As one of the most popular content management systems in the world, WordPress is often the target of cyberattacks.
There are malicious individuals trying to gain access to your data, block you from your own website, steal your content and generally cause havoc.
Cyberattacks are more than just an annoyance, particularly if your website is integral to your business. If your WordPress site is compromised, you could lose more than just the hours of work or money you’ve invested in building it – you could damage your brand and lose customers.
That’s why WordPress security is so crucial for any website owner. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to help protect your site from hackers and malware.
In this blog, we’ll help you improve your WordPress security with some simple, actionable steps you can take today.
How To Protect Your Website With Good WordPress Security
1. Use A Great Hosting Company
Your WordPress hosting service has an important role to play in protecting your site, but not all hosting is up to scratch! Chances are, if you’ve found a budget deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is – the cost-cutting results in a lack of security measures, which can be disastrous for your site. Ensure that you are using a quality host, even if it costs a little more.
2. Choose A Secure WordPress Theme
Choosing a free or cheap theme for your site may be tempting, but if you go this route, beware of the risks!
Premium themes may cost a little bit more out of the box, but they are coded by skilled developers and meet the high standards of WordPress compliance. They usually offer full support in the case of a website hiccup, are updated regularly, and tend to be more secure than some of the more obscure themes.
If you’re not sure which theme is safe, have a look at the official WordPress theme directory. All themes listed here are WordPress compatible.
3. Install A WordPress Security Plugin
Not many business owners have time to do comprehensive security checks on their sites every day. Luckily, there are plugins that can take care of many of the day-to-day security measures for you.
A security plugin can scan for malware, monitor your site, automate some essential security actions, and identify infiltration attempts.
HubSpot has a great list of recommended WordPress security plugins to get you started.
4. Tweak Your Login Procedures
Some of the most simple yet overlooked WordPress security measures are based around your login procedures. Start by picking a strong password, and change it once a month. You can enable two-factor authentication at login and place a cap on the number of login attempts.
There are plugins that automatically log you out of your WordPress account if you forget to do it, and you can even install one that adds a captcha security feature.
We also recommend changing your login URL. By default, you’ll log in via your site’s main URL followed by wp-login.php or wp-admin. Changing that URL to a custom login URL reduces the chance of hackers gaining access to your site.
5. Install An SSL Certificate
Once upon a time, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) was only needed by websites that processed payments. However, times have changed, and every site now benefits from the added security of SSL – so much so that Google even ranks SSL certified sites more highly than those without SSL.
SSL encrypts the connections between your website and your visitor’s browsers, ensuring they can’t be intercepted.
If your homepage URL begins with https://, your connection is secured with SSL. If not, you’ll need to obtain an SSL certificate. Most hosting companies offer it free as part of your plan, but if yours doesn’t, you can purchase one and install it.
6. Stay Updated
WordPress regularly releases updates that include bug fixes and security features. It’s essential to update your site to the latest version as soon as it’s released. Failure to do so makes your site vulnerable to hackers who may have identified the security loopholes in the outdated version.
This applies to plugins and themes, too, so make sure all yours are updated regularly.
7. Backup Your Site
While backups may not prevent cyberattacks, they are an essential part of WordPress security. Backups mean you can quickly get your site back up and running if the worst does happen.
Regularly backing up your site to a cloud service is a great way to ensure your business can keep running if the worst happens. You can back up manually or use a plugin to do it automatically.
8. Beef Up Your WordPress Security With An Ongoing Support Plan
By following these best practices for WordPress security, you’re taking the essential first steps to protect your website against malicious attacks. However, many of these steps need to happen regularly, not just once or twice a year.
On top of that, there are plenty of ways to boost site security by getting a little more technical.
If your business doesn’t have the time or know-how to manage WordPress security in-house, consider investing in a Website Guardians Ongoing Support Plan.
Having one of these plans on your website means our team is actively monitoring and updating your website to prevent hacks, malware and other nasties. And should the worst happen, we are available to get your site back up and running safely.
If you want the peace of mind that comes with effective WordPress security, contact us so we can work out the best plan for you.