Are you getting spammed from your own website?

It might sound like nonsense, getting spammed from your own website – but it’s entirely possible.

Do you have a basic contact form that you get lots of junk mail from? Are they taking time away from your day, sifting through what’s legitimate and what’s spam? It’s that moment you realise that you’re getting spammed.

The good news is that it’s quite easy to fix. Bots scour the internet finding forms they can send spam through, but reCAPTCHA stops them. You know those little check boxes asking to prove that you’re a human on certain websites? Or those grids where it asks you to select all the photos with a car/bridge/stop sign? That’s reCAPTCHA.

It’s simple and quick for us to set up on most websites, so if you’re having spam issues – get in touch.

Other things to consider

A simple one that tricks people into thinking their emails are legitimate is by listing a direct (personal) email address on their website. If your name is in your email address, expect spammers to take full advantage of that. One way to keep an eye on where people are emailing you from is to set up an email address that is only listed on your website, so you know that’s the only place they could have found it. It can be a forwarding email address that goes to one you check regularly, but you will at least see what address was used to contact you.

With your contact form, if you are getting few legitimate enquiries, ask yourself – is the form doing what it should? Do you need to change the questions in the form? Sometimes a “message” box is too general/impersonal, and a few lead-in questions can help people articulate their enquiries. More questions can deter and/or make it difficult for spammers to reach you, too.