What is a website contact form and how do I make it send emails reliably?

A contact form lets website visitors send messages without exposing your email address to spam scrapers. For WordPress: Contact Form 7 (free, 10 million+ installs) or WPForms (beginner-friendly with templates). Creating a form: install plugin, create new form with name/email/message fields, add shortcode [contact-form-7 id="xx"] to your Contact page. The critical issue: default WordPress email (wp_mail) uses the server's PHP mail() function — often blocked by ISPs or marked as spam. Fix with WP Mail SMTP plugin: connect to a dedicated email service. Recommended SMTP setup for Indian sites: SendGrid (100 free emails/day) or Amazon SES (very cheap). In WP Mail SMTP > Settings: Mailer = SendGrid or Other SMTP, enter credentials, test send to verify delivery. For anti-spam: Contact Form 7 includes Google reCAPTCHA v3 (invisible challenge). For advanced forms with file uploads, conditional logic, and Razorpay payments: WPForms Pro. All on Connect Quest hosting at connectquest.co.in.