Over the past few months, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in bot traffic across many of our clients websites. While some bots are harmless and beneficial (like Google indexing your website), a growing number are malicious or wasteful. We’re constantly seeing bots consuming server resources, slowing down websites and attempting to exploit vulnerabilities by accessing non-indexed files.
Common issues we see caused by Bots
- Slower website performance due to excessive requests
- Increased server costs attributed to traffic – both Kinsta, Pressable and WP Engine charge based on visits, which bots are classified as
- Security risks from bots probing for login or plugin vulnerabilities
AI Bots and content scraping
In addition to the traditional spam or attack bots, we’re now also seeing a surge in AI-powered bots. These include website crawlers used by large AI models (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity) that scan and index website content to train their systems.
While not necessarily harmful, these AI crawlers can:
- Use significant server resources through increased page requests
- Copy or summarise your website content without permission
Most website owners may not be aware that these bots are visiting their websites but their impact can add up over time.
Cloudflare DNS Protection
If your website’s DNS isn’t already managed through Cloudflare, we would recommend where possible to make that move. Cloudflare acts as a powerful protective layer between your website and incoming traffic, helping to:
- Filter and block malicious bots automatically
- Reduce server load and improve site speed
- Add an extra layer of DDoS and brute-force protection
- Provide useful insights into traffic patterns, allowing custom rules to be setup to block bots.
Migrating your DNS to Cloudflare is quick and usually seamless. If you need help in doing this process we are here.
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