Why We Turn Off Blog Comments by Default
On our blog and on every website we set up, we turn off blog commenting by default. This is not an accident and it is not us cutting corners. It is a conscious choice built around a three pronged approach of security, time saving, and sanity savings.
In theory, blog comments sound great. Real people engaging with your content feels rewarding. In practice, that is almost never what happens. About 99.99999 percent of comments are spam. Not opinions. Not discussion. Just bots trying to inject links, scripts, or garbage text into your site.
The risk is rarely worth the reward.
Security Comes First
From a security standpoint, open comment forms create another entry point into your website. That matters. Spammers and bots actively look for comment forms because they are easy targets. Even when they do not succeed in posting publicly, they are still probing your site.
There is also a reputation angle to this. One missed comment approval can mean a questionable link or message showing up on a business website. That reflects poorly on the brand and can cause trust issues with visitors. For most small business sites, that is an unnecessary risk.
Turning comments off removes that attack surface entirely.
Time Saving and Sanity Saving
Moderating comments takes time. Even with filters and plugins, someone still has to review them. That often ends up being a business owner who already has enough on their plate.
Spam comments pile up fast. Email notifications start coming in. Dashboards fill with junk. It becomes another task that does not actually move the business forward.
Removing comments eliminates that distraction. There is nothing to monitor. Nothing to approve. Nothing to clean up later.
How We Lock It Down in WordPress
When we do allow comments, which is rare, we lock things down tightly in WordPress. Even then, this is usually only when a client has a very specific reason and plans to actively monitor it themselves.
In WordPress, we go to Settings and then Discussion. From there, we turn off the ability for people to submit comments on new posts.
After that, we still configure the following settings as an added layer of protection:
- Comment author must fill out name and email
- Users must be registered and logged in to comment
- Automatically close comments on old posts after one day
- Comments must be manually approved before appearing
- Comment authors must have a previously approved comment
Yes, this is overkill for many sites. That is the point.
These settings dramatically reduce spam and help control what appears on the site. They also make it very clear that commenting is not a casual free for all. It is gated, monitored, and intentional.
If reading that list feels complicated, that is completely normal. This is one of those areas where small configuration choices can make a big difference. If you ever want help reviewing how your site is set up or walking through these options, just reach out and we would be happy to go through it with you.
Our Default Stance
Our default stance is simple. Blog comments stay off unless there is a strong reason to turn them on. Between security risks, time costs, and the mental drain of dealing with spam, the tradeoff rarely makes sense.
For most business websites, a clean, controlled site is the better choice.
