How to Stop WordPress Comment Spam?
Are you receiving a lot of spam comments on your WordPress website and don’t know how to stop it? Don’t panic! You are not the only one. Comment spam is a fact of life on the Internet. Fortunately, solutions exist.
Here, the team at WishDesk shares some of the best tips on how to stop WordPress comment spam.
What is comment spam?
If comments are permitted on your WordPress website, you run the risk of getting some comment spam. There are many types of spam, but the most common one is automated spam posted by bots.
Why comment spam is a problem?
Comment spam is a real problem, because:
- when the comment section is filled up with fake comments, it is more difficult for real users to communicate
- most of the spam contains malicious links
- visitors will not trust your website
How to stop comment spam on WordPress website?
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Create a blacklist of spammy words
Many spam comments contain popular keywords. This helps you recognize spam and stop it from appearing on your website. Create a blacklist of words you consider spammy. Your site will flag comments that contain those words.
To create a blacklist, proceed to Settings > Discussion in your WordPress dashboard and find the Comment Blacklist field. Add your list of words. When any comment with one of those words is posted on your website, it will be sent to the trash.
Choose the words for your blacklist wisely. Do not let the system to delete the comments of real visitors.
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Set up a comment moderation system
If you have time to check all the comments, a comment moderation system might be a solution to WordPress comment spam.
The comment moderation system is when you have to approve the comment that appear on the website. To enable this system in WordPress, go to Settings > Discussion, and check out the Before a comment appears section.
If you select Comment must be manually approved, every comment will be held as pending until it is reviewed.
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Add captcha verification
Use wp-reCAPTCHA plugin to enable recaptcha for comments. Users have to type characters displayed on the image to prove that they are humans. Recaptcha is an effective way of blocking spam bots, however, it cannot prevent your website from posting manually submitted spam comments.
Another issue with recaptcha is that it makes difficult for real users to submit comments. It might annoy the visitors to enter recaptcha every time they want to comment. On the other hand, recaptcha is an effective way to block spam bots in WordPress.
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Use an anti-spam plugin
Anti-spam plugins are a powerful tool to stop WordPress comment spam and help sort good comments from spam for you.
One of such plugins is Akismet Anti-Spam. It checks the comments and contact form submissions against the global database of spam to prevent your site from publishing malicious content.
Key features:
- automatically checks all comments and filters out comments that look like spam
- URLs are shown in the comment body to reveal hidden or misleading links
- moderators can see the number of approved comments for each user
Do not suffer from WordPress comment spam anymore!
We hope this blog post helped you to find some useful tips and tools to stop WordPress comment spam. Do not let those fake comments clutter up your website and drive real visitors away.
If you need any help or have any questions, you’re more than welcome to contact our WordPress support team. Be free from spammers!