I want to get this out the way first: I am not a developer. But I've worked with just about every CMS by now, and can put together a basic site using most of them.

And yet, in the year 2024, getting a WordPress site to send and receive emails using a nice mail client, from and to an address @yourdomain.com, is right up there with making my printer print.

For WordPress veterans or experienced developers this may not seem like much of a challenge. But for a kinda-techy marketer the vast array of hoops to jump through can be overwhelming.

So here's a detailed guide on setting up some basic email systems using only a couple of well-supported plugins. .

Note: this guide covers setting up "transactional" outgoing emails using Mailchimp's Mandrill. We cover receiving emails your own domain-branded mailboxes in part two.

Since this guide is for those of us who can't just "set up our own SMTP server", we'll need to lean on MailChimp and a few other things, we need to lean on these rather than build all our own stuff

Important caveat: The plugins recommended are far from the only way to skin this cat. When it comes to WordPress, and most online business, there is seldom a way to make money for free.

Email is a powerful but complex marketing tool. Somewhere along the line you either need a lot of expertise, or a little budget.

In this case, you'll need to spend about $10/month on Mandrill and $50 on an SMTP Plugin

Step 1: Set Up Your Email Domain

This step is different for WordPress-hosted sites (where you bought your entire package off WordPress.com) and hosting provided by a third party.

Third-party hosting (godaddy, etc.)

Most of these provide access to some kind of control panel - cPanel, Plesk, etc. They also usually offer free email domain services (send emails from your domain, etc.)

If you didn't get that with your hosting, you'll need to sign up for some kind of custom email provider like Zoho Mail or Google Workspace (note: Google Workspace is not for noobs, Zoho is easier)

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1. Navigate to cPanel and look for the Email section
2. Follow cPanel's guide on setting things up.
3. When you get to the "Configure a client to check your email" part, this is where you need a service like Zoho Mail unless you want to use cPanel's native mailbox tool (eww)

WordPress-hosted Sites

If your WordPress site is hosted on WordPress.com and you have a custom domain (e.g., yourdomain.com), you need to set up an email address that uses this domain. Here’s how:

1. Choose an Email Service Provider: Google Workspace, Zoho Mail, as above.
2. Verify Domain Ownership: The service will ask you to verify your domain by adding DNS records.
   • Log in to WordPress.com: Go to your WordPress.com account.
   • Manage Domains: Navigate to My Site > Upgrades > Domains.
   • Select Your Domain: Click on your custom domain.
   • DNS Records: Add the required DNS records provided by your email service provider (like TXT, MX, or CNAME records).
3. Set Up Email: After DNS verification, you can create custom email addresses like info@yourdomain.com within the email service provider’s platform.

Step 2: The Devil We Know (MailChimp)

For this we're going to use MailChimp. Yes, we know there are other platforms. They're all good, and some are cheaper. If you're comfortable with another platform, it shouldn't be too tricky to convert the wisdom below. But MailChimp is well-known and relatively easy to get going with - and most importantly it's well-supported by lots of WordPress Plugins.

1. Sign Up: If you don’t already have a Mailchimp account, go to Mailchimp and sign up for a free account.
2. Set Up Your Audience: Create an audience (formerly known as a list) to manage your subscribers.
3. Upgrade to a paid plan (sorry, this is the part where there's no free internet money)

Next, we're going to use that shiny new paid plan to set up something call Mandrill (Mailchimp's Transactional Email service) and generate a Mandrill API key

1. Log in to Mandrill: Use your Mailchimp credentials.
2. Navigate to Settings: Go to the Mandrill dashboard and click on your profile in the upper-right corner, then select "SMTP & API Credentials".
3. Create API Key: Click "New API Key" and copy the generated key.

Step 3: Install an SMTP Plugin

This is the tricky bit. Especially if you don't know what SMTP is or what it does or why you need it.

SMTP in a nutshell acts like a forwarding service on your website's domain.  WordPress can kind of do this already, but it's the functionality and customizability we need. So we need to rip their SMTP stuff out and put in a better one.

WP Mail SMTP is one of many plugins that enhance email functionality in WordPress. It's very well supported, well rated, and reasonably priced for small businesses (plans range from $49 - $399 per year so it's not going to break the budget)

Install WP Mail SMTP:

• Go to Plugins > Add New.
• Search for "WP Mail SMTP" and install it.
• Activate the plugin.

Configure WP Mail SMTP:

• Go to WP Mail SMTP > Settings.
• In the Mailer section, select Other SMTP.
• Fill in the SMTP settings:
  • SMTP Host: smtp.mandrillapp.com
  • Encryption: SSL or TLS (TLS is recommended)
  • SMTP Port: 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL
  • Authentication: Turn on.
  • SMTP Username: Your Mandrill API key.
  • SMTP Password: Your Mandrill API key (yes, again).

Step 4: Test Everything:

Step 5: Configure Email Notifications

Set Up Email Notifications: Ensure that your WordPress plugins (such as contact forms, WooCommerce, etc.) are configured to send emails using the new SMTP settings.