{"id":820,"date":"2015-12-21T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.knownhost.com\/?p=820"},"modified":"2023-03-10T08:52:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T13:52:50","slug":"tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam on Your Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Updated October 30, 2019<\/h2>\n<p>The spam situation has gotten a lot better from where it was ten years ago. However, don\u2019t kid yourself into believing that this is a problem left behind. It\u2019s a problem that\u2019s very much with us today, and it\u2019s evolving. Most of us comment on blogs using our social media accounts. Well, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/articles\/2012-05-24\/likejacking-spammers-hit-social-media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">40% of social media accounts<\/a> are spam. Therefore, that means a huge number of blog comments are also spam. We\u2019re going to give you some tips for identifying and controlling comment spam on your blog.<\/p>\n<h2>Important Terms You Need to Know<\/h2>\n<p>Before we begin this blog, there are three terms you need to know about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comments <\/strong>\u2013 These are created using the comment form on your blog. It\u2019s a form of direct engagement with your content.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pingbacks <\/strong>\u2013 These are created automatically if someone links to your blog from one of their blogs. It\u2019s a form of social sharing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Trackbacks <\/strong>\u2013 These are manual notifications from a single blogger that they have linked to your blog in a post of theirs. These are the original forms of pingbacks, but they are still used today.<\/p>\n<p>Spot the difference between pings and comments by looking at the following. Trackbacks and pingbacks (pings) will have a link, a blog title, and a sample of the external blog as the comment.<\/p>\n<h2>Identifying Spam<\/h2>\n<p>You can ask the following questions to decide whether you want something on your blog. The answers will normally tell you whether something is spam or not.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Would your blog\u2019s visitors want to click on the author\u2019s link?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Has the author used a real name or have they used keywords?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022 Is the comment specific to the post or could it apply to any post?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Has the comment author used several email and web addresses to make comments?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022 Does the author use a real email address? If it\u2019s domain-specific, the chances are it\u2019s not a real email address.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What about Third-Party Comment Systems?<\/h2>\n<p>One option to combat spam is to use a third-party comment system. For WordPress, you have Disqus and Livefyre, to name just two options. They usually come with a range of features to make moderation easily.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, they don\u2019t always work because simply by virtue of having an account you can guarantee that all your comments will be automatically approved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Reasons Why Third-Party Comment Systems aren\u2019t Always Good for Business<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022 These third-party comment systems influence site loading speed. This, in turn, hits you hard when it comes to SEO.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0You don\u2019t always have control over your comments. If your change systems down the road, you can lose all comments accepted under this system.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2022 These comment systems aren\u2019t always the most user friendly, which can discourage genuine comments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Making the Right Settings<\/h2>\n<p>The right settings are essential to help you control spam. You can do this without the use of third-party products. Let\u2019s take a look at the basic settings to use.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First Time Comment Authors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most spammers have never hit your blog before. Moderating comments from first time authors is a way to stop spammers, while at the same time not hurting your regular following. Just make sure you occasionally take a look at regular commentators to ensure they are still posting quality.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remove Trackbacks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Trackback spam can be worse than comment spam. Trackbacks are rarely worth it, but you can modify them from the Incoming Links part of your dashboard. We recommend switching them off entirely because they are too easy to quickly spam a website with.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Turn Off Comments after 30-60 Days<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spammers search for blogs with a decent PageRank. You only get a PageRank after a few months. Therefore, it makes sense to turn off comments after a month or two because most serious commenters will have stopped posting by then.<\/p>\n<p>Most blogs reach the peak of popularity within two weeks of publication.<\/p>\n<h2>Control Spam with Plugins<\/h2>\n<p>Plugins are ideal for working with the WordPress platform. In many ways, they are superior than the third-party systems because they don\u2019t slow the whole website down. These are the main three we recommend.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akismet.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Akismet<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 This plugin was built specifically for the WordPress system. It costs between $5 and $50 per month. Just beware that occasionally genuine comments are placed into your spam folder. It largely runs on its own without the need for your input, though.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/commentluv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CommentLuv<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 This plugin isn\u2019t actually linked to spam. It provides a box where people can post a link to their blog. It\u2019s really a way for blog owners to spot when a website isn\u2019t relevant. It\u2019s more to manually help you out with your moderation.<\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Find out how KnownHost can help you with your CMS hosting needs.&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:8403841,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;10&quot;:2,&quot;11&quot;:0,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri, sans-serif&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:11,&quot;26&quot;:400}\"><strong><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/wordpress-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find out how KnownHost can further help you with your blog hosting needs.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated October 30, 2019 The spam situation has gotten a lot better from where it was ten years ago. However, don\u2019t kid yourself into believing that this is a problem left behind. It\u2019s a problem that\u2019s very much with us today, and it\u2019s evolving. Most of us comment on blogs using our social media accounts. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[154,217],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wordpress","tag-comments","tag-spam"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KnownHost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnownHost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/spam-964521_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"664\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KnownHost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KnownHost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alex\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/659373fdc5d0ec62fb1a0888afe4690d\"},\"headline\":\"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam on Your Blog\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":806,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"comments\",\"spam\"],\"articleSection\":[\"WordPress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam on Your Blog\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"KnownHost.com\",\"description\":\"Quality Managed Web Hosting by KnownHost\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"KnownHost, LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"KnownHost, LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/KnownHost\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/KnownHost\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/knownhost\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/659373fdc5d0ec62fb1a0888afe4690d\",\"name\":\"Alex\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.knownhost.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/reliablesoft\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam","description":"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam","og_description":"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/","og_site_name":"KnownHost","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnownHost\/","article_published_time":"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":664,"url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/spam-964521_1280.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alex","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KnownHost","twitter_site":"@KnownHost","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/"},"author":{"name":"Alex","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/659373fdc5d0ec62fb1a0888afe4690d"},"headline":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam on Your Blog","datePublished":"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/"},"wordCount":806,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["comments","spam"],"articleSection":["WordPress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/","url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/","name":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-21T14:00:17+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-10T13:52:50+00:00","description":"Is your blog suffering from spam comments? If so, learn how to identify comment spam and how to keep it under control in this article.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/tips-for-identifying-and-controlling-comment-spam-on-your-blog\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tips for Identifying and Controlling Comment Spam on Your Blog"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/","name":"KnownHost.com","description":"Quality Managed Web Hosting by KnownHost","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"KnownHost, LLC","url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/logo.png","width":1200,"height":400,"caption":"KnownHost, LLC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnownHost\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KnownHost","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/knownhost"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/659373fdc5d0ec62fb1a0888afe4690d","name":"Alex","url":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/author\/reliablesoft\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18404,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions\/18404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knownhost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}