The Best Spam Blocker Plugins for Your WordPress Website

I was recently asked how I prevent spam comments on my WordPress website. I can suggest five of the best spam blocker plugins for your WordPress website.  There several plugins available to free and some have a paid option. I use Akismet and CleanTalk.

Both plugins have been very effective in reducing the spam comments. Not using a anti spam plugin can be a nightmare. Spammers are active 24/7/365. The plugins scan the comments to determine if they are spam. If the plugin considers a comment to be spam, it will automatically move it to a spam folder if you moderate your comments.

 

Why Do People Spam?

One marketing strategy involves leaving comments on websites in an effort to get a back-link to a particular website. Apparently, it is effective because so many people do it on a continuous basis, but it is a black-hat marketing strategy and one I do not agree with. I enjoy reading blogs and only leave a comment if I have something to add.

I strongly recommend moderating your comments. Yes, it is something else to put on your plate, but it is worth it in my opinion.

 

 

Five Highly Rated Anti-Spam WordPress Plugins:

These five anti spam plugins have high ratings, reviews from actual users, and thousands of installs. They are also updated on a regular basis and very easy to setup. Those are three attributes I use to determine which plugins to install.  Even if the plugin has not been tested for theme compatibility, go ahead and try it.

• Akismet
• CleanTalk
• Anti-spam
• WP-Spam Shield Anti-Spam
• WordPress Zero Spam

 

How To Block The IP Address of People Who Leave Spam Comments

Another very effective plugin is Wordfence which has a free and paid option.  It is a security plugin that enables you to block IP addresses.  Although the anti spam plugins don’t stop spam 100% of the time, they will move the comment into your spam folder if you moderate your comments.  This will allow you to read the comment and decide if you feel it is spam. 

The IP address is visible below the person’s email address when they leave a comment.  I usually copy the person’s IP address and go out to Google to see if they are on the spam lists, or if they are considered a hacker.  If either one comes back in the search, I block their IP address so they can’t access my site. 

They can always change their IP address, but to limit future spam from them, I also blacklist their email, website, and certain words they use in their comments.  Do to this, go to your ‘settings’ and click on ‘Discussion’.  Scroll down to locate the box for blacklisting.

I had one person who changed their IP address several times so they could access my site.  I ended up utilizing the blacklist option and they have not left a comment since.

 

Conclusion

I hope this post has helped you learn more about stopping spam comments.  Try the different anti spam plugins to decide which is best for you.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam