What is the best way to set up a registered top-level domain, only for e-mail?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In a discussion in GQ ( What’s the deal with domain names ) several people mention that they have domain names that they only use for e-mail.

I’ve never registered a domain name and used it only for e-mail. What are the solutions out there for using your domain name only for e-mail? Who handles your e-mail? How much does it typically cost? Do they offer IMAP and also POP? Is it as reliable as other kinds of e-mail?

Assume that the person is not going to host their own server, but wants to find another company to do the e-mail for them.

2

I’d go with GoDaddy. It will cost you about $10 a year.

3

I would go with 1and1

The advantage is they don’t charge for private registration. If you buy a domain you have to provide a telephone number and address and it has to be accurate. If anyone challenges you and reports you, you’re domain will be pulled till you provide the correct info.

While most registars provide “private registration” meaning they shield your contact info from the public, they also charge you for it. 1and1 does not.

4

I use Google Apps, which includes GMail, for my friedo.com domain. It’s free if you have a small number of users.

5

Another vote for GoDaddy, but try to resist most of their offers, or they’ll nickel & dime you to death. Reliability, very good. Options, many.

6

Yeah use google apps, and they have IMAP and POP and all the other goodies gmail provides, just with your own email address.

7

To use google Apps, do you need to have your own domain also hosted somewhere else? Or do I just tell Google my domain name, and they host all the files (the e-mails) and set up the mail servers for me for free? When you use that service, do they include ads in the e-mails (as in a default e-mail signature that goes at the end of each e-mail?)

I’m not planning on doing it for myself, but a friend of mine still uses (and pays for!) AOL e-mail, and I was telling her that she could have her own customized e-mail address, including her own domain, for much less than what she is paying AOL.

8

That is a great deal. I should tell her to look into that.

9

Google does not provide domain registration or DNS services, so you’ll need to do that through a domain registrar. If you want to use GMail for that domain, then it’s just a matter of signing up, and then going into your domain config at your DNS host and pointing the MX address to Google’s mail servers. Google then receives all mail bound for your domain and stores it. The “Standard” level of service is free and lets you set up, I believe, up to 50 users.

There are no ads in the emails themselves. The GMail web interface will display ads related to the content of emails you are reading.