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Are you having trouble receiving or sending emails from your WordPress site?

Email deliverability is one of the most important parts of running a website. From password reset emails to order confirmations, having a reliable email service is a must.

In this article, we will show you how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

The Problem With WordPress Emails

WordPress uses PHP for most of its functions, including sending emails.

Many shared hosting providers do not have the email function configured properly, or they have disabled it entirely to avoid abuse. In either case, this causes your WordPress emails to not be delivered.

The alternative solution is to use a third-party email service to send out your emails. You can use services like Mailgun, Google Workspace, or SendGrid.

You will have to pay for your account, and the cost will vary depending on how many users/accounts you add or the number of emails you send. See our tutorial on how to fix the WordPress not sending email issue.

Additionally, some web hosts limit the number of emails users can send from their servers. For more information about why WordPress emails won’t send, check out our blog post on why you should never use WordPress to send newsletter emails.

There is another option, however. You can use SMTP to send emails using the WordPress hosting that you already have.

SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, allows you to use an external mail server to handle email delivery. This ensures higher email deliverability rates and can prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder.

Video Tutorial

For written instructions, just continue reading.

Using Email Accounts by Your Host

Most WordPress hosting providers offer email services for each domain you host with them. This means you can create email accounts with your own domain name, like yourname@yoursite.com.

Using your website’s domain will help you engage your subscribers from your email list and help you stay on-brand by sending messages with your domain name rather than a personal inbox.

First, you will need to create an email account. For the sake of this example, we will show you how to create an email account in cPanel using Hostinger. Your hosting service provider may use some other account management system, but the basic process is the same on most hosting services.

Log into your hosting account and click on ‘Emails’ so that you can create a new email under your domain. Then go ahead and click ‘Manage’ next to your domain.

Then, you’ll need to click on ‘Create email account.’

That way, you can set up a business email under your domain name rather than the default version that WordPress gives you.

This will show you a simple form, where you need to fill out the information required to create your email account.

Since we will be using this account to send WordPress emails, we recommend that you create an email account like wordpress@example.com. Make sure to replace example.com with your own domain name.

Go ahead and enter your email name and password. Then click ‘Create.’

From here, you’ll be asked to configure third-party email services to connect to.

That said, you can choose ‘Other’ if you don’t want to use any of the given services.

Make sure to copy the SMTP Host and Port since you’ll need to add that information to the settings of your WordPress SMTP plugin to start sending emails reliably.

The SMTP Host will allow you to send emails from the email address you’ve just created, and the SMTP Port is for secure login.

Finally, go ahead and click on ‘Complete, I’ve set up my client.’

If you’re using another hosting provider, like Bluehost or SiteGround, you can check the support section on your host’s website for this information. Most likely, there will be an article providing this information. If you don’t find it, then you should contact the hosting support to request this information.

Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t offer built-in native SMTP settings by default. If you want to configure SMTP in WordPress for emails, you must install a SMTP plugin.

Using a WordPress SMTP plugin allows all of your emails to reach the desired destination by connecting to a server made to handle all types of emails. It will replace the default method of sending emails through WordPress, which uses the unreliable PHP mail system.

Using Your Branded Email Address in WordPress

You will now need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin.

Used by over 3 million websites, the WP Mail SMTP plugin is the best SMTP plugin for WordPress. It allows you to fix your emails easily by sending them through an email provider, which is a much more reliable way of sending emails than from your web server. 

For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you must visit Settings » Email to configure the plugin settings.

First, you need to enter the email address you just created in the From Email field. After that, you can add a From Name that will be used as the sender name.

Next, you need to choose the mailer. Go ahead and check the box next to Return Path that says, ‘Set the return-path to match the From Email’. After that, you need to check the box next to ‘Return Path’ option.

This option sets the return path to match the sender’s email address. If you leave it unchecked, bounced messages and non-delivery receipts will be lost.

Then, click on the ‘Other SMTP’ option to select it. If you have another mailer service, you can select that instead.

Next, you need to set up SMTP options.

First, you need to enter your SMTP host and port that you copied earlier.

You can obtain this information from your hosting provider. Typically, the SMTP host is mail.yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name). For SMTP, Port 465 is commonly used.

Depending on your hosting provider, they’ll provide an encryption method when signing up for an email account.

In this case, we are given an SSL encryption method in Hostinger, so we will select that option. However, some hosting services may provide TLS options as well.

Choosing the encryption method is important because it ensures your emails are secure and private. Without it, the content inside the emails could be intercepted and read by unauthorized parties.

After that, turn on the authentication toggle and provide your SMTP username and password. Normally, your email address is also your SMTP username.

Then go ahead and give your SMTP account a password.

You can always use a password manager, like 1Password, to securely manage your passwords.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Keep in mind that if you do have another mailer service, you can add that service as a backup connection. That means if an email fails to send using your primary connection, then WP Mail SMTP will automatically try to send the email again using your backup connection.

If you’d like to add another mailer service, just hit the ‘additional connection’ link shown in the screenshot above, and WP Mail SMTP will guide you on how to do it.

If you don’t have Hostinger, these steps will look a little different. In that case, you may want to check out our ultimate guide on how to set up WP Mail SMTP with any host.

Testing Your SMTP Settings

Now that you have set up WP Mail SMTP to send emails, let’s test if everything is working fine. Head over to WP Mail SMTP » Tools in the WordPress admin panel.

Under the ‘Email Test’ tab, you need to provide an email address where you would like to receive a test email. This could be any valid email address that you can access.

Go ahead and toggle the HTML button to ‘ON.’ After that, click on the Send Email button to continue.

WP Mail SMTP will now send an email message using the SMTP settings you entered earlier.

Check your inbox, and you should see a success message appear informing you that the email was sent successfully.

Troubleshooting WordPress Email Issues

The most common reason for errors in sending emails using SMTP is an incorrect SMTP host or port.

Make sure that you are entering the correct host and port settings provided by your hosting provider.

Make sure that you select the correct encryption method.

Usually, SSL works on most environments, but we recommend that you check with your web host if your emails are not getting delivered.

Resending Emails Manually

Even if there aren’t any SMTP configuration errors, you may still experience temporary issues.

For example, the recipient’s email server might be causing emails to bounce or the mailer service may place a cap on how many emails you can send per day. If you exceed the allowed number of sent emails in a given time frame, the emails may be rejected.

In that case, you can simply resend it to those specific recipients. All you have to do is head over to WP Mail SMTP » Email Log.

Simply check all of the boxes next to the emails that failed to resend, and under the Bulk Actions dropdown menu, select the ‘Resend’ option and click ‘Apply.’

Then, a pop-up message will appear, asking you to confirm if you want to resend the selected emails.

Go ahead and hit the ‘Yes’ button.

Finally, you’ll receive a confirmation message on the screen that the emails are in the queue and will be resent shortly. Then, click ‘OK.’

There you have it! Now you know how to successfully use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

Pros and Cons of Using Your Web Host’s Mail Servers for WordPress Emails

First and foremost, the most obvious advantage of using your web host’s servers for sending emails in WordPress is that you can use your own branded email address.

Another pro is that you have already paid for this service when signing up for your hosting account. You will not need to pay any extra money to send and receive emails.

However, some WordPress hosting providers enforce limitations on outgoing emails. This is why we don’t recommend using WordPress to send newsletter emails and suggest using SMTP for transaction emails alone.

Another common problem with shared hosting providers is that their mail servers can be quite unreliable at times. If you notice delays in email delivery, then you should consider using third-party email services like Google Workspace, Mailgun, or SendGrid.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails. You may also want to see our list of the must have WordPress plugins for businesses or our guide on how to create a free business email address.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Use SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails first appeared on WPBeginner.

Do you want to sell your personal training services online?

Luckily, WordPress lets you create a simple payment form or even an entire membership site to sell your personal training services. This will allow clients to ask about your services and schedule training sessions directly through your website, helping you grow your business.

In this article, we will show you how to easily sell personal training services with WordPress, step by step.

Why Sell Personal Training Services Online?

Building a website to sell your personal training services online can act as a base to showcase your experience and promote your training sessions. This expands your reach, helping you attract more clients who may not have heard of your business offline.

If you have a gym website, then adding a training services sign-up form is a good idea. This will make it easier for potential clients to join your gym after viewing your experience and training philosophy on your website.

It will also give your customers a central place for communication and booking, making the process smooth and convenient.

Plus, you can collect important customer information like fitness goals, any injuries or limitations, and preferred training methods. This will let you create personalized training programs for individual clients.

Why Use WordPress to Sell Personal Training Services?

Before you can add a training services form and start making money online, you must first create a website where you can promote your services. We recommend choosing WordPress because it is the best website builder on the market and is used by over 43% of sites on the internet.

However, you must know that there are two types of WordPress. WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform, while WordPress.org is an open-source, self-hosted software. For more details, see our comparison between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

To sell personal training services, we recommend WordPress.org because it is completely free, flexible, and can integrate with plugins to help you sell your services.

For more information, see our complete WordPress.org review.

Once you have chosen a website builder, you must purchase a hosting plan and domain name to sell your training services. This is where your costs will start adding up.

That is why we recommend opting for Bluehost, which is a WordPress-recommended hosting company.

They offer a generous discount to WPBeginner readers along with a free SSL certificate and domain name. To get up to a 77% discount, just click on the button below.

Upon purchasing hosting, you can see our beginner’s guide on how to make a WordPress website for more instructions.

Now, let’s see how to sell your personal training services with WordPress easily. You can use the links below to jump to the method of your choice:

Method 1: Sell Training Services With WPForms (Easy)

You can easily sell training services in WordPress with WPForms. It is the best contact form plugin on the market that comes with a drag-and-drop builder, 1700+ premade templates, and a premade personal training signup form.

First, you need to install and activate WPForms. For details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

You will also need to install a payment addon to accept payments through PayPal, Stripe, Square, or Authorize.net on your online form.

You can do this by going to the WPForms » Addons page from the WordPress dashboard and clicking the ‘Install Addon’ button under the payment processor you want to use. In our example, we are installing the PayPal standard addon.

You will then need to go to WPForms » Settings and click on ‘Payments’ to set up the payment processor of your choice.

For more details, you can see our tutorial on how to create a WordPress form with payment options.

Then, you can visit the WPForms » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard and add a name for your form.

After that, find the ‘Personal Trainer Sign-Up Form’ template and click the ‘Use Template’ button under it.

This will open the WPForms drag-and-drop builder, where you will see a form preview on the right with form fields on the left side of the screen.

From here, you can add, rearrange, and delete fields according to your liking.

Next, you can scroll down and click on the ‘Trainer Preference’ field to open its settings in the left column. You can then change the preference options.

For instance, if you want clients to select trainers based on their experience rather than gender, then you can add those options in the ‘Choices’ field.

Similarly, you can change the days and times you are available for personal training.

Once you do that, you can configure the Desired Packages field to add your personal training session packages in the form.

For example, you might offer a fitness assessment, a single training session, 4 training sessions, and 12 training session packages to your customers.

Next, you have to add a payment field to your form so that users can pay for your training sessions directly.

Scroll down to the ‘Payment Fields’ section in the left column. Next, add the ‘Multiple Choice’ field to the form.

After that, click on the field again to open its settings in the sidebar.

From here, you can add the names and prices for your personal training sessions.

Then, switch to the Settings » Notifications tab from the left column and toggle the ‘Enable Notifications’ switch to on. Now, users will receive an email notification upon submitting the form on your site.

Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Email Message’ section, where you can type the message that will be sent to potential clients.

If you haven’t added a payment field to your form, then you can tell customers how long it will take to reach out to them for payment details using this message.

You can also edit the subject line and email address from here.

Once you are satisfied, simply click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings.

Now, open the page or post where you want to add the training services form. Here, click the add block (+) button in the top left corner and add the WPForms block.

Then, go ahead and select the form you just created from the dropdown menu within the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

You can now visit your WordPress site to view the personal training services form in action.

With WPForms, you can then view all your form entries right from your dashboard.

To do this, you must visit the WPForms » All Forms page and click the ‘Entries’ link under the training services form you created.

This will take you to a new screen, where you can view the data of all the users who have submitted the form by clicking the ‘View’ link on the right.

You can also delete and edit the entries according to your liking.

Method 2: Sell Training Services With WP Simple Pay (Free)

If you are looking for a free way to add a personal training services form to your website, then this method is for you.

WP Simple Pay is the best WordPress Stripe plugin that allows you to accept online payments without setting up a shopping cart. It comes with a payment form builder, easy setup, secure payment processing, recurring payments, and premade templates.

Overall, it makes it super easy to build a personal training services form with the plugin.

First, you need to install and activate WP Simple Pay. For detailed instructions, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, a setup wizard will be launched on the screen, where you must click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.

You will then be taken to a new page, where you must enter your license key. This option will only apply to users with a pro plan. You can find this information in your account on the WP Simple Pay website.

Once you have done that, simply click the ‘Activate and Continue’ button.

Next, you will be asked to connect your plugin with Stripe, which is a popular payment gateway that easily accepts online payments.

To do this, click the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button.

This will direct you to another screen, where you must log in to your Stripe account to connect it with WP Simple Pay. If you don’t have an account yet, then you can create one by visiting the Stripe website.

For more information, see our tutorial on how to accept Stripe payments in WordPress.

Upon successful integration, the setup wizard will ask you to configure email settings.

Now, simply enable options to receive email notifications for payment receipts, upcoming invoices, and payment notifications and enter the email address to send them to.

Once that is done, click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.

Next, you must visit the WP Simple Pay » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard to start building a personal training services form.

This will open the ‘Select a Template’ screen, where you will see a list of premade templates.

Since WP Simple Pay does not offer a specific template for training services, you can click the ‘Use Template’ button under the ‘Payment Form’ option.

This will take you to the ‘Add New Payment Form’ page, where you can start by adding a name and description for your personal training services form.

After that, select ‘On-site payment form’ as your form type.

Next, switch to the ‘Payments’ tab and add a label and pricing for the training session that you offer.

If you offer more than one training service package, then you can click the ‘Add Price’ button to add multiple pricing options for different deals.

Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Payment Methods’ section and check the box next to the payment gateways that you want to add to your form.

With WP Simple Pay, you can add SEPA, Affirm, Klarna, and AfterPay as payment methods as well. However, you will need the pro plan for these options.

If you have the free plan, then you will only be able to add AliPay and debit/credit card as payment methods.

After that, switch to the ‘Form Fields’ page from the left column. Here, the payment form has the email address, price selector, and payment methods as the default fields.

However, if you also want users to submit their name, phone number, and address, then you can select those options from the dropdown menu.

Similarly, if you want to add a custom age or weight field to your form, then you must select the ‘Text’ form field from the dropdown menu.

Once you do that, expand the field settings and add ‘Age’ as a label and placeholder text.

Additionally, you can select the ‘Dropdown’ form field to add custom trainer, day, or timing preference fields.

Here, simply expand the field tab and add a label. Then, you can type all the options that you want to offer your clients into the ‘Options’ field.

For instance, if you want users to be able to select specific days for their personal training, then you can type the available days into the field.

Keep in mind to separate each option with a comma.

Once that is done, switch to the ‘Payment Page’ tab and check the ‘Enable a dedicated payment page’ box.

WP Simple Pay will now create a custom personal training service payment page for you.

You can simply add a URL for the form page in the ‘Permalink’ field and then choose a color scheme, image, and footer text.

Finally, click the ‘Publish’ button on the right to store your settings.

You can then visit your WordPress site to view the personal training services form.

Alternatively, if just want to add the form to an existing page, then you must click the ‘Publish’ button after adding form fields.

After that, visit the page or post where you want to add the form and click the add block (+) button.

Once the block menu opens up, just add the WP Simple Pay block and choose the form from the dropdown menu.

Then, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

Now, you can visit the existing page on your WordPress site to view the personal training services form in action.

Bonus: How to Sell Training Courses and Videos as Downloads

Apart from services, you can also sell training courses and videos on your WordPress site. It is a cost-effective way to earn money online and can motivate users who buy your courses to also sign up for personal training sessions.

You can easily sell training courses with Easy Digital Downloads, which is the best WordPress plugin for selling digital products like PDFs, videos, music, courses, eBooks, and more.

You can easily connect the plugin with multiple payment gateways and create your first digital product by visiting the Downloads » Add New page.

This will open the block editor, where you can add a name and description for the training video or course. Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Download Files’ option and upload the training video from your computer. Then, add its pricing in the ‘Pricing Options’ field.

You can also set categories, tags, and featured images for your product. Finally, click the ‘Publish’ button at the top to store your settings.

You have now successfully added a training video for sale on your gym website. For more information, you can see our tutorial on how to sell digital downloads on WordPress.

Bonus: How to Start a Coaching Business in WordPress

Other than selling personal training sessions, which are limited by location, you can also start online coaching through your website. This will allow you to work with clients globally and generate more conversions.

With online coaching, you can run sessions at any time of day through pre-recordings, live chat, or video conferencing. You can also organize workshops and group coaching to build a sense of community among different clients.

Plus, online coaching is much more cost-effective than running a physical gym, making it a great option.

You can easily start a coaching business with MemberPress, which is the best membership plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create different subscription levels for your clients and schedule your content release at specific intervals to engage users.

Other than that, you can create an automated onboarding process, add milestone tracking, and use automated reminders to motivate clients to complete their coaching programs.

MemberPress also lets you build premium coaching content that users must purchase for access, making it a great choice. For more details, see our tutorial on how to start an online coaching business.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily sell personal training services in WordPress. You may also like to see our beginner’s guide on how to start an online store to sell your fitness products or our top picks for the best WordPress theme builders to make your fitness website visually appealing.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Sell Personal Training Services with WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.