I'm gearing up for a launch on Monday, and my developer just dropped the dilemma of needing SendGrid to ensure our emails (from the contact form) are delivered properly. He claims that without it, emails are likely to hit spam filters. I've launched tons of sites before, and I've never encountered this issue. If the firewall is tagging emails as spam, can't the email provider whitelist them? We're using WordPress with GoDaddy hosting. Is SendGrid truly necessary right now, or can we go live without it? Also, how do I explain this delay to the client without looking bad?
4 Answers
I get your concern about the added cost. You could simply create an account on cPanel and set up a reliable email sender without third parties. Just remember to configure SPF and DKIM, and you should be good!
Your developer has a point. Relying on the default PHP mailer isn't reliable long-term. I prefer using services like Amazon SES or Brevo for WordPress sites. They're typically free for transactional emails.
Using SendGrid or another email service is definitely wise. If you send emails from your own server, they might end up in spam. Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain will also help.
If you're using a form plugin like Gravity Forms, don’t panic! Even if emails go to spam, you can check the entries in the database. SendGrid helps avoid spam issues, but you might not need it for smaller sites.
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