You have a contact form on your website.
It looks right. The button says “Send.” You might even see a message saying that the form has been submitted.
But does the email actually get delivered?
This is one of those website errors that can be hard to spot. Everything seems to be working, but in reality, potential inquiries may end up in the spam folder, be rejected, or not be delivered at all.
A form may appear to work without actually doing so
When someone fills out a contact form, there’s more going on behind the scenes than just a click on “Send.”
The website must create the message and forward it. The mail server must accept it, and the recipient’s email system must then determine whether to place it in the inbox, the spam filter, or to reject it.
In WordPress, a technically successful submission is not, in and of itself, a guarantee that the message has actually been delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
Therefore:
“Thank you. Your message has been sent.”
not necessarily the same as:
“Your message has been received.”
Test the form as a customer
The simplest check is also the most obvious one.
Open your website as a regular visitor and submit a real test inquiry.
Will it arrive? How quickly? Will it land in the inbox or in the spam folder? Is the sender’s information correct? Can you reply directly to the email? And does it contain all the information the customer provided?
If the website has multiple forms, they should be tested individually. The contact form may work even if the quote form, the job application form, or the form on a campaign page does not.
Why do emails disappear?
The problem could stem from several sources.
With WordPress websites, the issue often revolves around how the site sends email. WordPress itself does not include a complete email service. That’s why I usually use a properly configured email or SMTP solution on the websites I work on.
However, the problem can also occur following changes to DNS, email settings, hosting, spam filters, or plugins.
And that is exactly why “it worked when the website was created” is no guarantee that it still works.
Your website changes, even when you don’t change the design
WordPress is being updated.
Plugins are being updated.
The hosting environment is changing.
Email providers are changing their requirements and spam filters.
That is why a form should not be tested only on the day the website goes live. If inquiries submitted through the website are important to the business, it makes sense to check them at regular intervals.
What about the GDPR?
When a person submits their name, email address, phone number, or other information via a form, the company processes personal data.
Therefore, visitors should also be able to find information about how their data is handled. Among other things, the Danish Data Protection Agency recommends providing a direct link to the relevant information at the point where the individual submits their data—for example, right on the form itself.
However, the GDPR is a different issue than email delivery itself.
See also: GDPR and contact forms—what information should actually be included on the form?
A small mistake can cost you a genuine inquiry
Imagine that a potential customer fills out the form and asks for a quote.
The customer receives the following message:
“Thank you for your inquiry. We will get back to you as soon as possible.”
But you never receive anything.
The customer thinks you’re not responding.
You don’t even know the customer exists.
It’s a very minor technical error with potentially quite significant consequences.
So when was the last time you tested your own contact form?
After all, a contact form has one purpose:
It is meant to establish contact.
