain name, e.g, info@emailsolutionpro.com, instead of info@gmail.com.
A Custom email also gives you more control over your emails. Such control helps you manage more effectively and offer customized services, such as marketing campaigns, customer service management, and improved integrations with other applications.
What You Will Need for this Setup
You will need the following to set up a free customized/business email
- A domain name – You may need to pay for this if you do not already own one for your business. (For this setup/configuration, we will be using the popular NameCheap Registrar. It is this domain that your email will be attached to for verification and ownership
- A third service provider, like Zoho Mail. They can lend you their servers to host your email for free. Up to 5 custom emails (users).
We shall go through each of these to set up/configure your email.
Register Zoho Mail For Free
Visit zoho.com/mail to register. Navigate to the pricing section for a free account.
Zoho offers a free (and several paid) packages; the paid version is kind of hidden in the signup page.
Click on sign up
Choose the “Business Email” option. Fill in the following details
- Name
- Your Regular email or Phone number
- Choose a password
- Tick the box to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy
And then submit. A confirmation email/OTP will be sent to your email/phone number.
Alternatively, you can sign up for an account using Google or your social media account.
After you confirm the OTP, you will be directed to a page where you can start configuring your domain.
Email Configuration
Zoho Mail offers the option to purchase a new domain or add your existing one. In this guide, we shall be using an existing domain with NameCheap.
Email Domain Hosting
Click on “Hosting” on the left bar and then on “Add now” in the Add an existing section, as shown.
Fill in the following details in the column provided as shown.
- Existing domain name
- Organization name
- Industry Type (Select your business category from the dropdown)
(I have filled in emailcleanup.xyz, Email Services, and IT Hardware & IT Related Services, respectively)
Then click on “Add now.“
Let’s proceed to domain verification to prove ownership
Domain Verification
Zoho will give you some TXT records you will need to add to the DNS of the hosting provider (Namecheap.com)
TXT Records Verification in Namecheap.com (Through cPanel)
We shall be adding the TXT records through the cPanel of Namecheap. This method will enable you to add various records without modifying the Standard Namecheap Web Hosting DNS settings. Ideal if you are using any of the Namecheap hosting plans.
(Namecheap does not allow you to directly add custom records while at the same time using the Namecheap Web Hosting DNS. You can only do so through the cPanel.)
Step 1: Access your cPanel
- Log in to your Namecheap Account.
- Go to Hosting List
Click the “Go to cPanel” button next to your hosting plan.
Now we will navigate the cPanel to add the TXT records
Step 2: Add the TXT Record
- Inside cPanel, search for Zone Editor (this is usually under the “Domains” section in cPanel).
- Find Your Domain and click Manage.
- Click the arrow next to the blue + Add Record button and select Add “TXT” Record. (Top right corner of the page)
- Fill in the details:
- Name: This should be the name of your domain(cPanel will often add the trailing dot for you). For this example, we are using emailcleanup.xyz
- TTL: 14400 (this is the default for Namecheap).
- Record: enter the TXT value from Zoho to verify domain ownership
- Click on “Save“
You should see a green notification to show that the addition was successful.
Step 3: Crucial Hosting Step (Email Routing)
Namecheap recognizes the use of other third-party servers, such as Zoho, but requires that you indicate that your email routing is remote. The default setting is a Local Mail Exchanger. You will need to change it to the Remote Mail Exchanger to instruct your server not to look for mailboxes locally.
This step ensures that emails sent from your website’s contact forms to yourself do not fail.
- Go back to the main cPanel dashboard.
- Search for Email Routing.
- Select your domain (emailcleanup.xyz).
- Select Remote Mail Exchanger.
- Click Change.
Step 4: Finalize in Zoho
Go back to your Zoho Mail Admin Console and click Verify by TXT.
If you are not verified immediately, wait for about 30 minutes for the server to propagate your new records, and then click on the Verify by TXT button again.
Now that you have successfully verified your domain, the next step is to create users.
Setting up New Users in Zoho Mail Admin Console
From the email setup panel above,
- Click on Setup Users on the left
- Then click on the + sign in the main panel to add a new user
Fill in the user
- First Name and Last Name (This is used to automatically generate the user email)
- Your preferred User email or the one autogenerated from the user’s first and last name
- Secure Password
- Tick either the box to send credentials by email or force the user to change their password on their first login (depending on your preference)
- You can also upload a photo of the user (optional)
- Click on Add
You can add multiple users after submitting each.
Click on Done.
Set up Groups (Optional – You may skip this step)
You can also create different groups within your dashboard to accommodate specific needs. For example, you can create a Marketing group, a Finance group, a Customer Service group, etc, based on the different departments in your business.
- Click on Setup groups in the left column of the email setup panel.
Then fill in the following details
- Name of Group
- Email addresses of the members of the group
- Description
- Tick who can send a message to the group.
- Click on Proceed
DNS Mapping
To get your email working, you need to add three MX Records, one SPF Record, and one DKIM Record.
Click on the DNS Mapping in the email setup dashboard to show the different DNS mapping records you need to add to your Namecheap cPanel Zone Editor.
However, validate each of these records individually. Visit https://mailadmin.zoho.com/cpanel/
- Click on Domains and
- Click on Yet to Point to MX
This reveals the MX records that you are going to add to Namecheap DNS mapping.
Adding MX Records on Namecheap
Adding MX records allows you to receive emails. You will need to delete all the default MX records (which usually have a lower Priority) to avoid any conflicting records.
First, from the Namecheap cPanel, navigate to the Zone Editor > Manage,
Use the search/filter function to show the default MX records and then delete them.
After deleting the default MX record, proceed to add the MX records from Zoho.
Click the arrow next to “Add Record” and select “Add MX Record. Add the following records.
- Name: Your domain name, e.g, emailcleanup.xyz
- TTL: 14400
- Type: MX
- Priority and Destination: 10 mx.zoho.com
- Priority and Destination: 20 mx2.zoho.com
- Priority and Destination: 50 mx3.zoho.com
- Click on Save records to save each of the MX records
After adding the records, the Zone Editor will have the 3 MX entries.
Verifying the MX Records in Zoho Dashboard
Head back to the Zoho MX verification dashboard to verify the added records (https://mailadmin.zoho.com/cpanel/home.do#domains/emailcleanup.xyz/emailConfig/mx)
- Click on Verify
(Sometimes, you may need to for about 30 minutes for the DNS to propagate the new MX records)
Feeling overwhelmed by DNS settings? I can handle the entire setup for you to ensure your emails never hit the spam folder. [Click here to book a setup service].
Email Configuration: SPF Records
SPF records are added to prevent Spam. It informs other servers that Zoho is authorized to send email on your behalf for your domain. So multiple SPF records are not allowed (you can have merged records, however)
From https://mailadmin.zoho.com/cpanel/
- Click on SPF (under email configuration)
- Click on View SPF value
Here is a tricky aspect of SPF records. Multiple SPF records are not allowed, and usually, you will already have an existing SPF record for your domain.
So, before adding the SPF records, check if there is an existing one. Go to the Zone editor on Namecheap to check.
To check if there are existing SPF Records
Go to your Namecheap cPanel
In cPanel > Zone Editor > Manage, and then use the search function to find if there are existing SPF records.
SPF values usually start with a “v=spf1” prefix. You can use this in the search bar as shown below.
Since there is an existing SPF value, we shall then use the merged SPF value from Zoho by simply editing it.
- Click on Edit
- Replace the entire record with the merged SPF value from Zoho (i.e, replacing the entire existing SPF value v=spf1 +a +mx +ip4:6x.xx.xxx.41 include:spf.web-hosting.com ~all with the merged value v=spf1 include:zohomail.com +a +mx +ip4:6x.xx.xxx.41 include:spf.web-hosting.com ~all)
- Then click on Save Records.
Verifying SPF Records in Zoho
Go to the Zoho Mail SPF verification dashboard and click ‘Verify‘ to confirm the SPF records.
(Sometimes, you may need to wait for about 30 minutes to allow the DNS to propagate the new values.)
Having trouble getting your DKIM or SPF to verify? Send me a message here, and I’ll take a quick look at your settings for you.
Configuring the DKIM Record (The Final “ID Card”)
You will need to add the DKIM TXT record from Zoho into your cPanel Zone Editor. This acts as a digital signature for your sent mail.
You must get the unique “Selector” and “Value” from your Zoho Admin Console under Email Configuration > DKIM. It will look like this:
- Type: TXT
- Name: zmail._domainkey
- Record: (Paste the long string of code provided by Zoho)
- Copy the TXT/Name and then paste it into the Namecheap Zone Editor
- Copy the TXT value/Content and then paste it into the Namecheap Zone Editor
- Save record
Finally, verify the DKIM record on the Zoho Admin Console.
With the MX records, SPF, and DKIM records configured and verified, you can be sure that your emails are delivered and not marked as spam.
Need Professional Help?
While this guide covers the basics, every domain setup is unique. If you want to:
- Avoid technical errors and “Email Undelivered” issues.
- Ensure 100% security with DKIM and DMARC.
- Save 3 hours of troubleshooting.
I’m here to help. I’ve helped dozens of businesses migrate to Zoho Mail seamlessly. Get a Quote for Professional Email Setup →