CFLO's How-To Guides

Purchase Domain from Dynadot using my referral code
Register all matching social media handles (instagram, twitter, tiktok, etc) as well as the matching generic @gmail.com address
Sign up for a DigitalOcean account using my referral code
Add Domain to DigitalOcean
Add Nameservers in Dynadot

Domain names can be purchased from a variety of places, including GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squrespace, etc. but I like to use this website called Dynadot
Pick your custom Domain name (www.YOURNAME.com) and make sure the site is available so you can purchase and own the .com
Use my referral code to buy your Domain from Dynadot.

Register all of the matching social media handles, and also the generic @gmail.com address with Google.
Lock your new custom name DOWN everywhere possible.
You will own your Domain name, but you do not own your Social handles. Each platform (Instagram, Twitter, etc) technically owns all of the handles, and lets users register them for free. This means other people can register your social handle. In the future if you were to secure a trademark or copyright for your brand name, there are mechanisms in place with each of these tech giants that allow you to seize your handle/name! But you *cannot* seize a domain. You have to purchase it outright, or negotiate a purchase if someone already owns it.
I am not going to cover this process. It is just a matter of locking down the usernames on all available platforms.

Sign up for DigitalOcean using my referral code (you’ll get the first two months free!)
We will use DigitalOcean to host our website and also to manage our DNS – the system that routes web traffic in inquiries

Inside of DigitalOcean, make a New Project in the sidebar, navigate to Networking>Domains and add your Domain to the project
Take note of the three NS records (ns1, ns2, ns3 .digitalocean.com) These are called NameServers
Copy the NS1 address from DigitalOcean
Read more on DigitalOcean with this support article

At this point, we have a Domain setup that is being managed with DNS records at DigitalOcean. You purchased it via Dynadot, but any web traffic coming in is getting pushed over to DigitalOcean to be routed
Next, we are going to set up MX records to point email towards Google

Add gmail MX records to DO (how-to)
Sign up for Google Workspace (admin.google.com) $6/mo plan
Verify Domain in GoogleAdmin and activate Gmail
Add SPF record in DigitalOcean (how-to)
Add DMARC record in DigitalOcean (how-to)
Add DKIM record in DigitalOcean (how-to) and turn on DKIM Authentication in GoogleAdmin
Register alias email addresses under GoogleAdmin (how-to)
Set up a catch-all email redirect in GoogleAdmin (how-to)

To prepare your DigitalOcean DNS records to integrate with Google, navigate to the MX records tab
Click “Add Gmail MX Records” to automatically populate the gmail records
It will add in 5 records to the list, that look like “aspmx.l.google.com”, alt1.aspmx.l.google.com, alt2.aspmx.l.google.com, etc
Now you’re ready to sign up for GoogleAdmin mail hosting
If you want to learn more, check out this support article on DigitalOcean

Use this link to sign up for Google Workspace (bookmark admin.google.com for login)
Choose the $6/mo plan
Fill out your personal, business, and credit card info

SPF Records specify the servers and domains that are authorized to send email on behalf of your organization
Add a new TXT record with the following data
- VALUE: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
- HOSTNAME: @
Read more on Google’s support article

DMARC lets you tell receiving servers what to do with outgoing messages from your organization that don’t pass SPF or DKIM
Add a new TXT record with the following data, customizing YOURDOMAIN in the text below
- VALUE: v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:spam@YOURDOMAIN.com; pct=100; adkim=s; aspf=s
- HOSTNAME: _dmarc
Read more about DMARC here on this support document

DKIM adds a digital signature to every outgoing message, which lets receiving servers verify the message actually came from your organization
Generate your DKIM token in GoogleAdmin
Add your TXT record with the following data, but the Value you can just copy directly from Google
- VALUE: v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=SOMEINSANELYlongTXTstringWITHaWHOLEbunchOFcharactersTHATgoesONandONandONitsREALLYveryLONGtrustMEjustCOPYandPASTEtheLONGtextINTOyourHOSTNAME
- HOSTNAME: google._domainkey
Read more about DKIM here

Set up a catch-all email so if someone misspells or types something wrong when trying to send you email, it will still reach you!
In GoogleAdmin, go to Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Routing
On the Routing tab, scroll to Routing
Click Configure or Add Another Rule. The Add setting box opens.
In the Add setting box, take these steps:
- Email messages to affect: INBOUND
- Click the menu “” and select Modify message.
  Select Change envelope recipient
  Select the Replace recipient option and enter your catch-all email address.
  Scroll down, and click Show options.
- Under Account types to affect, check the Unrecognized/Catch-all box. The Users and Groups boxes should be unchecked.
Here is an in-depth support document detailing catch-all email addresses

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