Your domain. Your email address.
A custom domain separates the name in your address from the company hosting your mailbox. That can make future provider changes easier to plan, but it also gives you responsibility for renewals, DNS access, and the records that route and authenticate mail.
- MX
- Where incoming mail goes
- SPF
- Authorized sending hosts
- DKIM
- A verifiable domain signature
- DMARC
- Alignment, policy, and reporting
Keep registration, DNS, and hosting distinct
Your registrar manages the domain registration. Your authoritative DNS service publishes the domain’s records. Your mail host accepts and stores mail or provides routing. One company can perform several roles, but they remain separate responsibilities.
Buying a domain does not automatically create a mailbox. Create the required accounts and addresses with the chosen mail service before routing real mail to it. Record who controls the registration, DNS, billing, and recovery methods.
Give each email record the right job
MX records identify mail exchangers for incoming messages. SPF describes which hosts are authorized for an envelope-sender domain. DKIM lets a receiving system verify a signature associated with a domain. DMARC evaluates alignment with the visible From domain and publishes a policy and reporting destinations.
These records work together but are not substitutes for one another. A published SPF record does not create an inbox, and a valid DKIM signature does not guarantee a message reaches the inbox rather than spam. Use the exact values provided by your mail service and inventory every legitimate sending system.
Treat a host change as a controlled transition
Prepare the destination, copy and validate a sample of mail, and record the current DNS before changing anything. Plan for cached records to remain in use according to their lifetimes. Inspect both the old and new mailbox during the transition instead of assuming one successful test covers every sender.
Test incoming delivery, outgoing identity, replies, and authentication for all legitimate senders. Keep a rollback plan and an archive you can restore. The full DNS field guide explains these checks, while business mailbox planning helps assign responsibility for ongoing operation.
Cloudflare’s guide to email DNS records
Questions about custom domains
Can I host my website and email with different companies?
Yes. Web and email records have different purposes. Change only the records required for the mail setup and preserve the DNS used by the website and other services.
Do SPF, DKIM, and DMARC guarantee delivery?
No. They help receiving systems assess authorization and domain alignment. Delivery also depends on other factors, including receiver policy, reputation, content, and technical operation.