Emails from Website Going to Spam
Contact-form notifications, order confirmations, or other emails your site sends keep landing in spam — or never arrive.
Common signs of this issue
- Form or order emails reliably land in spam/junk.
- Customers say they never got their confirmation.
- Emails arrive late, intermittently, or not at all.
- It's worse for certain providers (e.g. Gmail, Outlook).
Safe checks you can do yourself
None of these require sharing passwords with anyone.
- Send a test and check the spam folder, then mark it "not spam" and see if future ones improve.
- Note the From address your site uses. Sending as a free address (like [email protected]) from your website often gets flagged.
- Check whether your site sends via basic PHP mail vs. a proper email service — the latter is far more trusted.
- Use a free "mail tester" tool (search "mail-tester") — send it a message and it scores your deliverability with no login.
- Confirm your domain has SPF and DKIM records set up for however the site sends mail.
What this usually means
Modern inboxes are strict. If your site sends mail in a way that can't be verified as coming from your domain, it gets filtered. The fix is almost always: send through an authenticated email service and set up SPF/DKIM so your domain vouches for the mail.
Using a real "From" address on your own domain (not a free one) also helps a lot.
What not to do
- Don't keep resending and hoping — repeated spam hits can worsen your sender reputation.
- Don't fake a From address you don't own; that guarantees spam filtering.
- Don't edit DNS records by guessing — wrong SPF/DKIM can hurt all your email.
When to get help
If order or lead emails are landing in spam, customers are slipping away silently. Setting up authenticated sending and correct SPF/DKIM is a small, well-defined job with a big payoff — and worth getting right the first time.
Not sure what to do next?
Answer a few short questions and we'll point you to the safest next step — DIY, a freelancer, or a direct review. No passwords required.
Is this a business website? If this issue may be costing you leads, sales, or trust, you may want a direct review instead of trial and error.
Frequently asked questions
What are SPF and DKIM?
They're DNS records that let receiving servers confirm email really came from your domain. Without them, your site's emails are far more likely to be marked as spam.
Why does using Gmail as the From address cause problems?
Sending 'as' a Gmail address from your website fails Gmail's own checks, so it often gets filtered. Send from an address on your own domain via a real mail service instead.