How to prevent outgoing mail going to spam

[stambling]

All of my mail being sent from any of my Managed Wordpress sites is going to spam.  I have tried several SMTP plugins but none work.

I'm happy to pay for a relay but don't understand how they work.  https://www.godaddy.com/products/smtp-relay.aspx 

Does anybody have a solution?  

[PL281]

@stambling 

What sort of emails are you referring to? Notifications (password / new user / etc) , Form Results, or something else??

[stambling]

Really all mail sent from any site - but in this case it is from one of the donations plug-ins sending out confirmations.

I tried to install several SMTP plug-ins but after researching - GoDaddy blocks the ports so they are useless. I also spent HOURS trying to use the "relay-hosting.secureserver.net" port="25" with no success.

I need an ongoing solution to ensure my clients webmail is not going to spam. I know there are guarantees, but there MUST be a solution. I am happy to pay.

Originally I tried "East SMTP" and attempted to use Gmail with no luck. Most of my clients have GoDaddy Microsoft 365 mail - is there a way to configure it to send the mail from their own email addresses @theirdomain.com?

I host over 60 sites on GoDaddy Pro Managed Servers and am very frustrated that they offer no help in making these commercial websites work with SMTP plug-ins. This is not what we would expect from a "Pro" level hosting provider.

I just need a solution!!!

Thanks

[PL281]

@stambling 

I have about 200 sites on the platform - so a couple of things

1) I usually have the main website / admin email (Settings -> General) as wordpress@domain.com

2) I make sure to setup an SPF record in the DNS to make sure the secureserver.net is an allowed address

I find that these 2 things only prevent 90% of the emails going to spam - If I have a site where I need an extra layer of sending confidence, I use Amazon SES which is $0.10/1000 emails sent so that helps as well.

[stambling]

Wow 200 sites.  It is really nice to meet another Pro developer that uses GoDaddy exclusively! I always get Pro support lost when they see my client list of 60! 

I have never heard of the admin email trick of "wordpress@domain.com" but obviously need to set up a forward to get that mail sent to me. I'll try that.

Not quite sure about #2  - obviously I am familiar with DNS records but never changed an SPF record.  How to I "allow" secureserver.net as an allowed address?

Are you saying once those changes are made, I can use an SMTP plug-in and use those credentials?

Do you use an SMTP plugin?  If so which one?  Is that how you utilize  Amazon SES?

I am feeling better, again so comforting to know other pros use GoDaddy.  It gets such a bad reputation but I love Pro Managed Wordpress hosting and would be lost without  Manage WP!

[stambling]

One more thing - What is this product?  Can it be implemented to solve my issues?  https://www.godaddy.com/products/smtp-relay.aspx

[PL281 · Accepted solution]

@stambling 

I know what you mean about support getting confused with the account listings. It's been nice for the last year + since they added the search to the UI.

I almost always setup wordpress@domain.com as the admin email - WordPress actually uses this by default for some emails. The issue often comes into play where you try to use a gmail account for example because it doesn't show as coming from the gmail server.

In regards to the SPF record - this is just the txt record that says which servers are allowed to send email you would do include:secureserver.net 

(Quick Read: https://www.validity.com/how-to-build-your-spf-record-in-5-simple-steps/)

In regards to Amazon SES - there is a plugin Amazon SES Offload Lite - It uses Amazon's API vs SMTP and is thereby allowed. I generally don't need to use it on the MWP platform unless I'm using Mailster (Eblast Plugin) 

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

[stambling]

I can't tell you what a gift it is to connect with such another dedicated GoDaddy Pro who is willing to pass on his knowledge.  Thank you so much!

There just aren't many that are even aware of Pro Managed Hosting and the free SSL, CDN, DEV and Staging. Not to mention the seamless integration of ManageWP and the Pro client functions.  I love GoDaddy but seem to have to whisper it at WordCamps. lol

The problem is all of them are dealing with sites that are packed onto economy basic cpanel plans.  When I was just starting out I used to run 20-25 on those 7.99 per month servers. lol  I'm a front end developer, so don't know much about server administration, so when they came out with Managed WordPress Hosting, and after a few hacks, I migrated about 50 sites over to managed hosting. 

All that said, I have to be able to use an SMTP plug-in on several very important eCommerce client sites - and from what I read in hours and hours of research - is that it simply can't be done and GoDaddy has not provided a solution.

So if your solution works - GoDaddy should pay you for keeping me as a client. 🙂 Becasue you are, as so many of the techs there are, valuable assets!

[PL281]

@stambling 

Thank you for your kind words - I am an end user - Just very active here - you are exactly correct in everything you said about the platform.

The other thing I can tell you is that I have from time to time had to backup a site delete the install and re-install - while this is few and far between - it does happen from time to time when a node / database server gets overloaded.

The other thing I suggest is running both Sucuri and WordFence Free - The biggest thing WordFence will do for you is alert to abandoned / removed plugins and also if there are any files that get compromised within a plugin.

The whole reason for blocking SMTP is more so to prevent the web server from acting as a relay server for spam / having an IP address blacklisted. 

Generally I haven't had issues with the MWP platform and the regular transactional emails.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[stambling]

Hey there,

I just launched a  scheduling  site for a client and he is complaining that   confirmation mail is not  just ending up in spam, but claims it is not  being delivered at all.    The mail works as most  people are getting it, so  wondering if you have a  suggestion as to where to  investigate.  

I'm interested in  what  you said "In regards to Amazon SES - there is a plugin Amazon SES Offload Lite - It uses Amazon's API vs SMTP and is thereby allowed."

I  would  like to learn how to set this up.     Where  would I find  the most straight forward documentation?  

Hope you are  well and thanks in advance for your help. 

[stambling]

That  last question was dumb.  I am  at the plug-in page and it looks very straight forward, I will try it out and see if it helps.