WP Support Desk

Your 24/7 WordPress Support Team

  • Schedule a Call
  • WordPress
  • WordPress Development
  • WordPress Hosting
  • WordPress Maintenance
  • WordPress Plugins
  • WordPress Security
  • WordPress Support
  • WordPress Themes
  • Website Checklist
Home » Akismet Anti-Spam- An Incredible WordPress Plugin You Should Activate Right Away

Akismet Anti-Spam- An Incredible WordPress Plugin You Should Activate Right Away

Last Updated: July 7, 2022 by WP Support Desk Leave a Comment

  • Total22
Akismet Anti-Spam-

Do you know? Akismet Anti-Spam is an outstanding plugin worthy of right-away activation. You surely will want to know why.

Interacting with your audience is still one of the best ways to build a popular WordPress website. 

And the easiest and most effective way of going about it is by allowing commenting and taking the feedback of your viewers.  But unfortunately, 64% of all internet traffic is from automated sources such as hacking tools, scrapers and spammers, impersonators, and bots. 

According to another source, about 85% of the comments on blogs are spam. This means that only 15 of 100 comments you will get on your website will be authentic.  

Now how do you filter spam from legitimate comments on your website?

Here is where the Akismet Anti Spam plugin comes in. 

When you activate Akismet it starts filtering out spam from your website based on the information that it has from all of the other websites which have this plugin.

Akismet anti-spam plugin filters spam from contact forms and comment sections.

The importance of Akismet can be understood by the fact it is one of the few default plugins that you get once you install WordPress.

Why should I use Akismet Anti-Spam Plugin?

Well, its pretty simple,

To protect your website from spam.

  • It comes pre-installed with WordPress, meaning that WordPress finds it so important that they think everyone should have it. 
  • Google recommends that you use Akismet to prevent comment spam. 
  • It automatically checks all comments and filters out the ones that look spam. 
  • Allowing spam on your website shows that you don’t really care about your website.
  • Google can penalize you for links found in spam on your website.
  • You put your users at risk of clicking on the spam links.
  • It is regularly updated and a reliable plugin.
  • It uses captcha configuration to understand whether the action is taken by a bot or a non-spamming human.
  • It’s a free plugin and even if you upgrade to a plan it’s very affordable.

Akismet Anti-Spam Plugin History

The name Akismet comes from two words Auttomatic and Kismet. Auttomatic is the company behind Akismet.

Akismet was developed WordPress co-founder by Matt Mullenweg, the man behind WordPress himself back in 2005.  

He developed it for his mother so she could blog safely without spam. which was a major problem at that time. Akismet was introduced when not many solutions were available to control spam.  

The original plugin was not as successful as he had hoped it would be. Spammers downloaded it and reverse-engineered it to see how it worked. 

But Akismet’s algorithm was improved such that it learned from its mistakes with the help of contributors.

So now if a bunch of websites report the same content as Akismet would also start identifying that content as spam. 

How to Install and Activate Akismet Anti-Spam?

You can easily install Akismet by following these steps:

  1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.
  2. In the left-hand pane, click Plugins.
  3. Under Akismet, click Activate
activate plugin from dashboard

4. Click Activate your Akismet account, and then click Create a new Akismet key by following the instructions given.

sign up to akismet

5. Once you receive the Akismet confirmation e-mail, go to the WordPress plugins page again.

your unique akismet API key

6. Under Akismet, click Settings.

7. Click I already have a key.

Enter API key to configure Akismet anti-spam plugin

8. In the Akismet API Key text box, paste the API key that you received in the e-mail message.

9. To configure Akismet, click Settings under Akismet

get akismet settings

10. Click Save Changes.

Approving Comments With Akismet

Once you have Akismet installed and activated, every comment that you receive will need to be manually approved.

You will receive a dashboard notification in the comment tab.

Comment notification via Akismet

When you hover over the individual comment, you will see the following options:

  • Approve
  • Reply
  • Quick Edit
  • Spam
  • Trash
approving comment options with Akismet anti spam

Depending on your policy you can decide what you want to do with the comment. Akismet automatically filters most of the known spam comments, the ones it doesn’t you can mark as spam manually.

Monitoring Spam With A.kis.met Anti-Spam Plugin

The Akismet antispam plugin allows you to monitor its activity. As soon as it’s installed it starts filtering out spam.

It shows you its activity stats in the form of tables depending on the type of plan that you are using.

login into your Akismet account and click on the Active Site section, here you will see the activity and blocked spam on all the sites you have added.

You can also have a look at these amazing stats from your WordPress dashboard.

you’ll see the type of ability if you are on the basic plan.

basic akismet anti spam stats

This gives you a good and easy-to-comprehend overview of Akismet monthly spam blocking activity.

Monthly spam blocking activity

The advanced stats give you a more detailed and wider picture of your website spam activity and how Akismet is blocking them.

akismet anti spam advanced stats

Akismet Criticism:

Akismet is sometimes criticized for

  • Giving false positives means that some legitimate comments get marked as spam.
  • You wouldn’t know if your comment gets marked as spam. 

Conclusion

If you are a website or blog owner, it is essential that you do something to block spam. Spams are bad for your website’s health, they affect your website ranking as well as your online credibility.

Akismet is a pre-installed anti-spam plugin that you get when you install WordPress. All you have to do is activate it.

It’s a good plugin that serves its purpose well. We use it on our and our client’s websites.

However, there are many other anti-spam plugins that you can use depending on the needs of your website.

What anti-spam plugin do you use? Let us know in the comment section below.

Also feel free to email us if you need any WP Support.

Professional Blog Setup Service In Just $79

Hate wasting time? Our expert blog setup service will save you time & $$$.

Click here to start

You will Get

  • Hosting selection advice
  • WordPress installation
  • Premium theme
  • Contact form setup
  • Pro security plugin
  • Yoast SEO plugin initial setup
  • Speed optimization
  • Total22

Filed Under: WordPress Plugins

WP Support Desk

We are a team of WordPress consultants, developers & customer happiness support members who are consulting, developing, maintaining and providing WordPress support since 2010.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WordPress Guides

  • What is WordPress? All You Need to Know
  • How to Build a Website – Start With Why
  • How to Build a WordPress Website From Scratch
  • How to Decide the Best Hosting for WordPress
  • What is WordPress Management? All You Need to Know
  • Best WordPress Plugins – Ultimate List
  • Ultimate WordPress Security Checklist – Updated 2020
  • 15 Best WordPress Themes for Blogs, Business & Ecommerce
  • Image Optimization for WordPress in 2020: Everything You Need to Know
  • How to Conduct a WordPress Site Audit – A Compete Guide
  • WordPress Speed Optimization – A Complete Guide

Professional Blog Setup Service In Just $79

Hate wasting time? Our expert blog setup service will save you time & $$$.

Click here to start

You will Get

  • Hosting selection advice
  • WordPress installation
  • Premium theme
  • Contact form setup
  • Pro security plugin
  • Yoast SEO plugin initial setup
  • Speed optimization
footer logo

SERVICES

  • WordPress Development
  • WordPress Support
  • WordPress Maintenance
  • Blog Setup Service

RESOURCES

  • What is WordPress? All You Need to Know
  • How to Build a WordPress Website From Scratch
  • WordPress Website Launch Checklist – Updated 2023
  • Ultimate WordPress Security Checklist – Updated 2023
  • How to Conduct a WordPress Site Audit – A Compete Guide
  • WordPress Speed Optimization – A Complete Guide
  • Yoast SEO Plugin – A Complete Guide for On-Page SEO in 2023

COMPANY

  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Contact WP Support Desk
  • ©2023 WP Support Desk
  • Affiliate Disclaimer
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
WP Support Desk is the trading name of BTLtimes.com Limited Registered in England & Wales | Company No: 07204533

Copyright © 2023 · WP Support Desk on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are 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 affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT