Here at SeanSEO.com we get our fair share of spam! Thankfully, we have Askimet. Askimet is a plug-in for WordPress that’s free to use and simply requires you activate it using your API. If you don’t know how to find your WordPress API, go to your global dashboard and you’ll find it easily.
Askimet doesn’t stop everything and it can occasionally catch non-spam but it works very well at minimizing the amount of blog spam you get.
What’s Wrong With Blog Spam?
A lot of site owners are trying to buy quality backlinks to their sites. Unfortunately, some of the services they use in order to try to buy those links will resort to very spammy measures. A lot of spam includes links to pornography sites with non-sensical comments that are filled with obscene links.
Not All Links Are Good Links….
In terms of SEO, you want to be associated with sites that will help you instead of hurt you. Sites that have good page rank and that are about relevant topics can boost your own site’s rankings. Some sites allow pingbacks automatically so when you link to them in your site, a link will turn up on that other site. Some website owners prefer to moderate these links to be sure that the site will add value to their on page and off page SEO. While moderating takes a bit of effort, it is a good idea to do it otherwise you might not be getting all the attention from search engines that you want.
In your blog, you can decide if you want to moderate comments and pingbacks, allow them openly or block them entirely. The choice is yours. While different internet marketers and pro bloggers have varying opinions on the matter it’s important that you do take the time to make a decision because ignoring spam could cause it to spiral out of control and penalize your site’s reptuation.
About Sean Rasmussen
I definitely moderate my site.
I don’t want anything to hurt my online activities
Hi Sean,
I’m not sure I understand why someone would want to buy backlinks. I thought for a backlink to really help you, it was best if it was highly relevant to your site. It helps if it has a good PR, comes from an authority site, and is linked using your anchor text.
I understand that all backlinks count but couldn’t ones like the kind you get when you buy them actually do you more harm? I mean, they’re not really worth anything to you that I can see because you have no control over where they come from.
I’m sorry Sean but I don’t know how to moderate my links. How do I moderate these pingbacks?
I definitely moderate my site and delete any comments that look spammy. In some cases I have deleted the link only because it went to a weird site. I once was told “your site – your rules” and I work it that way.
Hi Sean
I have Akismet plug in on my site as I was getting Russian spam on my blog in the early part of setting it up and I haven’t had any trouble since.
I don’t have much on my site yet but that is all about to change very soon and then I will be moderating my site and making sure that spam is kept to a minimum though I am hoping Akismet will continue to do a good job. I certainly don’t want my site becoming inundated with spam and getting out of control.
I also have Akismet plugin on my sites only once has aspam comment got through and I do keep a check on the comments.
To prevent spam from hurting my blogs I always moderate comments left on my blogs. When I was a newbie, I didn’t moderate and was inundated with spammy links for all kinds of crap. It didn’t take long to learn that the comments had to be moderated. So it is another little task that’s in my time management system. I also usually configure things s o that I’m notified via email when comments are left on one of the blogs.
Hi Don,
When I was a beginner I let spam links through that I should have deleted. It didn’t take long to work out which ones were spam and which ones were genuine.
I have only had my blogs for a couple of weeks and I am have absolutely amazed at the spam which has been coming in which Akismet has picked up (thankfully). I hadnt thought of this spam coming from paid services (I assume it is those ones which offer 200 backlinks a day etc), but it makes sense. I am worried about blobking someone who has made a valid contribution so for the amount of comments I am receiving it is an easy task just to sort through them each day.