Setting up Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) on the site is the best way for making sure of high email deliverability. If you are not receiving email notifications from your WordPress contact forms then you should set up Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) on your site. Now if you are thinking that you have got the idea about what you should do to solve your problem but how you are going to do. So, you don’t have to worry about this because today we are going to tell you how you can set up WP Mail SMTP using Amazon SES?
Reason Behind Not Receiving Notifications
WordPress uses the PHP mail function to send emails and to generate those emails you people use the contact form plugin. The hosting servers of WordPress are often not configured to use the PHP mail function. And due to this, your WordPress emails are not able to reach even spam folders. So, this is the reason you not getting notifications.
To solve this issue, we would recommend you to use MTP to send emails from WordPress. The SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) will use a proper authentication method to make sure that emails are delivered.
What Is Amazon SES?
There are so many ways to set up WordPress SMTP on your site but if you notice, then you will realize most of the methods will put a limitation on how many emails you can send. If WordPress sends too many emails in a short period of time then you will stop receiving notifications.
So, this is the part where Amazon SES comes in handy.
Amazon SES is an email service provided by the popular brand Amazon. Amazon SES will ensure that emails are delivered and are more reliable than sending out emails from your hosting server.
But there is one thing you should keep in mind. For using the Amazon SES you should have an SSL certificate installed on your WordPress site.
If you use a domain-specific email address while setting up WP Mail SMTP on your WordPress site then it would be great for you.
How to Set Up WordPress SMTP Using Amazon SES
Creating a Free AWS Account
First of all, you will have to create a free Amazon Web Services (AWS) tier account that will expire in 12 months after signing up. And while signing for the time you will need to provide your billing address and your credit card information. However, this will be a free account.
Select Your Region
Once you have created your free account, based on your address, their system will seek to discover your location. And in case the system is failed to do so, then it will ask you to select your closest location.
Create an IAM User
After completing your previous step, now you will have to set up an IAM User. By doing so, you will have an access key that you will need later.
Now, to do that the first thing you will need to do is sign in. You can follow this link
(https://signin.aws.amazon.com/signin?redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fconsole.aws.amazon.com%2Fiam%2Fhome%3Fstate%3DhashArgs%2523users%26isauthcode%3Dtrue&client_id=arn%3Aaws%3Aiam%3A%3A015428540659%3Auser%2Fiam&forceMobileApp=0&code_challenge=eUqPXpz7C4eIm5GQ4-TZMxPvyq-LWdAU7H4llErGgJU&code_challenge_method=SHA-256)
to go to the sign-in page.
If you have signed in then click on the blue Add user button.
Then you will have to set up a new user. Enter any name in the user name field but we would recommend you to use yourdomain_wpmailsmtp formate for the name.
By doing so, it will be easier for you to find which site is connected to each user.
Now you will have to check the Programmatic access box which will be next to the Access type.
Configure IAM User Setting Permissions
In this step, firstly you will have to select Attach existing policies directly from the top row of boxes. Then you will need to type “AmazonSESFullAccess” into the search bar. The search result will show you “AmazonSESFullAccess”. Now check the checkbox next to this option so that this permission is added for the user.
After that, you can click on the next: tags button. Then skip the next page and click the Next: Review button.
Review Your User Details
As the name is suggesting, in this step you will see all the details that you have entered till now. So, check all the details you are shown and then click on the Create user button.
Now you will be shown a success message by AWS. And you will also see an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key for your user. Now one thing you should remember that you won’t be able to see this Access Key ID and Secret Access Key again so you should note this down or download a CSV with these details.
Switch to AWS Production Mode
Your account will be in Sandbox Mode by default which means your account can only send emails to those email addresses which were verified with Amazon SES. So, now we are going to learn how you can move from Sandbox Mode to Production Mode so that you can send emails to anyone.
To do that, you will need to go to this URL (https://console.aws.amazon.com/support/home?region=us-east-1#/case/create?issueType=service-limit-increase&limitType=service-code-ses) and create a request with Amazon web services.
Now you will have to make sure that Service limit increase box is selected.
After that, you will have to fill out the Case Classification form. Now, here we would like inform you that this is an important step because this what Amazon uses to keep spammers away. By this form, you are informing Amazon SES that your site will be sending emails for legal purposes.
Below are the details that you will need in this form:
- Limit Type: SES Sending Limits
- Mail Type: Transactional
- Website URL: Your site’s home URL
- New limit value: Estimate the maximum number of emails you expect your site to send per day.
- I have a process to handle bounces and complaints: Yes
- Region: Choose the same region as when you set up your AWS account (whichever is closest to where your site’s server is located).
- I only send to recipients who have specifically requested my mail: Yes
- Limit: Desired Daily Sending Quota
- My email-sending complies with the AWS Service Terms and AUP: Yes
Now you have to fill Use Case Description. Provide the information about what kind of website you have and the reason for sending mails. Make sure you include the type of email that you will be sending through your site.
For example Confirmation email for form submission, purchase receipts email, or any other.
Now there’s one thing you should know is that the more detailed information you provide the more chances of getting accepted. Because if Amazon feels that informations are not enough it may reject your request. So, make sure you are providing detailed information.
After entering your all details click on the submit button. And then you will receive two emails from Amazon Web Services which will confirm that a new case has been created.
Now AWS will review your request and will inform you about the result in one business day. At this time you can continue your WP Mail SMTP and Amazon SES mailer setup by following the next steps.
Install the WP Mail SMTP Plugin
While you are waiting to get confirmation from Amazon web services you can install the WP Mail SMTP on your WordPress site.
To install services you can install the WP Mail SMTP on your WordPress site you can go to this URL (https://wpmailsmtp.com/docs/how-to-install-the-wp-mail-smtp-plugin/)
Set Up WP Mail SMTP + Amazon SES
After installing and activating the plugin go to WP Mail SMTP and then go to the setting.
After entering into the setting you will see an option called “From Email”. Now for this option, we would recommend you to use a domain-specific email address like example@yourwebsite.com
Now you should check the box labeled Force From Email. Because the From Emails from anything on your site that sends email must match this email address for SMTP to work, this will save you the trouble of having to change your WordPress email settings all over your site.
Now you can set the “From Name” which will be below ” From Email”. This is the name that will appear in emails sent out, and it will be set to the name of your website by default. You can change this to any value you want, and if you want to apply this setting site-wide, check the Force From Name option.
Then you have to scroll to the Mailer field and choose the Amazon SES option.
You should check the optional Return Path checkbox to Set the return path to match the From Email. By doing this, if any email bounces you will get an email regarding this.
After choosing the Amazon SES mailer you will see a new option “Amazon SES”. Here you will need the access keys that you created in your AWS account earlier.
After entering your keys you should check the region field. If your region is already selected then make sure it is right and matching with the region you chose in Amazon SES.
Now click on the save setting button. After saving your setting an additional setting will appear “Verified Emails”. Here you will have to add an email that you want to use as the From Email on your site.
For adding a new verified From Email, you will have to click on the Add an Email Address option.
Now, a new window will pop up where you can add one email address at a time. After adding the email click on the Send Verification Email button. Then you will have to check your email inbox to verify your mail.
You will have to open the email in which there will verification link. The verification email will look like this:
After verifying your mail you will have to return to your site’s WP Mail SMTP settings and refresh the page. You will see here all verified emails.
Send a Test Email
Now that you have completed setting up the settings and your “From Emails” is also verified. You should test the email to make sure everything is working fine.
To do this, go to Settings and then WP Mail SMTP and open the Email Test tab. There you will see a “Send To” field which is filled with your site’s admin email. You can also change it to any email address you want but you should have access to that email address.
Now for HTML, if you want to send a plain text then you can toggle off this option but we would recommend you to keep it default.
After that, you can send an email by clicking on send email button.
Once you have sent the email you should see a success message.
Now if you go to the inbox of that email address you will see a test email from WP Mail SMTP.
Wrapping it up
Now you know how you can set up WP Mail SMTP using Amazon SES. So, if you were having issue in getting notification then it will be solved now. Now, your website will be sending WordPress emails with Amazon SES successfully.
Now that your this problem has solved you may also want to Latest Off Page SEO Techniques in 2021