If you have a successful blog, or are considering starting a blog, you are going to undoubtedly come across spam bots trying to post comments on your blog. Finding out how to stop spam comments can be frustrating, especially when you are getting more than you can handle. There are a few things you can do to easily handle the vast majority of comment spam to keep your blog clean and safe for your visitors.
1. Moderate the Comments
This is a relatively simple thing to do when you start noticing your blog getting comments. Simply hold them for moderation, and when you have recognized it as not being spam approve the comment so it is displayed on your website. This can obviously get tedious pretty quickly when you start getting a lot more traffic and comments, but it is a good place to start.
2. Blacklist Certain Words
All of us know the common words that seem to always be sent through spam. Things like “viagra” are easily blocked by adding the word to a blacklist. Any comment with this word in it will automatically be flagged as spam. You can also use this to keep your comments as PG as you’d like. That, of course, is all personal preference.
3. Don’t Allow Links in Comments
More often than not, spammers are attempting to get you and your visitors to click through a link to take you somewhere else. Where you will end up is anybody’s guess. Blocking posters from being able to comment hyperlinks is a quick and easy way to stop spam comments in most cases.
4. Require Registration
While this isn’t a sure-fire way to stop spam comments, it may dissuade some spammers. Forcing visitors to register before commenting will stop basic spam attempts. It’s also a great way to build a mailing list if your blog is for a business.
5. Use a Spam Block Plugin
If you use a blogging platform like WordPress then you can quickly and easily install a plugin that will help you automatically block out spam. This will help you stop spam comments when you start getting too many to go through yourself.
These things are relatively simple to do, and following them will help stop most of the incoming spam you see on your blog. This will give your visitors a much more pleasant experience because they won’t have to sift through spam to see the real comments. It also shows that you actively monitor and moderate your website, something that will keep visitors coming back.