How to Fix WordPress Email Issues: Set Up SMTP for Reliable Delivery

Are you sure emails sent from your WordPress website are reaching their recipients? Missed notifications, lost inquiries, and failed password resets can cost you valuable clients, customers, and sales.

Good news! Setting up an SMTP connection will help your website’s emails reliably reach their intended recipients.

Read on to better understand what SMTP is and the top benefits of using it, plus learn how to set up STMP, and troubleshoot common SMTP issues.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a standard communication protocol used for sending email messages across the internet. It’s the protocol responsible for ensuring emails are delivered from the sender’s email server to the recipient’s email server. This process works through several steps: sending, queuing, and securely relaying messages. When the email is submitted to the SMTP server, it authenticates the user to verify they can send mail using that domain.

WordPress uses a basic function built into its system to send emails. However, this function doesn’t verify emails and relies heavily on your website’s hosting server, which isn’t set up well for sending emails. Because of this, important emails such as password resets or contact form submissions might not get delivered successfully.

WordPress’s built-in email system isn’t always reliable. Important messages can get lost, delayed, or sent to spam. Setting up SMTP helps guarantee your emails reach the right inboxes while improving security and performance. Here’s why it’s worth it:

• Confirms emails are authenticated with proper credentials.
• Reduces the chance of your emails landing in spam folders.

• Guarantees critical emails (e.g., order confirmations, password resets) are delivered on time.
• Prevents lost opportunities caused by undelivered emails.

• Aligns with DMARC, DKIM, and SPF protocols for email authentication.
• Prevents email spoofing and enhances domain reputation.

• Allows integration with email services like Gmail, Outlook, SendGrid, or Amazon SES.
• Offloads email handling from your hosting server, improving performance.

Getting SMTP up and running on your WordPress site doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right plugin and a few simple steps, you can improve email deliverability and make sure important messages reach their destination. Follow this guide to set up, test, and fine-tune your SMTP settings for reliable email performance.

Although there are several WordPress plugins for this use, we highly recommend WP Mail SMTP to our clients for its ease of use and compatibility. This plugin includes features like customizable email logs and failed email alerts (plus additional advanced options if you opt for a Pro license).

For ongoing confidence in your configuration, we recommend enabling email logs to monitor all outgoing messages from your website and identify any delivery issues. That way, if an email fails to send, you can quickly troubleshoot the problem.

To receive notifications when an email fails to send, follow the steps in the WP Mail SMTP documentation on Setting Up Email Alerts.

Setting up SMTP should improve your email deliverability, but sometimes, things don’t go as planned. If your emails aren’t reaching inboxes, are landing in spam, or failing to send, there are a few common issues to check. Here’s how to troubleshoot and fix the most frequent problems.

Before making changes, check for error messages or notifications in your WordPress admin panel. These can provide valuable clues about what’s causing email failures.

• Look for failed email alerts in your SMTP plugin dashboard.
• Check for error messages on your WordPress admin screen.
• Review your plugin’s documentation for troubleshooting steps and recommended fixes.

If you see failed email notifications, take action right away. If the issue persists, contact your support team for help.

If your emails aren’t sending, the issue is likely with your SMTP connection. This can happen due to incorrect settings, blocked ports, or authentication errors. Use these steps to troubleshoot and get your emails working again:

• Verify your SMTP host, port, and encryption settings.
• Make sure your hosting provider allows outbound SMTP connections.
• Double-check your username and password.
• Update your settings to comply with current email provider requirements.

If your emails keep landing in spam folders, spam filters may be blocking them. This can happen for a few reasons, like missing authentication records or certain words in your content. Try these steps to improve deliverability and keep your emails in inboxes.

• Make sure your domain name has proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
• Minimize spam-triggering keywords and limit excessive links in your email content.
• Manually move any received emails delivered to spam into your inbox, signaling that these are legitimate.
• Add the sending address to your email client’s contacts list.

Support is there for a reason! If you’re struggling with email deliverability and this article doesn’t resolve your issue, don’t hesitate to contact your support team for help. Developers and IT teams are well-versed in verifying email configurations are set up for success.

Setting up SMTP is a great way to make sure your emails reach the right inboxes, but it’s only one part of keeping your website running smoothly.

For over 15 years, Stellaractive has helped businesses optimize their WordPress websites for performance, security, and visibility. With a blend of technical expertise and marketing know-how, we make sure your website not only works well but gets found online.  Ready to elevate your web presence? Contact us today.