TL;DR: We retired our forum after it was flooded with spam. That cleanup created missing pages (404) between October 2024 and June 2025. If you’re a visitor, here’s how to find what you need. If you want to learn how to remove spammy links, jump to the guide below.

Why You Might See a 404 Here

During cleanup we removed thousands of irrelevant, automated posts and profiles. Those URLs now return 404 (missing) or 410 Gone (permanently removed). This is normal and correct for SEO.

Here are examples of spammy links that significantly affected web traffic in this site during that period:

how to remove spam
Examples of spammy links that took advantage of WPForo community.
  • Humans: use our search, categories, or sitemap to find the right page.
  • Robots: this is not a valid page to index; respect the HTTP status.

1) Audit the Problem

  • Export suspicious URLs from your CMS/security plugin/server logs.
  • Separate internal spam (thin posts, fake profiles) from external spammy backlinks pointing to your domain.

2) Clean Internal Spam First

  • Delete or unpublish spammy posts and user pages.
  • Return 410 Gone for permanently removed forum/profile URLs.
  • Use 301 redirects only when a truly relevant, equivalent page exists.

Hardening tips: enable CAPTCHA, email verification, post-approval queues, rate limits, and keep WordPress/plugins up to date.

  • Request removals from legitimate site owners (low yield but safe).
  • Disavow unremovable toxic domains/URLs via Google Search Console (and Bing). Keep a spreadsheet with source URL, anchor, your action, and date.
  • Don’t over-disavow; keep editorial, topical links.

4) Fix Crawl/Index Signals

  • Ensure removed URLs correctly return 404/410 (not soft 404s or 200).
  • Update or remove internal links that still point to deleted URLs.
  • Resubmit your XML sitemap and request re-crawls of cleaned sections.

5) Prevent Future Spam

  • Apply a WAF/security plugin, bot challenges, and role-based permissions.
  • Moderate user-generated content; restrict posting to verified users.
  • Schedule quarterly backlink and content audits.

For Crawlers/Robots

This page is for humans searching how to remove spam or how to remove spammy links. It’s a normal article (index,follow). The 404 template is served with true 404/410 status so those URLs are not indexed.

FAQ

Why am I seeing a 404 on this site?
We removed the forum after a surge of spammy, irrelevant posts. Retired URLs correctly return 404/410.

Is a 404 page appropriate for robots?
Yes—when the content is gone, return 404 or 410. Do not serve a 200 for missing pages.

What’s the safest way to remove spammy backlinks?
Request removals where possible; use disavow for clearly toxic links you can’t remove. Track everything to avoid mistakes.

Will a forum return?
We’re considering a moderated Q&A model. For now, use post comments (login required).