This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

There’s nothing worse than to find that your contact form ( or any form for that matter) has been blown up with spam submissions. This is a huge waste of time and unfortunately, something all website owners have to deal with at some point.Sifting through form spam not only wastes your time. It also wreaks havoc on your resources, especially if you have a limited number of form submissions per your free or paid plan.Not to mention, it takes your time & effort away from qualified leads and those that genuinely need to get in touch with you.And if you don’t take the time to clean up spam submissions ( and ultimately stop them) you run the risk of hurting your brand’s reputation if these spammy messages end up on the frontend of your website for site visitors to see.That’s why I’m hereto help. Being a website owner myself, I understand how frustrating and stressful dealing with form spam can be.Luckily there are ways to combat it and make your life alittle easier. After all, we all have things we’d rather be doing than sortingout a form spam situation gone bad.So, let’s get started!

Receiving lots of spam emails from contact forms on WordPress websites is. To reduce/remove spam coming from your WordPress website.

Table of Contents.What is form spam?In technical terms, form spam happens when maliciousentities or back actors submit unwanted information through online forms tophish or send abusive messages.In simpler terms, form spam is when unwanted messages make their way through your website’s forms ( and sometimes onto the frontend of your site) – oftentimes without you even noticing. Why Does Form Spam Exist?You might be thinking to yourself that form spam shouldn’t be an issue these days. After all, traditional email spam is for the most part under control thanks to advanced spam filters designed to block spam messages.But web forms just aren’t quite there yet and spam continues to plague them in the form of junk messages and irrelevant links.Adding to that, form spam continues to happen because it works.For example, spammers look for vulnerabilities in your site’s forms so they can hijack them and use them to relay email spam messages to others.These emails arrive in people’s inboxes looking like emails you might send. Then, people unknowingly open and even click through to what they believe will be your website, only to find themselves on an entirely different site. The spammer now reaps the rewards thanks to the increase in site traffic and increased site engagement.In addition, spammers look to take advantage of any web forms on your website that may publish their messages, complete with hyperlinks to other websites and products, so they can gain the link equity and boost in SEO.A great example of where this commonly occurs is when a website owner allows automatic comment publishing on their site. How Does FormSpam Work?Okay, so you know form spam is a problem that you need to get under control.

But I thinkunderstanding how form spam works will help you better understand how to goabout stopping it.Form spam is performed in two ways: 1. Manual SpammingManual spamming happens when people hired by companies manually fill out web forms found all across the web with information linking back to companies that need link juice.This type of form spam is the most difficult to beat because human spammers can get through most (if not all) anti-spam measures that you can put in place.That being said, it’s also a time-consuming process, so there’s a chance your site may never fall victim to manual form spam unless it is extremely popular (in which case, congrats to you! SpambotsSpambot spamming happens when programs are built to seek out web forms on the internet and fill them out, mainly with the hope that the message will appear somewhere on the website.For example, a commenting or testimonial form that allowsmessages to publish automatically on your site without approval can have thistype of spam, complete with junk text and hyperlinks leading back to otherwebsites.This type of form spam is easier to combat because spam bots are not humans and have a tough time getting past some of the more advanced anti-spam measures. That said, this does not make them any less harmful.

In fact, some spambots will even try to inject scripts into your site so they can hijack your site or leave invisible links and gain the SEO advantage.Plus, spammers running spambots don’t care if you can stop them. Spambots are so powerful they can access millions of websites a day.

At one point, they will find a vulnerability, take advantage of it, and get their reward.So, how do you stopform spam you ask? Well, I just happen to have an entire arsenal of tipsand tricks you can start using today. 6 Ways to Stop Form SpamIf you want to combat form spam, you’re going to need to do everything in your power to make it difficult, if not impossible, for automated bots to fill out your forms.But at the same time, you have to find the balance and make your website’s forms as easy as possible for real website visitors to fill out. Use Contact Forms (Not Email Addresses). Listen, I get it.

Your online business contact informationprobably has an email address alongside the physical address/office, telephonenumber, and social icons. And yourcustomers probably love this because it gives them a direct way to get intouch with you or your team.But if eliminating as much spam as possible is on your list of things to do, your first task should be getting rid of that email address on your site.The reason is, spambots trolling websites looking for web forms to submit also seek out email addresses they can harvest and use as a way to spam others. Of course, you can always fight spambots using a WordPress plugin like to protect your email addresses and mailto links.That said, this isn’t likely to be a forever solution.Because of this, we recommend using a reliable WordPress contact form plugin like and getting rid of your email address. A320 glass cockpit software informer download. This freemium contact form solution is not only easy to use and has all the features you need like payment fields, file uploads, and conditional logic, it has built-in reCAPTCHA technology to help you fight form spam every step of the way. Not to mention, it accomplishes the same thing an email does; it gives people a direct line of communication to you or your team. The only difference is, you won’t have to waste any time sorting through the spam submissions.

Use GooglereCAPTCHAYou may not know this, but a few years back, Google officially killed CAPTCHA.Don’t know what CAPTCHA is? Lucky you.For those that do remember, seeing an image like this one likely makes you cringe.The concept behind CAPTCHA was genius. Install the Akismet WordPress Anti-Spam PluginI don’t suggest using justan anti-spam WordPress plugin on your website to fight intelligent spambotstrying to submit forms on your site.That said, a high-quality anti-spam solution like does a great job complementing any of the above-mentioned form spam prevention strategies. This is especially true if you notice your website is full of comment spam, which is often submitted through the comment forms on your blog posts.Here’s a quick rundown of some of Akismet’s top features:. Automated checks of all comment and contact form submissions for spam.

Filtering of all submissions that look spammy. An easy-to-view dashboard of all filtered submissions.

‘Unspam’ feature for mistaken spam flaggingTo use Akismet ( which is completely free if all you need is basic spam protection), go to Plugins Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Then, search for ‘Akismet.’.

When you find it, click Install Now and then Activate.Akismet is pretty much an out-of-the-box anti-spam solution that will help clear your site of unwanted form spam and free up time for you to focus on other more important things like growing your following or online business. Final Thoughts: The Right Way to Handle Form SpamIn the end, there is no perfect solution that will allow you to entirely prevent form spam on your website but that certainly doesn’t mean you just have to give in and deal with it.Take a look at the ways you can stop form spam, whether manual or automated and be proactive when it comes to protecting your website from spam as well as the user experience. And whatever you do, don’t fully rely on any single strategy to stop all the spam on your website.

Keep a close eye on things to make sure nothing is slipping by and threatening the UX or your reputation as a well-established website owner in your industry.Wonder what people think & how they feel about your website or product?Take a look at our complete guide to creating a to ensure the perception of your brand is positive and make improvements where needed.Which form spam prevention methods do you use on your WordPress website?We’d love to hear all about in the comments below!