A contact form can stop working without showing any error, so the only way to know yours works is to test it. Send a test enquiry as a visitor would, check it arrives in your inbox rather than your spam folder, and repeat that once a month and after any change to the site.
This post explains why forms fail silently, the most common causes, and how to run a five minute test.
Why a broken form goes unnoticed
When a visitor submits a form, the site usually shows a “thanks, message sent” screen. That screen only means the website accepted the message. Getting it to your inbox is a separate step, and that step can fail without anyone being told.
The visitor assumes you are ignoring them. You assume nobody is enquiring. Weeks can pass before a customer mentions they tried to get in touch.
The common causes
Email delivery problems
Many forms send their notification from the web server using your own domain as the sender. If the domain’s email authentication is missing or wrong, receiving mail servers may filter those messages or reject them. Our explainer on SPF, DKIM and DMARC covers what those records are and why they matter.
Updates that break the form
Form plugins, themes and the CMS itself all receive updates. An update can change how a form behaves, or conflict with another plugin, and the form stops sending without any visible sign on the page.
Spam protection that is too strict
Anti spam tools and CAPTCHAs are useful, but set too aggressively they block real enquiries. The notification emails themselves can also be filtered into spam by your own mail provider.
The wrong recipient address
Forms often send to an address set up years ago. If that mailbox has been closed, is full, or belongs to someone who left, enquiries go nowhere.
A change of hosting or email provider
Moving hosting or switching email provider can leave a form pointing at settings that no longer apply. It is easy to miss after a migration, because the site itself still looks fine.
How to test your form in five minutes
- Open the form on your phone, as a visitor would.
- Fill it in using an email address from a different provider to the one receiving it, such as a personal Gmail account, so you see what an outside sender experiences.
- Put something unique in the message, such as the time, so you can find it.
- Check the receiving inbox, then the spam or junk folder.
- Reply to the notification and check the reply goes to your test address and not back to the website.
- If the form sends an auto reply or confirmation, check that arrives too.
- Repeat for every form on the site, not just the main contact page.
How often to check
Once a month is a sensible minimum. Test it as well after any update to the site, any change to your hosting or email provider, any change to the address the form sends to, and after a redesign.
If your form tool can store submissions in the site’s dashboard as well as emailing them, switch that on. It gives you a record, so an enquiry that fails to send can still be found and answered.
When to ask for help
If the test fails, or you are not sure what you are looking at, the cause is usually one of the five above and quick to find once someone checks. A form that has been broken for months is also worth reading alongside our post on the signs your website needs attention.
If you would like your form tested and a clear answer on what is wrong, get in touch.
1418 looks after business websites in Cumbria, with ongoing website maintenance that includes testing forms, email and backups.