By Carole Hayward

You’ve got your blog up and running, and based on your social media consultant’s advice, you are posting regularly. You get a notification from your blog host that you have a comment on your latest post. Exciting, right? This is what you’ve been hoping for, a chance to engage with your readers, and get a little dialogue going. But when you read the comment, you just aren’t quite sure whether this is a legitimate comment or blog spam (Wikipedia says that the term for this is blam. I haven’t heard it called that myself, but there’s my new word for the day).

Tips to Determine Blog Spam

I’ve been in the position myself, and I know that it’s sometimes difficult to assess whether a comment is for real. Here are some clues to look for:

1. If the comment includes a link to content or a site that has nothing to do with what your post was about, it’s probably blog spam. If your blog is on stone construction and the link included with the blog comment is for NFL Jerseys, mark it as spam and move on. Note: It can be difficult to tell, though. If your blog is about blogging, and you get a comment that includes a link to another blog that’s not about blogging, is it blog spam or not? In these cases, I go with my gut feeling. Nine times out of ten, I’ll mark them as spam. It’s possible that I’m overlooking a legitimate comment, but I’d rather not take the chance.

2. If the comment is written in such a way that it could have been left as a comment on any other blog post, then it’s blog spam. Many times the post is extremely flattering and praises you to the hilt for your expertise. Here’s an example:

I’m impressed, I have to say. Rarely do I encounter a blog that is both educational and entertaining, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head.

3. If the wording sounds not quite right to you, it may be spam. It’s difficult to tell if someone just isn’t familiar with your language but is trying to leave a genuine comment or if they are a blog spammer. If you combine Tips 2 and 3 in your assessment, however, you can make a pretty solid determination. Here’s an example of what I mean:

I was pretty pleased to obtain this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I unquestionably enjoying each little bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.

With approximately 7 trillion spam messages sent last year, this is an issue that all bloggers have to deal with. Fortunately, blog hosts, such as WordPress, and commenting systems, such as Disqus, have established some safeguards to prevent comments appearing on your blog without your permission. Make sure you avail yourself of the tools available to you to keep an eye on the blog spam.