What’s a good idea today, may not be a good idea tomorrow. At the end of January last year, I wrote a blog post about using Facebook comments.
Since that time things have changed significantly in regards to how Google looks at these comments. Previously the Facebook comments were not being indexed by Google without special coding by a programmer. However, since November of last year things have changed. Google is now indexing Facebook comments which is good and bad.
This means valuable comments will help add value to your ranking in the eyes of Google. However the flip side is everyone online is not for the good and looking to spam your site in the comments. If someone puts a spam comment on your site using Facebook comments Google sees it.
The result is your website gets spanked for allowing spam which is a bad thing when it comes to your ranking with Google. Facebook comments are an open door to allowing any and everyone to comment on your blog post. Up until this point I nor my clients have had an issue. However who needs additional risk when it’s unnecessary.
The regular blog posts comments are indexed by Google and so you still get the benefits of value added commenting on your blog from the search engines. The difference is in the moderation.
For every new person that comes to your website and comments you want your settings to be where you say yay or nay as to whether their comments get seen on your blog.
You do this under ‘Settings’ within your WordPress dashboard. It’s much easier with a picture, please see below.
Click here to enlarge.
Now, you are in control of who can be visible on your website. Once you have approved a first time commenter they are free to comment without your permission. If you’re responding regularly to comments or at least reading them you should see what comes through.
There are times when real comments get caught in the Spam folder so be on the lookout for that.
Also make sure you are using the Akismet plugin on your site whether it’s for your personal or business use. This plugin is an absolute must, otherwise you’ll find yourself deleting thousands of spam comments a day. It comes standard with every WordPress installation.
If you have any questions regarding this issue please share in the regular WordPress comments below;)
Do you think the risks of spam outweighs the social and viral impact of comments on showing up on FB. Just wondering if there is a happy medium
Hi Richard, thanks so much for your comment! It’s definitely a personal preference. I had it for a while, in fact I had both the FB comments and the regular WP comments. I think having both was confusing. There are other ways to get to make a social impact and have it go viral.
Thanks for the update and taking the time to help other blog owners. It is great to know about the indexing of comments. I see spam comments all the time. It is amazing how people always want something for nothing.
Going to make some changes right now.
Fantastic! It’s my pleasure:)
Thanks for this information, Tiffany! I disabled the Facebook comment box simply because I didn’t like the look of 2 sets of comment boxes (I thought it was confusing). I didn’t realize that the moderation wouldn’t follow WP’s settings. Now I’m glad I don’t use it!
Yes, it’s completely separate from the standard WP comments. My pleasure:)
Uh-Oh, I am glad you wrote this. I will have to double check my settings. I think I have it on moderater approval. Will check though!
Thank you!
My pleasure:) Glad to help.