Site owners are often confronted with automatically generated content left on their web pages. The activity of spambots on the pages of the site interferes not only with users but also with the site owners. No one wants search engines to associate their site with such content. What is more, apart from causing discomfort for users, spambots can even put the safety of your online resource or sensitive information at risk. Therefore, we have decided to provide you with some tips on how to combat and prevent spam on your site.
What to Do?
There are many ways to safeguard your online resource and make it unattractive to spambots. You can activate captcha, use special software, and perform many other operations. Let’s dive deep into the most effective solutions.
#1 – Create a Blacklist of Obviously Spam Words
You can check https://cleantalk.org/blacklists and create a spam blacklist covering both terms that can only be used by spammers and suspicious IPs. You can get them from the spam comments you see frequently on your or other forums. Block obviously inappropriate post comments containing blacklisted words. Built-in functions and plugins can remove or mark such comments as spam.
#2 – Keep Your Site Software up to Date
Pay close attention to important security updates. Spammers benefit from security concerns in older versions of blogs, message boards, etc.
#3 – Configure Captcha
Captcha requires users to prove that they are not spambots. The correct application of captcha proves that the site was visited by a real person and not by an automated script that leaves spam entries.
#4 – Block Suspicious Activity
Many CMS solutions allow you to specify time limits between posts. You can also find and install plugins that look for excessive traffic from specific IP addresses or proxies and other activity that is more common for bots than for human beings.
#5 – Check the Most Active Users
If a user has recently joined your online “community” and is posting an excessive amount of messages, then you might want to check their profile to make sure their comments and publications are not spam.
#6 – Disable Some Types of Comments
It is highly recommended to close some old topics on the forum that are unlikely to have any comments from real users. If you do not plan to monitor your blog or forum and users are no longer interacting with it, completely disabling comments can prevent spammers from bombarding your site.
#7 – Use the “Nofollow” Attribute for Links in the Comment Area
This will deter spammers from targeting your online resource. Many blogs by default add this effective attribute to every comment posted on their pages.