Table of contents

What is reCAPTCHA?Benefits of reCAPTCHASetting up reCAPTCHAreCAPTCHA exampleUsing reCAPTCHANext stepsAdditional resources

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WordPress Guide → Admin → Google reCAPTCHA

Google reCAPTCHA for WordPress

A man sets up Google reCAPTCHA on WordPress from his laptop, he sits at a desk with a glass of water, plants, and a cup holding pens

Google’s reCAPTCHA service defends websites against spam requests from bots and malicious users.

This article explains setting up and configuring the Google reCAPTCHA service with a corresponding plugin for your WordPress website, including how to generate Google reCAPTCHA keys.

Readers should be aware of the fact that there are several plugins for WordPress that leverage the Google reCAPTCHA service, including:

However, it should be noted that Liquid Web customers using our managed WordPress and managed WooCommerce solutions get the Solid Security Pro plugin with WordPress reCAPTCHA functionality included for free — a $140 per year value.

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About the Google reCAPTCHA free service

Google reCAPTCHA is a free software — it works by running an advanced risk analysis engine that generates adaptive challenges.

Visitors to the website will be blocked from accessing certain functions until they complete the reCAPTCHA challenge. Malicious software can’t solve the challenges, so it can’t gain full access to your website and cause problems.

In the most common “CAPTCHA test,” users must check a box next to the text “I’m not a robot.” They’ll either pass the test immediately or receive a set of images; they must select the objects that match a text prompt, such as “traffic lights” or “stop signs.”

The benefits of using the Google reCAPTCHA service

Humans can usually solve CAPTCHA tests quickly, but bots (computer software) have difficulty understanding them. This difference is how CAPTCHA tests determine whether the user is a human or a robot. By implementing reCAPTCHA, you prevent automated software from entering parts of your website.

It’s no coincidence Google reCAPTCHA is free. Google benefits from the removal of spam, which is why reCAPTCHA is made easily accessible. reCAPTCHA plugins are quite simple to set up and integrate into WordPress for website owners to use on their contact forms, login sites, and comment forms.

About the free Solid Security Pro plugin with Google reCAPTCHA included

Solid Security Pro is a security plugin for WordPress which has many built-in features and smart defaults to help secure your site. You shouldn’t have to be a security professional to use a security plugin, so Solid Security Pro makes it easy to protect your WordPress website free of charge for Liquid Web customers.

Solid Security Pro plugin — a $140 value vs the free Solid Security Basic plugin version

The paid Solid Security Pro plugin version includes all the free Solid Security Basic plugin version features, but the paid plugin version also has the following features:

reCAPTCHA
Security Dashboard
Two-Factor Authentication
Trusted Devices
Version Management
User Security Check and User Logging
Settings Import and Export
Privilege Escalation
Passwordless Login
Malware Scan Scheduling
Magic Links

Get it free with managed WordPress

How to set up Google reCAPTCHA on a WordPress website

One of the simplest ways to increase the security of your WordPress website is to add a Google reCAPTCHA. Follow these steps provided below to configure WordPress with Google reCAPTCHA keys.

Step 1. Install and activate the Simple Google reCAPTCHA plugin

Go to your WordPress Admin Dashboard to install and activate the Google reCAPTCHA plugin for your WordPress website:

From your WordPress admin sidebar, go to the plugins tab. Then click Add New.
Using the search box, enter the “google recaptcha” text string and conduct a search.
Locate your reCAPTCHA WordPress plugin of choice and install it. For this article, we installed Simple Google reCAPTCHA.
Once the plugin has finished installing, go back to the sidebar. Click on Installed Plugins.
Locate the Google reCAPTCHA plugin and activate it.
Go to the settings sidebar, then head to the Google reCAPTCHA tab.
The plugin will prompt you to provide your Google reCAPTCHA keys, which are obtained in the next step.

The plugin will prompt you to provide your Google reCAPTCHA keys, which are obtained in the next step.

Step 2. Add Google reCAPTCHA keys to your WordPress website

You’ll need a pair of API keys to enable Google reCAPTCHA’s free service on your WordPress website.

Use this website to generate reCAPTCHA keys for free with Google. You must choose the type of reCAPTCHA you want to use before you can generate the keys. You have several ways to secure your website, including:

reCAPTCHA v3 Invisible: An algorithm assesses the probability that the user is human.
reCAPTCHA v2 Invisible: Performs background checks without requiring user interaction.
reCAPTCHA v2 (Visible): In order to continue, the user must choose the “I’m not a robot” checkbox.

Once you have chosen which version of the software you want for your WordPress website, you can follow the steps below to generate the Google reCAPTCHA keys.

First, at the top of the Google reCAPTCHA page, register your website. Then, enter a name for the label that identifies the keys for internal reference:

Enter a name for the label that identifies the keys for internal reference.

For the reCAPTCHA type, choose the method that you want to use. For this Google reCAPTCHA example, we’ll pick the “I’m not a robot” checkbox from reCAPTCHA v2:

In the Domains section, enter the URL address of your WordPress website:

Accept the reCAPTCHA Terms of Service by selecting the checkbox:

By checking the Send Alerts to Owners checkbox, you can be notified when Google finds problems or suspicious activity:

Submit the form to finish your registration and receive your site key and your secret key. Here’s an example of what the result should look like:

Submit the form to finish your registration and receive your keys. Here’s an example of what the result should look like.

Step 3. Configure Google reCAPTCHA settings to protect your important pages

To add the Google reCAPTCHA keys to your WordPress website, take these steps:

From your WordPress Admin Panel, go to the settings and find the Google reCAPTCHA section.

In the Google reCAPTCHA keys section — paste in the site key, then the secret key. You’ll also see options you can select based on your preferences.

When you’re satisfied, save the changes. This stores the API keys (Google reCAPTCHA keys) and enables the Google reCAPTCHA service for your WordPress site.

An example of Google reCAPTCHA for WordPress

From now on, the plugin will add Google reCAPTCHA verification to any WordPress forms visitors use to register, comment, log in, and create or reset a password.

Here’s a Google reCAPTCHA example. This is what a WordPress comment form looks like with the plugin enabled:

A comment box with fields for name, email, and website built on WordPress. At the bottom, there's a "I'm not a robot" reCAPTCHA box.

Using Google reCAPTCHA to block malicious internet traffic from your website

By using Google reCAPTCHA, you block malicious traffic from your website without negatively impacting your visitors’ experience. A safer website means users trust you. Since you’re safe from spam and attacks, you can grow without those hurdles in your path.

A verification method like Google reCAPTCHA is only one step toward a fast, secure, and effective WordPress website.

Lock down security with better WordPress hosting

It takes much time to make all the changes needed to thrive in today’s market — which is why a good hosting plan offers WordPress upgrades straight out of the box.

Fully managed WordPress hosting means you can run your site without managing the technical details. Once you sign up, you won’t have to think about your WordPress hosting much — if at all.

Our experts will migrate your site, or you can start building a new site with our page builder plugins.

Check out managed WordPress hosting from Liquid Web to get started today.