Enabling comments and contact form messages on your pages and posts is a good way to improve your visitors’ engagement rate. Unfortunately, they are prone to spam messages, usually consisting of random advertisements and suspicious links that direct to irrelevant Web sites.
If left unchecked, spam can adversely affect user experience and harm ‘search engine optimization (SEO) . Web crawlers see spam comments as red flags, and Google may even remove the content from its search results.
An effective way to block spammers from your WordPress site is to install an anti-spam plugin, such as Automattic’s Akismet AntiSpam .This article will discuss everything about the plugin, including its use, key features, and the installation process.
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What is Akismet Anti-Spam plugin?
Akismet Anti-Spam plugin is a cloud-based application that filters out spammers on your WordPress website. Developed by the same company behind WordPress.com , this plugin has more than 5 million downloads .
Akismet has several important features, such as:
- Scanning your blog, comments and contact forms.
- Displaying URLs in the body of comments to identify misleading links.
- Setting up a status history for each comment to help identify whether it was deleted by Akismet or a moderator.
- Allow moderators to configure spam parameters such as keywords and links.
- Deletion feature to block significant spam messages, saving disk space and speeding up your WordPress site.
Akismet identifies WordPress spam comments using anti-spam algorithms. Whenever a user posts a comment, Akismet examines it against its database. If the algorithms identify a comment as spam, it will be removed from your website.
The algorithms also learn from actions taken by users to identify spam e-mail addresses. For example, when many users flag a specific comment as spam, Akismet will automatically mark it.
Akismet also allows users to filter comments manually: the algorithms will then record this action and use it to filter real user comments from spam comments.
However, there are cases when algorithms accidentally identify legitimate users as spammers. This problem occurs when a user’s comment is marked as spam on other sites, resulting in false positives. To prevent this from happening, check the moderation queue regularly.
Why use Akismet anti-spam WordPress?
If you do not wish to activate an anti-spam plugin, you can perform manual comment moderation to prevent comment spam on your WordPress website . Having said that, however, remember that it is a time-consuming process and is prone to human error.
For this reason, installing a plugin is a better alternative. The tool can quickly identify hundreds of comments, forms and posts and then eliminate those that include spam.
Akismet Anti-Spam is our best recommendation among other spam-blocking plugins. Here’s why:
- Reliable : The plugin has blocked over 500 million spam comments to date. With such a large database, it is getting better at distinguishing spam comments.
- Integration with Contact Form 7 : by combining these two platforms, the Akismet service can further improve the security of your site and block contact form spam.
- Statistics monitoring : This feature provides data on your site’s spam activity. It displays monthly and annual spam graphs.
- Easy to use : the plugin comes by default on WordPress installations. This allows you to easily configure and activate it.
With its wide variety of features that reduce manual comment moderation, Akismet allows you to focus on creating content and managing the rest of your website.
Akismet Anti-Spam also offers a freemium pricing model, so you can purchase premium features and increase its performance. There are dedicated plans for both personal and commercial use, starting at $8.33/month .
How to configure Akismet plugin
Akismet Anti-Spam comes as a default application with a WordPress installation. However, the plugin requires an API key upon activation. The following sections will guide you through an easy way to configure Akismet and get it working on your site.
- Install and activate the Akismet plugin.
If the plugin is not already installed on your WordPress site, go ahead and locate it in the plugins directory.
1.Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to the Plugins menu .
2.Select the Add New option and type “Akismet Spam Protection” in the search bar.
3.Click the Install Now button to start installing the plugin . Once the process is complete, press Activate .
4.Upon activation, the software will prompt you to enter an API key in the field provided.
5.Keep this window open and follow the steps below to obtain an API key for the Akismet Anti-Spam plugin.
- Get the Akismet anti spam API key.
An API key functions as a password for your Akismet account and helps the server recognize you as an authorized user.
With this in mind, it is essential to keep your API key secure to prevent any misbehavior.
Users can use the same API key for more than one WordPress site, depending on the subscription plan. To get yours go to the Akismet website .
1.Click on the Configure Your Akismet Account button to start setting up your account.
2.Choose a subscription plan. There are paid subscriptions for larger projects or companies and a free version for personal use.
3.If you have a personal website that does not show ads, sell products, or engage in sales promotions, you can choose the free option. To do so, click on the Get personal button and drag the price bar to $0 .
4.Fill in your information in the fields provided. Then, check all the boxes. When finished, click Continue with personal subscription.
5.Akismet will send a verification code to your registered email address. Check your email and return to your account page.
6.Enter the confirmation code in the field provided, then press Continue.
- Add the Akismet anti spam WordPress API key.
Once the email has been verified, Akismet will send a message containing your API key. Follow these next steps to connect your WordPress site with Akismet Anti-Spam.
1.Go back to the activation page on the akismet WordPress dashboard. You can also go to the Plugins menu then to Installed Plugins , locate the Akismet plugin and press Settings .
2.Enter your API key and click the Link with API key button .
3.Configure your preferences and save all changes.
Akismet Anti-Spam has been successfully added to your site. The plugin will automatically start scanning for spam comments and forms on your site as soon as it is activated.
Tracking spam with Akismet
Akismet Anti-Spam also allows you to monitor spam activity on your WordPress site. With the free version, you will view basic statistics, such as the total number of spam, lost spam, and false positives.
In contrast, subscribing to Akismet Plus and later versions gives users access to Advanced Statistics , a comprehensive report on your account data and diagnostics to identify problematic aspects of your site.
To view your Akismet statistics, go to your account page and scroll to the bottom to find the Recent Active Sites menu .
Clicking the highlighted button will take you to the Akismet statistics page . You can choose to view monthly or annual data depending on your subscription plan.
In addition to helping users analyze plugin performance, these statistics are useful for monitoring multiple active websites. The data allows you to monitor your spam levels and take immediate action whenever suspicious activity occurs.
Conclusion
Spam comments or messages are unsolicited responses from both automated bots and human spammers. This problem will become inevitable as your website traffic increases and attracts unwanted attention.
These comments can damage your site’s credibility, reputation, and security. A spammer can also leave malicious links in the comments section and damage your site’s SEO. Fortunately, WordPress provides several anti-spam plugins.
One of the most reliable plugins for blocking WordPress spam is Akismet Anti-Spam . It has a large global database and uses advanced anti-spam algorithms.
To recap, let’s go through each step required to activate Akismet:
1.Install Akismet Anti-Spam on your WordPress site.
2.Sign up for one of the subscription plans to get an API key.
3.Connect Akismet to WordPress using the API key.
4.Monitor your site statistics from your Akismet account page.
We hope this article helps answer any questions you may have about the Akismet Anti-Spam plugin.