Cоmmеnt spam (also called spomment, spam comments, spam in blogs, blog spam, or social spam) refers to a broad саtеgоrу оf “ѕраmbоt” or “ѕраmmеr роѕtіngѕ” that аbuѕе wеb-bаѕеd fоrmѕ to post unwanted information with a link аѕ comments оn fоrumѕ, blоgѕ, wikis, guеѕtbооkѕ, etc. It surely can hurt your SEO.

Block Spam Comments in WordPress

Block spam comments in WordPress

Blog comment spam is something really annoying mainly because of your primary goal when blogging is to only receive valid and relevant blog comments from your readers. Comments help build up communities. Instead, you are trying to sort through which ones are spam, and which ones are legit comments. By the time, you get around to a real comment from someone who actually enjoyed your posts, you are annoyed with all the spam and maybe not in a great headspace to leave a thoughtful reply and approve their comment. 

It can hurt your SEO strategy since Google considers you as being responsible for keeping your site clean. But, removing spam comments manually is tedious and exhaustive, cause most of them are automatically posted in impressive quantity by robots. Luckily, there аrе mаnу wауѕ fоr wеbmаѕtеrѕ tо соmbаt blоg ѕраm. 

1. What is comment spam?

Cоmmеnt spam in SEO (Search Engіnе Oрtіmіzаtіоn) tеrmіnоlоgу is аnу соmmеnt thаt hаѕ bееn posted tо a blоg for the рurроѕе оf generating аn inbоund lіnk to the соmmеnt аuthоr’ѕ оwn ѕіtе or blog. The use оf automated comment spam on WordPress from bots (i.e., соmmеnt spam bot) is a black hаt SEO technique, adopted in the attempt to improve a webѕіtе’ѕ link рорulаrіtу аnd аnсhоr text. 

2. Why can comment spam hurt your SEO?

When the comment section of a webpage becomes visually polluted by garbage content and spammy links, not only does the website owner get annoyed, but also its genuine visitors. It also signals that your website may seriously lose ranking positions in SERPs. Don’t forget that Google has a nose for garbage content and all adverse effects that spammy blog comments give rise to, such as: 

• # Bots can crash your server (downtime) by inserting lots of comments into your database
• # A spammed comments section looks unprofessional, lowering the site value
• # Visitors demotivate to create valuable comments
• # Comment fields are cluttered with garbage content
• # Spammy links are anchored by irrelevant keywords
• # Spammy links link your site to low DA/PA sites

3. Why do people do comment spam?

(c) To inject malicious code via input forms

4. How to identify blog spam comments?

When you start short managing your own website or visit someone else, you will surely find comment spams that are either:

5. How to reduce spam comments on WP sites?

(a) Pre-moderate comments: WordPress has several built-in measures for dealing with blog comment spam and other associated disturbing behavior. Follow the steps below through the WordPress admin dashboard to minimize the comment spam issue.

1. 1. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Other comment settings > Mark Users must be registered and logged in to comment
   2.  
   3. GOOD: Since comments are restricted to registered users, spammers will prefer other blogs that accept guest comments
   4. BAD: The signup requirement also discourages genuine visitors to make comments
   5.  
   6. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Other comment settings > Mark Automatically close comments on post older than ______ days
   7.  
   8. GOOD: Bots cannot comment on older pages
   9. BAD: You won’t be able to receive comments from your genuine visitors after this period of days, usually set to 7, 15, or 30 days
   10.  
   11. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Before a comment appears > Mark Comment must be manually approved
   12.  
   13. GOOD: After setting a comment moderation system, any comment made on your site will be held as pending until it is reviewed by you
   14. BAD: You’ll spend hours checking each comment, to let it through or trash it. Also, you will lose real-time discussions on your site
   15.  
   16. 
   17.  
   18. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Comment moderation > Type 0
   19.  
   20. GOOD: It will decrease the number of spam links allowed per comment, but not avoid at all
   21. BAD: Even if you set the number to 0, it won’t block a spam comment. Spammers may post links with spaces (e.g.; spam . domain. ru), which won’t be counted as a link by WordPress. But, visitors can still recognize them as links, copy them to the address bar, and visit
   22.  
   23. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Comment moderation > Type your blacklist of words either on the Moderation queue box or the Disallowed comment keys box
   24.  
   25. GOOD: It will either hold on queue or trash all comments containing the blacklisted keywords, such as sex shop, supplements, erotic, etc.
   26. BAD: You may be eventually discarding legit comments by your desired readers
   27.  

(b) Install captchas

1. 1. # Install the Simple Google reCAPTCHA plugin > Click on the register your domain link >  Sign in to your Google account to see the Register a new site page > Type yourdomain.com in the Label field > Mark the reCAPTCHA V2 and I’m not a robot Checkbox > Mark Accept the reCAPTCHA Terms of service and Send alerts to owners > Click on Submit to Google shows your COPY SITE KEY and COPY SITE SECRET > Head back to WP Settings >  Google reCAPTCHA keys > Paste your site key and the secret key and Save Changes
   2.  

(c) Keep the Nofollow attribute for comment

1. 1. 1. 1. # In 2005, Google recommended the NoFollow tag (i.e., rel=”nofollow”) to every outbound link in the comments section. NoFollow links instruct Google NOT to follow that link. The NoFollow attribute is set by default in WordPress’ comment section, but some bloggers turn it off, to motivate more legit comments (though it’ll also increase comments spam and thus the server load).

       

.

1. 1. <a href="http://www.domain.com" rel="nofollow">Domain Link</a>

       

(d) Disable comments on a specific post

1. 1. 1. # Posts > All Posts > Open the specific post > Click on the cog icon in the upper right corner > Discussion > Uncheck Comments
      2.  
      3. 
   2.  
   3.  
   4. (e) Disable comments on all posts
   5.  
      1. # Settings > Discussion Settings > Default post settings > Uncheck Allow people to submit comments on new posts
      2.  
      3. 
   6.  
   7. (f) Remove the URL field from the comment form

       

      1. 1. # Install the plugin Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools > QC CLR Settings > Check Remove WEBSITE Field from Comment Form and Remove hyperlink from comment AUTHOR Bio and Save Changes

       

       

Or add the code to Appearance > Editor > Click on functions.php 

add_filter('comment_form_default_fields', 'unset_url_field');
function unset_url_field($fields){
    if(isset($fields['url']))
       unset($fields['url']);
       return $fields;
}

(g) Install an anti-spam WordPress plugin

WordPress plugins can blосk mоѕt tуреѕ of ѕраm соmmеntѕ, such as Akіѕmеt Anti-Spam. Developed by Automattic, the company behind WordPress, this is one of the most popular cloud-based and free anti-spam plugins for WordPress. Its free version is a default WordPress plugin, having a limit of 50,000 comment checks a month. Paid plans start from $5 a month, which is a pretty sweet deal for spam. It also seamlessly integrates with the Jetpack and Contact Form 7 plugins.

Akismet is one of the best options available to avoid spam comments on WordPress. You should note, however, that there are a lot of anti-spam plugins out there, with excellent reviews, and which are free and easily downloadable from the wordpress.org site, such as:

1. # Titan Anti-Spam & Security 
2. # Akismet Spam Protection
3. # Stop spammers Security
4. # WordPress Zero Spam
5. # Anti-Spam Bee
6. # CleanTalk 
7. # WP Cerber

(h) Move to a third-party comments system

There are several privacy-focused, fully-featured commenting platforms out there, which can insert a new comments system to your website, preventing you to get overwhelmed by comments spam. Choose a platform that best suits your needs. We cite here three reliable options:

1. # Disqus
2. # Hyvor Talk
3. # Facebook comments
4.