Professional business email: info@yourcompany or Gmail?

An address such as info@yourcompany.al or name@yourcompany.al tells customers the message comes from the business, not from a personal account. It works with your own domain, so it stays with the business when staff or providers change. A free Gmail address is enough to start, but the business has no admin panel for it, and anyone can open a similar address using your name.

This guide compares the three usual options: free Gmail, email included with web hosting, and services such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. It also covers the change Gmail makes in January 2027, the settings that keep your email out of spam folders and how to switch without losing messages. Sources were checked on 14 October 2026.

What a business loses with a free Gmail address

• Being distinguishable from scammers. Anyone can open an @gmail.com address with your business name, so customers cannot tell the real address from a fake one. Only you can create addresses on your domain, and they match your website address.
• Control when an employee leaves. Free Gmail has no admin panel for the business: whoever has the password has the account. In Google Workspace, an administrator can reset a user’s password and transfer their email to a colleague. In Microsoft 365, a former employee’s mailbox can be converted to a shared mailbox, keeping the email and calendar.
• Protecting your name. On your own domain, you set the SPF, DKIM and DMARC rules that state who may send email in your name. For gmail.com, Google sets those rules, not your business.
• Storage. A free account has 15 GB, shared between Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
• Your address when you change provider. An address on your domain stays the same when you move to another email provider; only the domain settings change. An @gmail.com address cannot move to another provider.

The three usual options

Prices are those Google and Microsoft published on 14 October 2026; Google’s page showed euros when checked from Albania. For a business with one or two people who only need email, hosting email may be enough. When you have a team, need shared calendars or want to manage access yourself, Workspace or Microsoft 365 fit better. For shared addresses such as info@, ask whether you can use an alias, a group or a shared mailbox instead of paying for another user.

If you read your business email inside Gmail

If you read your domain address inside free Gmail using “Check mail from other accounts” (POP) and send from it with “Send mail as”, note that Google is removing these options:

• After the first quarter of 2026, POP fetching and Gmailify are no longer offered to new users. Existing users can keep using them until January 2027.
• From January 2027, Gmail will no longer support “Send as” for third-party addresses.
• Messages synced until then stay in Gmail.

According to Google, the change affects Gmail on a computer. In the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad, you can add the address as an IMAP account to read and send, or you can forward email automatically from the other provider. Even so, this is a good moment to move your business email to a service the business manages itself.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC: keeping email out of spam

When you connect email to your domain, several DNS records are set up:

• MX says where email sent to your domain’s addresses should be delivered.
• SPF lists the servers allowed to send email for the domain (RFC 7208).
• DKIM adds a digital signature to each message that ties it to your domain (RFC 6376).
• DMARC tells receivers how to treat messages that fail these checks and sends you reports (RFC 9989).

These are no longer optional. Since 1 February 2024, Gmail has required SPF or DKIM from all senders, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC from those sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail addresses. Since November 2025, Gmail has been enforcing these rules more strictly: messages that do not comply may be delayed or rejected. Outlook.com has required all three from senders of more than 5,000 emails a day since May 2025.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre recommends starting with a DMARC policy of “none”, which only collects reports. Once you are sure all your legitimate email passes, tighten the policy step by step until spoofed email is rejected.

Watch your website form too: the notification should be sent from an address on your domain, with the customer’s address in “Reply-To”. We explain this in our guide to contact form mistakes.

How to move your business email to your domain

1. List your addresses. Note every address in use, who reads it and where it is published: business cards, invoices, the website, Instagram and your Google Business Profile.
2. Choose the service and create the addresses. One address for each person who writes to customers, and a shared address such as info@ that at least two people read.
3. Copy your old email with the new provider’s import tools, so your history with customers is not lost.
4. Change the MX records and add SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Remove the old MX records: Google notes that email may not work correctly if old or incorrect MX records remain, and that the change can take up to 72 hours.
5. Test it. Send and receive email with a Gmail and an Outlook address. In Gmail, open the message, choose “Show original” and check that SPF, DKIM and DMARC show “PASS”.
6. Update the address everywhere and keep the old address active for a few months, with an automatic reply giving the new one.
7. When an employee leaves, do not delete their account straight away. Transfer their email to a colleague or convert the mailbox to a shared one, so customers’ messages keep arriving.

When you change website hosting, make sure the email records are not deleted during the move; our hosting guide explains this. If you do not have a domain yet, start with our .al domain guide.

Illustrative example: a four-person renovation company

The company uses a Gmail address with its name, plus the personal Gmail addresses of two employees. When one of them leaves, customers keep writing to that address. The company moves to email on its domain: one address per person, plus info@ for the website, the form and the Google profile, read by two people. It sets up SPF, DKIM and DMARC with a “none” policy, switches the MX records over a weekend and keeps the old Gmail address for three months with an automatic reply. Once the DMARC reports show that all its email passes, it tightens the policy.

Checklist

• Everyone who writes to customers has an address on the business domain.
• The shared address, such as info@, is read by at least two people.
• The accounts and the domain are in the business’s name, with a backup administrator.
• MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC are set up and tested.
• The website form sends from your domain, with “Reply-To” set to the customer.
• If you read email inside Gmail through POP or “Send mail as”, you have a plan for January 2027.
• You have a procedure for when employees leave.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep using Gmail and send from info@?

Today, yes, with “Send mail as” and your email provider’s SMTP server. From January 2027, however, Gmail on a computer will no longer support this for third-party addresses. An email service on your own domain avoids that dependency.

How many addresses do I need?

Usually one for each person who writes to customers and one shared address for the website and profiles. Addresses such as sales@ or bookings@ can be aliases or groups that reach the right people, if your provider allows them.

If you are building or moving a website, tell us where your email is hosted today, so connecting the new site does not interrupt it. Explore our website design and development service or get in touch.