Spam is a problem with any website. Whether it is robotic bots trying to capitalize on your traffic or a real person trying to steal your hard-earned website traffic, spam is something that plagues every website owner. If you would like to stop spam on your site, there are a variety of actions you can take to decrease the amount of spam that you see on your site.
Comment Verification
Many spammers will try to add spammy links to your website comments. You want real comments from people who actually enjoy your website, so getting rid of comments entirely can hurt you. However, you can turn on comment verification to prevent robots from posting on your site. Comment verifications like Captcha are popular, and effective at blocking most spam bots. However, many real people hate comment verification, and may stop visiting your site if you use it.
Manual Comment Approval
Another option for websites is to use manual comment approval. Before each comment goes live, a site owner or moderator must approve the comment. This is an effective way to weed-out spam, but if you get a lot of comments, this will cause your site actions to be a lot more time consuming.
E-mail Confirmation
Most sites offer RSS sign-ups and e-mail subscriptions. However, many bots will use these sign-ups to send you spam messages over and over. One way to stop this is to send a confirmation email to each person that signs up. If they are real fans of your site, they will have to click on the link to actually receive the subscription. All robots and spammers will not click the link, freeing your website of a source of spam.
Spam Blocking Plugins
Most web hosting platforms offer spam-blocking detection services. One of the most popular is Akismit. This plugin offers a free option to non-business sites, and a subscription option for business sites. Disqus is another spam-blocking plugin that is highly effective.
Get Rid of @ Signs
One way that many spammers use to send spam is to look for listed email addresses on websites. The spammers then send the spam messages to the listed addresses. You can eliminate this form of spam by eliminating the @ sign from any email addresses listed on your site. You can use contact forms instead, or simply spell out the word “at.”
Protect Your Server
Most web hosting platforms have security measures in place that are designed to block spam. You can help prevent spam by ensuring that these security measures are up to date and that you always use the latest versions of your software and theme. This will help stop spammers before they even get to your site.
If you need more help blocking spam, professional help is the way to go. A competent website building company, such as 1&1, can help you build a website that is professional and spam-free. If you would like to learn more about building your own website, or having a professional build your site for you, you can contact 1&1 for more information.