How to Ensure Contact Form Delivery

Email providers like Microsoft and Google can be pretty strict when it comes to spam filtering. This means the occasional solicitation or spam link sent through a contact form can actually cause all of your site notifications to be blocked.

Consistent form delivery is a team effort that starts with a simple 3-step process:

1: Spam-Blocking Techniques

All forms on your website include hidden spam blocking features as well as the familiar reCaptcha image verification service designed to block bots from filling out a form. Unfortunately some bots can still beat these rules and not all spam is sent by automated bots. We regularly monitor contact form abuse but in some cases we'll need your help to ensure form delivery (see steps 2 & 3).

2: Don't mark your site as spam

If you receive spam through your contact form DO NOT MARK THE MESSAGE AS JUNK — forward it to us so that we can attempt to block similar messages in the future. Flagging messages as spam can cause your email provider to block ALL messages from your website including legitimate emails from your customers and other site notifications.

3: Whitelist Your Contact Forms

To prevent form messages from being flagged as junk mail we recommend adding the address we use to send forms to your list of approved senders. Please contact us for the actual email address we use to send your form messages.

Microsoft Office 365

1. Open the Exchange Admin Center.
2. Click on the Mail Flow drop down and select Rules.
3. Add a new rule for Bypass Spam Filtering.
4. From the Apply this rule if… drop down, select the sender… > is this person.
5. In the field to the right of the Check names button, type the email address you want to allow.
6. Click the Check names button to move your address to the Add – > field.
7. Click the Ok button to exit the flyout window.
8. In the Do the following… field, Set the spam confidence level (SCL) to Bypass Spam Filtering should automatically be selected.
9. Click Save to apply the policy.

Click here for more detailed instructions. 

Note about Exchange Transport Rule (ETR): If your account policies include a phishing email quarantine, you may need to create additional rules to allow mail from your website.

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Outlook.com

1. Log in to your email account
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the upper right
3. From the Mail section select 'Junk email'
4. Under 'Safe senders and domains' add your form email address, then hit Enter
5. Click Save to save the changes

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Google/Gmail

Google Workspace Gmail

Posted April 25, 2022