Running a blog or website takes time and dedication. We all want to be noticed, and couldn’t be happier when we see that somebody has commented on one of our posts. Unfortunately, many of these comments end up being low-quality; disguised forms of spam, in other words. Sometimes, there is a temptation to leave these comments if they’re relevant enough, but this hardly ever is a good idea. If your website is suffering from an influx of user spam, then you’ll want to find out about how you can reduce its occurrence and why you should reduce it. We’ll cover these topics below so that you can act on them.

Spam Hurts Your Rankings

Allowing any user to come in and start pinging URLs to whatever websites they’re promoting may seem innocuous, but it is actually downright dangerous. First of all, depending on your website, some comments can actually contain malicious code that gives would-be hackers backdoor access to your website. They will in turn use this to inject more hidden links and keywords that search engines will flag as spam. However, the biggest threat pertains to the links in these comments and how search engines view them: in most instances, it can create an association between those websites and yours. Most of the time, these websites are of low-quality and can actually harm your SEO rankings via this association.

Use Captchas and Verification

In order to allow people to post to your website (and simultaneously cut-off the influx of spammer bots), you should implement one or more forms of verification. Captcha systems are among the most popular and require users to enter a code that can only be read by humans before submitting a post. In addition to this, you can implement other features such as time limits in between consecutive posts. This will ensure that your website’s comment section cannot be abused – even if you are filtering comments or requiring that they be approved by you before appearing publicly.

Other Steps to Consider

It’s important that you keep your website’s content management system up-to-date. Whether you’re using WordPress or another solution, people are constantly looking for exploits in older versions. By updating each time there is a new version, you can reduce this risk dramatically. In addition, you can further minimize any potential penalties by applying the nofollow tag to all user comments. This way, even if any malicious or low-quality links get through, they will not be associated with your website. Furthermore, you can further reduce the occurrence of spam by applying registration standards and/or minimum post counts before being able to submit links in comments. This will help ensure that only those who genuinely have something to say can do so.

Whether people are pinging URLs or merely trying to promote their own interests, there is a lot of spam commentary on the web today. You can help improve the look and feel of your website – while simultaneously protecting its SEO integrity – by following a few simple steps. Make sure to use at least one form of verification, consider stricter user registration standards for comments and make sure that links are not associated with your website by default. If you follow these tips, then your blog or website will be safe from the effects of spam!