Making your site's own messages arrive.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Order confirmations, password resets and form notifications must arrive. They are more important than any campaign.
By default most applications use PHP's mail function, and those messages frequently fail authentication.
THE FIX
Configure SMTP with a mailbox on your domain, or with a transactional sending service.
USING A HOSTING MAILBOX
Host mail.yourdomain.com, port 465 with SSL or 587 with TLS, authentication on, the full address as username.
Adequate for modest volume.
USING A SENDING SERVICE
Better for a shop with volume, and it separates transactional reputation from marketing.
Most services have a free tier covering a small shop's transactional mail.
THE FROM ADDRESS
Always on your own domain. Never the customer's address.
A form sending from the visitor's Gmail address fails authentication and disappears.
Put their address in Reply-To.
TESTING
Place an order and confirm both customer and admin notifications arrive, at Gmail as well as your own domain.
Test again after any change.
