Google Apps

Most web hosting packages, including my own, offer email accounts, so you can have email addresses such as "name@yourdomain.com".  While it's often assumed that website hosting and email accounts are one and the same, they're really two different things that hosting companies combine for the sake of convienence. 

It's not as convienent for some web users. You generally have to be capable at setting up email accounts on your home computer, or have someone in-house who knows how to do it. It's not hard, but things like Firewalls can get in the way, and some people aren't really comfortable with IMAP or POP settings. Secure connections to your email can be achieved, but again, custom settings and custom ports. 

I try to help, but I'm not really available for onsite email setups. But maybe Google is here to help. 

I recently switched my email services over to Google Apps. So far it's great. I already was using Gmail for personal email, and now I use the same Gmail interface for email under my own domain. It's a separate login than Gmail, but everything else looks the same. All my email stays online, so I can access it anywhere. It loads fast, I can search through messages and contacts fast. And it's free. Can you really beat that?

So if we're working together on a new site that requires hosting, and you don't already have something like an Exchange Server in your office, perhaps Google Apps is the place to host your email. 

• Hosting