Are you tired of wasting your time deleting spam comments and dealing with unwanted form submissions on your WordPress website? Spam can not only be a nuisance, but it can also damage your website's reputation and user experience.

WordPress spam is any unsolicited content that is sent to your website.. This may include comments, user registrations, posts, and contact form submissions.

Spammers often use WordPress because it is a popular platform with a large user base.. They can easily target WordPress websites with automated scripts that deliver spammy content.

Below, you will discover how to effectively prevent WordPress comment and form spam.

So, if you're ready to improve the user experience on your website, let's dive right in and discover the best ways to protect your site from malicious attacks and ensure your website remains spam-free.

1.- Enable Comment Moderation

This way, you will be able to review all comments before they are published. This is the most basic way to prevent spam, as you can simply delete any spam comments you see.

For this, it is only necessary to go to the "Settings" option of the Wordpress administration panel and then select "Comments". From this section you can define the actions that users can carry out on your website.

Next, check the box "Comment must be manually approved" and then save the changes so that the new criteria is applied to your website.

Then, click on the "Comments" option from the main menu of the Wordpress administration panel.

In this section you will see all the comments entered on your website in chronological order. Below the content of each comment, you'll see a menu where you can approve, reply to, or mark each entry as spam, among other actions, at your discretion.

But if you want to prevent them from posting comments that add links that could take your audience to another website, just specify the number of posts you'll allow with those features in the "Comment moderation" section.

If you enter a zero in the text box, Wordpress will put all comments that have a link in a queue for your approval.

You can also specify other attributes such as specific words, authors, emails or IP addresses that, when detected, the system must queue the comment for review.

2.- Require Users to Register before they can Comment

This will make it more difficult for spammers to leave comments, as the user will need to have an account on your website, and this involves a process that attackers often want to avoid.

To achieve this, you only have to access the "Settings" and "Comments" option of the Wordpress administration panel. Once there, locate the "Other comment settings" section, activate the box that indicates that "Users must be registered and logged in to comment."

3.- Disable All Comments

Comments have an important effect on the organic positioning of the web in search engines, since this becomes an important signal that the site has relevant information for users.

Hence, it is not always convenient to completely disable comments on a website, especially on a blog. But, without a doubt, this is a measure that can be used temporarily to avoid a massive attack of this nature.

To disable comments, you just have to access the "Settings" and "Comments" option in the Wordpress administration panel and uncheck the box that indicates "Allow people to post comments on new posts."

4.- Block the IP

If you receive a lot of spam from a particular IP address, you can block it from the Wordpress admin panel. This can be done by adding the IP address to the blacklist.

You just have to access the "Settings" and "Comments" section of the Wordpress administration panel, locate the "Words rejected in comments" area and add the IP address that shows the spam comment.

5.- Disable Anonymous Comments

By disabling anonymous comments, it is possible to make it more difficult for attackers to spam websites. This is because spammers will need to provide their name and email address in order to leave a comment. This information can be used to track and block spammers.

To disable anonymous comments, you just have to make sure that the check box that indicates "The author of the comment must fill in the name and email" located in the "Other comment settings" section of the "Settings" option and " Comments" from the Wordpress administration panel.

6.- Use a Captcha

CAPTCHA services can help prevent WordPress spam by making it more difficult for bots to submit spam comments. These are challenge-response tests that are designed to distinguish between humans and bots.

To use these services you will have to register your domain on the Google ReCaptcha and select the version of ReCaptcha to use. At the end, you will obtain a key that you must enter into the plugin or complement that you choose to manage this service on your website.

You can choose the free plugin Really Simple CAPTCHA, whose ease of use and security is more than proven. This works for both regular and comment forms for Wordpress.

7.- Install Antispam Plugins

These plugins use a variety of techniques to identify and block spam that can affect forms of any kind. Some of the best known techniques are keyword filtering, IP address blocking, Captchas, among others.

Among the best free antispam plugins is Akismet Anti-Spam which comes pre-installed in Wordpress. Also, you can choose Honeypot Anti-Spam which is also very easy to use since it does not require configuration, just installation and activation.

And it is that Honeypot is an anti spam strategy that uses a hidden field in the forms that is only visible to bots. Bots will fill in these fields, making it easy for the plugin to identify and block them.

8.- Keep the Wordpress Core Updated

Major WordPress updates often include improvements to the spam filtering system. This can help identify and block spam comments and forms.

Spammers use automated scripts to crawl outdated WordPress websites to fill out spam comments or forms. So update the system frequently to close the door to vulnerabilities of this and other types.

Conclusion

Spam is a major problem on WordPress websites.However, there are a number of things you can do to prevent WordPress comment and form spam.

Among the most important actions are:

●       Enable comment moderation.

●       Require user registration to comment.

●       Disable all comments.

●       Block by IP.

●       Disable anonymous comments.

●       Use captcha services.

●       Install an antispam plugin.

●       Keep the WordPress core updated.

By following the advice in this article, you can help keep your website spam-free and improve overall site quality.

Keep in mind that spammers are constantly changing their tactics. It's also important to stay up to date on the latest spam trends so that you can take steps that can protect your website more effectively.

By following these tips, you will be able to keep your WordPress website free from spam and improve the overall user experience.

Thanks for your time ;-)