Amazon SES Setup

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a scalable, cost-effective email delivery service. This guide walks you through setting up SES with WP Outreach for reliable, high-volume email sending.

Why Use Amazon SES?

Benefit	Description
High Deliverability	Amazon infrastructure with excellent IP reputation
Scalability	Send millions of emails without infrastructure concerns
Cost Effective	$0.10 per 1,000 emails (with free tier available)
Reliability	99.9% uptime SLA
Analytics	Bounce, complaint, and delivery tracking

Prerequisites

• An AWS account (Sign up here)
• A verified domain or email address
• WP Outreach installed and activated

Step 1: Create AWS IAM Credentials

Create dedicated credentials for WP Outreach:

1. Log in to the AWS IAM Console
2. Click Users → Add users
3. Enter a username (e.g., “wp-outreach-ses”)
4. Select Access key – Programmatic access
5. Click Next: Permissions

Attach SES Policy

1. Click Attach policies directly
2. Search for “AmazonSESFullAccess”
3. Check the box next to it
4. Click Next → Create user

Save Your Credentials

1. On the success page, click Download .csv
2. Save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key securely
3. Important: You will not be able to see the secret key again!

Step 2: Verify Your Domain

Amazon SES requires you to verify ownership of your sending domain:

Option A: Verify in AWS Console

1. Go to Amazon SES Console
2. Select your region (e.g., us-east-1)
3. Click Verified identities → Create identity
4. Choose Domain
5. Enter your domain (e.g., yoursite.com)
6. Click Create identity

Option B: Verify in WP Outreach

1. Go to WP Outreach → Settings → Amazon SES
2. Enter your credentials (see Step 3)
3. Click Verify Domain
4. Enter your domain
5. Follow the DNS instructions provided

Add DNS Records

Add the provided DNS records to your domain:

Record Type	Name	Purpose
TXT	_amazonses.yourdomain.com	Domain verification
CNAME	(provided by AWS)	DKIM signing (3 records)
MX	(optional)	Bounce handling

Verification typically takes 24-72 hours.

Step 3: Configure WP Outreach

1. Go to WP Outreach → Settings → Amazon SES
2. Enter your credentials:
   • Access Key ID: Your IAM access key
   • Secret Access Key: Your IAM secret key
   • Region: Select your SES region
3. Click Save Settings
4. Click Test Connection to verify

Using Environment Variables (Recommended)

For better security, store credentials in wp-config.php:

// Add to wp-config.php
define('WP_OUTREACH_SES_ACCESS_KEY', 'AKIA...your-key...');
define('WP_OUTREACH_SES_SECRET_KEY', 'wJalr...your-secret...');
define('WP_OUTREACH_SES_REGION', 'us-east-1');

When these constants are defined, WP Outreach uses them automatically and hides the credential fields in settings.

Step 4: Enable SES as Mailer

1. Go to WP Outreach → Settings → Mailer
2. Select Amazon SES
3. Click Save Settings

Step 5: Request Production Access

New SES accounts start in “sandbox mode” with these limitations:

• Can only send to verified email addresses
• 200 emails per day limit
• 1 email per second rate limit

To send to any address, request production access:

1. In AWS SES Console, click Account dashboard
2. Click Request production access
3. Fill out the form:
   • Mail type: Transactional or Marketing
   • Website URL
   • Use case description
   • How you handle bounces and complaints
4. Submit and wait for approval (typically 24-48 hours)

SES Dashboard in WP Outreach

After configuration, the SES settings page shows:

Account Status

• Mode: Sandbox or Production
• Sending Enabled: Yes/No
• Daily Quota: Emails allowed per day
• Sent Today: Current usage
• Send Rate: Emails per second limit

Verified Identities

List of verified domains and email addresses with status indicators.

Statistics

• Delivery rate
• Bounce rate
• Complaint rate
• Send volume over time

Available Regions

Amazon SES is available in these regions:

Region	Code	Best For
US East (N. Virginia)	us-east-1	North America
US West (Oregon)	us-west-2	US West Coast
EU (Ireland)	eu-west-1	Europe
EU (Frankfurt)	eu-central-1	GDPR-sensitive data
Asia Pacific (Singapore)	ap-southeast-1	Asia
Asia Pacific (Sydney)	ap-southeast-2	Australia
Asia Pacific (Tokyo)	ap-northeast-1	Japan

Troubleshooting

Connection Failed

• Verify credentials are correct
• Check IAM user has SES permissions
• Ensure selected region matches your SES setup
• Check server can make outbound HTTPS requests

Domain Not Verified

• Confirm DNS records are correct
• Wait up to 72 hours for propagation
• Check for typos in DNS values
• Verify you are checking the correct region

Sandbox Mode Errors

• In sandbox, you can only send to verified addresses
• Request production access for unrestricted sending
• Temporarily verify test recipient addresses

High Bounce Rate

• Clean your subscriber list
• Use double opt-in
• Remove inactive subscribers
• AWS may suspend accounts with >5% bounce rate

Cost Estimation

Monthly Emails	Approximate Cost
1,000	$0.10
10,000	$1.00
100,000	$10.00
1,000,000	$100.00

AWS offers 62,000 free emails per month when sending from an EC2-hosted application.