Site Tip · Turning visitors into calls

Form emails going to spam?

A customer tells you they filled out your contact form two days ago, and you never saw a thing. Before you blame the customer or the form, look in your spam folder. If your lead emails are in there, there is a fixable reason, and it has to do with your domain's ID card.

Why good emails get treated as spam

When an email arrives, the receiving provider asks a simple question: did this message really come from the domain it claims to come from? Scammers fake sender addresses all the time, so providers are careful.

Your website form often sends mail that says it is from your own domain, but the message actually leaves from your web server. If your domain has not told the world that your server is allowed to do that, the message looks suspicious. It may go to spam, or it may be dropped without any warning.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC in plain English

These three settings work like an ID card for your domain. They live in your domain's DNS records, which is the settings list that tells the internet how your domain behaves.

• SPF is a list of the servers allowed to send email for your domain.
• DKIM adds a digital signature to each message, so the receiver can tell it was not changed along the way.
• DMARC tells receivers what to do when a message fails those checks, and where to send reports.

How to check without being technical

You do not have to edit anything yourself. Start with a test, then pass the results to whoever set up your email or website.

Send a message through your own form to a personal address, such as a free webmail account. Check whether it lands in the inbox or in spam. Open the message details, often under "show original" or "view headers," and look for pass or fail next to SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

If any of them say fail, or are missing, that is your answer. Ask the person who manages your email or domain to check all three and make sure your form's sending method is included.

• Test your form from more than one email provider.
• Check spam folders on both your side and the sender's side.
• Make sure the form's "send to" address is correct and still active.

Common mistakes and a safety net

The most common mistake is changing email providers or website hosts and forgetting to update these settings. Another is setting up SPF or DMARC wrongly, which can block real mail, so make changes carefully.

As a backup, make sure your form also saves each submission inside your website's admin area, so a lost email is not a lost lead. Modestius builds and fixes websites for small businesses if you want help checking this.

Questions owners ask

Can I just tell customers to check their spam folder?

That is a stopgap, not a fix. Customers will not always try again, so it is better to correct the settings.

Is DMARC required?

Not every domain has it, but many providers now expect to see these checks. Having all three gives your messages the best chance of being trusted.

Who should change these settings?

Whoever manages your domain's DNS or your email service. Changing them wrongly can block real mail, so ask someone who has done it before.