Stop Site Emails Landing in Spam
When mail from your site's contact forms goes missing or lands in spam.
Written by IDX Plugin, an independent IDX Broker Developer Partner, not affiliated with IDX Broker.
On this page
In short
- Set up SMTP and your contact form mail reaches the inbox.
- The free WP Mail SMTP plugin sends through your own mailbox.
- No password reset email either? Then it is delivery, not the form.
- IDX leads are separate, check notifications in IDX Broker.
Contact forms hand the message to WordPress, which passes it to the server mail function. That mail arrives without proof it came from your domain, so Gmail, Outlook and the rest often drop it into spam.
To confirm it is delivery and not the form, request a WordPress password reset for your own account. If that email does not arrive either, start with the fix below.
Send through a real mailbox
SMTP means the site logs into an actual mailbox and sends from there, so the mail carries your domain's credentials and lands in the inbox.
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1
Install WP Mail SMTP
Go to Plugins then Add New, search for WP Mail SMTP, install and activate it. The free version is enough.
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2
Pick your mailer
Open WP Mail SMTP then Settings and choose the mailbox you actually use. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and a mailbox on your own domain all work.
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3
Set the from address
Use an address on your own domain, for example you@yourdomain.com, and match it to the mailbox you just connected.
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4
Send a test email
The test sits under WP Mail SMTP then Tools, on the Email Test tab. Send one to a different provider than your own and check it lands in the inbox, not the spam folder.
Your IDX leads are separate
Enquiries made on IDX pages, saved searches and property forms are handled by your IDX Broker account, which sends those notifications itself. If leads are not reaching you, check the lead notification address in IDX Broker rather than the SMTP plugin.
Want us to wire it up?
Send us the mailbox you want to send from and we will set the SMTP side up on your site and test it with you.
Contact support Support runs by email.