What is Gmail? Gmail is a free email service provided by Google that is extremely robust and also extremely easy to use. If you alrerady have a Gmail account you know. If not, this is the first step.
Why Gmail? Gmail is one of many email providers. I’ve selected it here because of its ease of use, low cost, rich feature set, and because it isn’t tied to any paid services like your cell phone or internet provider. You can keep your Gmail account (and email address even if you switch internet providers.) For larger businesses, Google also offers a paid office suite, but that’s beyond the scope of this tutorial.
Do you already have a Google/Gmail account? If you use an Android phone or tablet, chances are you already have a Google account and that includes a Gmail address. If you know your login for that you can use that and skip setting up a new one…. unless you want one to keep this business totally separate. That’s OK, too.
Follow the prompts to set up your login (username, or the first part of your gmail email address before the @ sign).
Use a memorable and professional login. There’s nothing like telling someone your email address and it’s something like “pookie22734@gmail.com” when you could have chosen “janesconstruction@gmail.com”. We’ll talk about even more professional looking email addresses later when we integrate email to your new website.
Remember your password and/or save it to LastPass.
DO NOT LOSE YOUR Gmail password. If you include a cell phone in your Google account setup, you may be able to recover your password using a text message to your phone.
For extra security, you might want to enable “Multi-factor Authentication, or MFA. Google/Gmail will give you a few options including a text message, phone app, etc. I recommend using this as it adds a level of security that makes it much harder for malicious people to break into your Gmail account.
When you’re done setting up your Gmail/Google account you will have a new email address that ends in @gmail.com – You’ll want to have this handy.