Last updated - July 8, 2021
Security of your WordPress site will be one of your major concerns as a website owner. WordPress is one of the most attacked content management systems, and on a daily basis it encounters several attacks. You need to secure your WordPress login to ensure that you are not allowing hackers and spammers to gain unauthorized access. One of the strategies you can adopt will be to secure your WordPress login page with Google CAPTCHA. In this article, we will discuss how you can set up Google Captcha to secure your WordPress login page.
What is Google CAPTCHA?
CAPTCHA is a tool helps to distinguish between human users and bots who access websites. Basically, the tool will present a test that will be simple for humans and quite difficult for automated systems to decipher. This will help the website validate that the user trying to access it is actually a human and not a spam bot.
Google acquired CAPTCHA technology and made it much simpler to get through. This has helped to improve the user experience on websites by helping users login easier and faster.
How to set up Google CAPTCHA using a plugin?
The default WordPress login page requires users to enter their username and password to be able to login to a site.
When you use reCAPTCHA, there will be an extra step of verification, which will ensure that the user is a human.
To set up Google Captcha on your WordPress site, you will have to install one of the popular plugins. To demonstrate the process of setting up Google Captcha, we will use the free plugin Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft. Here are the steps for the process.
Step 1: Install and activate the plugin
You can install and activate the plugin, just like you would do with any other WordPress plugin. On the plugins page, search for the plugin, install it and activate it.
Now, you can go to the plugin settings page. To configure the plugin, you will have to get the API keys from the Google reCaptcha. For this, you will have to register your domain.
Step 2: Register your domain on Google reCAPTCHA
In order to the API keys, you will have to register your domain on Google reCAPTCHA site. For this, you need to enter a Label name, choose a CAPTCHA type, provide your domain name and accept the terms and conditions.
Once everything is properly submitted, you will get the API keys that you need to enter in the plugin settings page.
Now you can go to the plugin settings page
Step 3: Configure the plugin settings
Once you have activated the plugin, you can go to the plugin settings page. Here, you need to enter the API keys you received after registering your domain on Google reCAPTCHA. Enter the Site Key as well as the Secret Key. You can also choose which WordPress pages you want to enable Google CAPTCHA. To set up Google CAPTCHA on your WordPress login page, tick the login form option.
You can also hide CAPTCHA from displaying for specific user roles. For example, you can choose to not display CAPTCHA when administrator user role is trying to login. Though the plugin gives you an option, it is better to keep it active for all users for best security.
Please note if you enter the wrong API keys, you might get logged out of your website.
Step 4: Login with CAPTCHA
Save the plugin settings. Next time when you try to log in to your site, you will find the extra verification step with Google CAPTCHA. This will protect your site from bots that try to access your site.
Advantages of using Google reCAPTCHA
Here are some of the obvious advantages in using Google reCAPTCHA.
- It will provide advanced security for your website. It provides protection against spam and unauthorized access from attackers and malicious software.
- Offers a security verification without hindering the user experience. CAPTCHA used to be a hindrance to smooth user login. With the advanced Google reCAPTCHA option that uses artificial intelligence makes it a much smoother option compared to previous versions.
- Google reCAPTCHA is consistently improving itself. Several users are solving CAPTCHAs every day around the globe. Google is using this to actively build machine learning data sets, which will in fact help to solve complex artificial intelligence problems.
Popular WordPress plugins to help you integrate Google reCAPTCHA.
Like the one we used for the above demonstration, there are several plugins available in the WordPress ecosystem to help you integrate Google CAPTCHA on your website. Here are some of the popular options and a look at their useful features.
Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft
As seen in the above demonstration, this plugin helps you add a security layer on your website that prevents spam entries while allowing human users in smoothly. You can use this on your WordPress login page, password reset page, comments and registration pages. It has the options to add reCAPTCHA version 2, 3 and invisible. Basically, the plugin makes it easy for human users to login and makes it difficult for bots to breach your security.
Features
Here are the features to look out for:
- Add Google reCAPTCHA to a range of WordPress forms including login page, registration forms and custom forms.
- Disable reCAPTCHA for specific user roles and whitelisted IP addresses.
- Hide the Google reCAPTCHA badge.
- Check the validity of API keys.
- Easy options to configure and get help from extensive documentation.
- Supports multiple languages.
The plugin also has a premium version that offers compatibility with a range of plugins including WooCommerce, Jetpack, Ninja Forms, BBPress, etc.
Advanced noCaptcha & invisible Captcha (v2 & v3)
This is another plugin that will help you set up reCAPTCHA on your WordPress website. You can show the reCAPTCHA verification step on the WordPress login page, Contact Form 7, WooCommerce, password reset,e tc. In addition, you can also use this on the Comments text area right before the Submit button. Moreover, the plugin lets you display multiple CAPTCHA options in a single page. You can also allow conditional login CAPTCHA, which will be displayed after a specific number of failed login attempts.
The plugin allows you to choose which version of Google reCAPTCHA you are displaying on the site. Also, you can customize the language as well as the error message displayed. Furthermore, the plugin provides several additional customization options to change the appearance of Google reCAPTCHA. Along with the free version, the plugin also has a pro version that comes with advanced features.
Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA
This is yet another simple WordPress plugin to help you set up Google reCAPTCHA on a variety of user interactive pages of your WordPress website. The pages on which you can integrate Google reCAPTCHA using this plugin include WordPress and WooCommerce login pages. In addition, you can also use it to set up this verification mode on password reset pages as well as user registration pages.
The plugin will help you create a shield against the automated scripts that try to access your website. At the same time, it ensures that the CAPTCHA option is set up without hindering the user experience of your website. The plugin is a popular option as it is easy to set up and use even for WordPress beginner. Moreover, it ensures that you will not be accidentally logged out of your site as a result of incorrect set up.
Invisible reCAPTCHA for WordPress
This is a powerful option to add Google reCAPTCHA to your WordPress site. It offers protection from brute force attacks by adding an additional layer of security on your WordPress login page. Moreover, you will also be able to integrate the reCAPTCHA option on the Comments, registration and password reset forms as well.
The plugin also offers reCAPTCHA integration for several WooCommerce forms including login, registration, password reset and product reviews. Some of the other plugins compatible with this plugin are Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, BuddyPress, etc. The plugin also offers several hooks to help developers integrate reCAPTCHA with custom forms.
Hope this article has provided you with a basic idea to set up Google CAPTCHA on WordPress. Leave us a comment if you have a query.
