If you have a WordPress site, chances are you’ve had to deal with spam comments at some point or another. Spam comments are unwanted, irrelevant comments on your post- they might be promotional in nature, contain explicit content, or just be simply nonsensical- and they are frequently generated by bots. Not only are they annoying, they can clutter up your comment section and make it difficult for legitimate comments to be seen. Worse- they can damage your authority and reputation as a business. So how do you stop them? Read on to find out.
How can I combat them?
There are a few different ways that you can go about stopping spam comments on your WordPress site. The first is by using a plugin. Akismet is a popular choice and often comes pre-loaded on WordPress sites, it uses an algorithm to automatically detect and filter out spam comments.
If you don’t feel comfortable relying on a plugin, another option is to moderate your comments manually. This means that you will need to approve each comment before it goes live on your site. You can easily turn this setting on by visiting your WordPress dashboard and going to the Settings tab. Under Settings, scroll down to the section labeled “Before comment appears” and check the “Comment must be manually approved box.” This can be time-consuming, but it’s an effective way to ensure that only legitimate comments are posted.
If you’re unsure about which method to use, you can always experiment with both and see what works best for you and your website. In most cases, a combination of the two will be the most effective way to stop spam comments from appearing on your site.
Spam comments can be a real nuisance for small business owners with websites. With a little work and dilegence, you can keep your business-site spam-free, whether you use a plugin like Akismet or choose to moderate your comments manually.
