Welcome to our blog, where we discuss everything internet and security. Today, we will be talking about how to check if you are blacklisted online.
What is Blacklisting?
Blacklisting is the act of denying access to a particular website or network to a specific user or device. The blacklist comprises a list of entities that are prohibited from accessing or using a specific service, network or a website. Blacklisting can be used to prevent hackers, spammers or other malicious entities from accessing your network or website.
How to Check If You Are Blacklisted Online
If you suspect that you are blacklisted online, there are a few methods that you can use to check. Below are some of the methods:
1. Check through Google Search Console
If you have a website, Google search console is one of the best tools to confirm if your site has been blacklisted. To check this on Google, follow the steps:
- Login into your Google search console account
- Click on Security & Manual Actions from the drop-down menu.
- Click on Manual actions.
- If there are no issues detected, then you are not blacklisted.
- If Google detects any manual actions on your site, they will show up here, and you can follow the recommended course of action to get your site off the blacklist.
2. Use a Blacklist Checker Tool
Various tools can help you check if your IP address, domain or email address is blacklisted. These tools check various blacklists to see if you are listed. You can use these tools to check any IP, domain or email address you suspect is blacklisted. Some of the top tools include:
- MXToolbox: It's a popular blacklist checker tool that helps you to run a free check on your domain, IP or email address.
- Spamhaus: It's one of the most comprehensive blacklist databases that you can use to check IP addresses.
- Surbl: It checks URLs against a comprehensive database of web pages categorized as spam.
3. Check Your Web Server Logs
Scanning your web server logs is the most effective way of determining if your website is blacklisted. You can do this by:
- Access your site's control panel or FTP client.
- Download a copy of the server log file.
- Filter the reports by HTTP status codes 403 and 404 because, in most cases, these errors might indicate blacklisting issues.
- If you can find any 403, 404 HTTP responses or user-agents that you do not recognize, there's a chance that your website is blacklisted.
Conclusion
To sum it up, blacklisting can be a disaster for your online presence, and it can tarnish your reputation. Checking your IPs, domains or emails for blacklists is crucial to ensure these blacklists do not affect your website's performance. We hope this article has been helpful in providing you effective ways to check if you are blacklisted online. Stay safe online!
