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Your WordPress website is a vital business asset. Research, construction and fine-tuning it will likely take hours. There are visual elements to consider like color and layout, as well as creating content to help build trust with visitors and encourage purchases. For setting up the eCommerce portion, you will need to upload images and set up payments in order to get your online services up and running. One of the highest priorities to consider is security. Keeping your WordPress site secure is foundational to your success and peace of mind. Thankfully, there are proven steps you can take to help prevent a hacker from accessing sensitive data and lower the risk of a compromised website.
1. Strong Passwords
Begin securing your WordPress website with a strong password. A common technique for website hackers is guessing common passwords and login details. Dates of birth, spouse names and sports teams are easy to guess.
- Experts recommend using a string of numbers, letters, and symbols.
- Unique phrases from a favorite childhood novel, mentor, or poet are also hard to guess.
- The more “random” the string of letters, numbers or words, the harder it will be for hackers to access your website.
Strong passwords are a simple way to begin building a strong defense to keep your WordPress site secure.
Controlled Access and Unique Usernames
To increase the strength of your login details, create unique logins for each user. While using your personal or company email is a simple username option, consider something more complex or unique.
Emails are easy to guess; specific usernames are not.
2. Add Two-Factor Authentication
Whenever possible, enable two-factor authentication for logins on your WordPress website. This security measure enforces an additional step in the login process to ensure only the right people access your website.
Users attempting to log in will receive an email, text, QR code, push notification, or other form of communication with a code to input for verification. Requiring this code is an added layer of protection that can prevent unauthorized users from accessing your site and your data.
Consider implementing a security plugin if you want to add two-factor authentication to maintain your WordPress site’s security.
Some top security plugins that enable two-factor authentication include:
- Shield WordPress Security
- Google Authenticator
- Wordfence Security
- Duo Two-Factor Authentication
Many security plugins often provide more services than two-factor authentication, which can help protect your WordPress site even more.
3. Update WordPress Plugins Often
There are many useful WordPress plugins for a variety of services. Plugins can provide search engine optimization (SEO) tips, contact forms, editing tools, address books, and more.
However, plugins may also bring the potential for increased security risk. Plugin developers include security measures in their service and often provide updates to the software to stay ahead of hackers.
To keep your WordPress site secure, regularly update your plugins.
To update WordPress plugins, head to your Dashboard and look for the ‘Updates’ section.
- Notification Indicator If there is a notification indicator in this section, you will see alerts for those plugins that need updating.
- Plugins Section Alerts You can also look for new updates in the ‘Plugins’ section. A notification bubble in this section will alert you to new updates you can install.
4. Upgrade WordPress Security with HTTPS
Prevent hackers from infiltrating your WordPress site is by using HTTPS instead of HTTP.
An HTTPS website ensures the connection between your site and your user’s browser is secure. Adding this layer of security to your website is especially important for eCommerce businesses that handle payment transactions. Without this security, you may lose out on new customers who want to protect their personal information.
To upgrade your WordPress site to HTTPS, you need to get a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.
NOTE: There are many tools and services – free and paid – to get SSL for your website. Researching the right tool for your site will help you find the best SSL certificate tool to secure your WordPress site.
5. Frequent Website Data Backups
Over time, you add blogs, images, and other content that help conduct your business efficiently. Schedule frequent data backups to preserve this valuable asset.
You can automate this process and avoid the risk of downtime should hackers attack and corrupt or delete your data.
While WordPress site backups are not necessarily going to protect you from being hacked, they do provide a quick way to RESTORE your site and return to business as usual.
WordPress recommends backing up website content as often as site owners feel comfortable. If you are all right with losing a few posts, it may not be necessary to initiate a backup every time you publish new content.
A Business Case for Automating Backups
If you are NOT all right with losing even one blog, you can automate your backups.
- You can schedule backups for off-peak times.
- If you back up data regularly, it can speed the actual backing up process.
NOTE: NameSilo recommends automating this feature over choosing to use manual systems as it removes the potential for error (forgetting) and will ensure that your WordPress site quickly returns to normal should a disruption occur.
6. Use a Secure Web Hosting Service
Your hosting service is the first line of defense for your WordPress site security. As the server that manages all your data, your website hosting provider should provide additional security measures.
Choose a website hosting provider who knows and understands the security risks of WordPress websites. This knowledge, coupled with solid customer support, will ensure you can retrieve any data that becomes compromised.
At NameSilo, our fast servers offer enterprise-level security to ensure your WordPress site is protected. Our various payment plans allow you to choose the features you need. NameSilo’s team is well-equipped to answer any questions you have during the WordPress integration process.
Blocking hackers and keeping your WordPress site secure should not be a daunting process. There are many tools and plugins you can leverage to protect your data.
Even if you have already launched your website, it is never too late to add additional security to deter future attacks.