I run a custom domain for my family's email, and want to switch hosts (probably to gmail). How do I do this?

https://awesomenewidea.quora.com/How-To-Supercharge-your-Email-with-Google-Apps-for-BusinessGlad you asked! I do this all the time, using Gmail as a mail service with Namecheap as a domain name registrar. I've included the tutorial from my blog post below.Cost: $5/month/userSetup: 20 minutesStep 1: Sign Up for Google AppsFirst, we are going to visit the Google Apps https://apps.google.com/products/gmail/. Click the green "Get Started" button to, well, you know... From here, we see a standard sign up form. Fill out your information and hit "Next". Since you have already purchased a domain name (check out my walkthroughhttps://awesomenewidea.quora.com/How-To-Purchase-a-Domain-Name-with-Namecheap-and-Jumpstart-your-Web-Business if you haven't), check the box for "Use a domain name I have already purchased" and enter your domain name into the box. Hit "Next". Now, enter the username you wish to use as your email address, fill out the rest of the form, and sign up.(Optional) Step 2: Add multiple users to your Google Apps account. Click Start. If you have multiple people in your organization, you can enter their name and username for each person to give them an email address. I usually work with one person, my business partner , and we tend to share one email address.Once you are finished, check the box towards the bottom, and click "Next".Step 3a: Verify your domain We have to confirm with Google that we own the domain name with which we are trying to create an email address. They recommend adding a meta tag directly to the HTML. The problem with this is that we don't have a website yet, we only have the domain name.Thankfully, we have a few different options, and we will select "Add a domain host record" and add a TXT record.Google will notice that you have registered with Namecheap, and will ask you to login to your Namecheap account. Do so - in a new tab! - and proceed to the next step.Google will now tell you to open up the Namecheap control panel for your domain. From your Namecheap https://ap.www.namecheap.com/dashboard, find your domain name, and click on "Manage" Click on "Advanced DNS". Back on the Google setup page, check "I have opened the control panel for my domain".Google will now provide you with the contents of the TXT record to be added to Namecheap. Back over in Namecheap, select "Add New Record", and type in the "@" for the host, and copy the "google-site-verification...." string to the "Value" field. Click the little checkmark on the right to save the record. Back in the Google tab, check the box that says "I saved the TXT verification record."Step 3b: Add MX records for Google AppsMX records are records that specify a mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of your domain. Basically, adding MX records allows us to finally associate Gmail with http://awesomenewidea.com/.Check the box that says "I have opened the control panel for my domain." Whoa, looks like a lot of information! I used to enter all of this stuff in over on Namecheap, until I read that little bit at the bottom that says "If your host offers an option to switch to Google Apps without entering MX records, choose this."Namecheap does allow this. In your Namecheap tab, scroll down to "Mail settings", click the drop down, select "Gmail" and then "Save changes". Back in the Google tab, you can check the rest of the boxes, and then hit "Verify Domain and Set up Email" The verification should be quick. Mine took about two seconds. I've had issues at this step before with trying to verify the domain before the TXT/MX records have propagated (become live). Google looks for them, but cannot find them, and thus cannot verify your site. If this happens, wait several minutes and try again. If it happens repeatedly, feel free to send me a message. Click "Next" and then click "Continue".Now we arrive at everyone's favorite page, the billing page. $5/month is fine. You don't need more than 30GB of storage just yet, and when you do you can simply upgrade.After entering in your payment, you will end up at the Admin console. If you click on the small 3x3 grid - next to the purple "M" in the picture above, and then click on mail, you will be directed to your new Gmail inbox. Success!

I would very much agree with the above summary, and would recommend checking out http://www.familyemails.ca/ if you want someone to handle the transfer, setup and management with regards to Google Apps for you!