Your website serves as one of your biggest assets; it’s the modern-day window into your business and people’s first resource to get to know you. No one ever expects their website to be hacked, but if it does happen it feels like someone is tarnishing all the hard work you’ve put into not just your website, but your business, too. An absence of website security is often linked to a lack of understanding of how hacks can happen, which is why it’s so crucial to learn how to make your major asset safe.
The scary truth is, there are more websites susceptible to hackers than not (in fact, over 70% are). Fortunately, you can take plenty of precautions to ensure your WordPress website remains hacker-free and visitor-friendly.
Backup Your WordPress Website
This should go without saying, but scheduling a regular, full-fledged backup of your WordPress site is the most significant way to to keep it secured. Why is it so important? If your website was hacked or something else goes wrong (including a server crash or developer mistake), you’ll have a way of correcting the issue with minimal amount of trouble. Even though your hosting provider will probably backup your website on your behalf, you shouldn’t rely on one resource for this. Learn how to backup your website as, well, a backup for your protection.
Keep EVERYTHING Up to Date
Updating your plugins, themes and WordPress versions are not like upgrading your iPhone; it’s not something you can do only when you have the time (or the means) to do it, and keeping the same version after two upgrades is not acceptable.
Keeping your WordPress installation up to date should be priority number one. If your website does fall behind on updates, it’s only a matter of time before hackers take advantage of the preceding updates’ security errors. Essentially, you’ll be a sitting duck for all hackers.
Even though they make your website more functional, every single WordPress plugin and theme installed is a potential security threat, since those with exposures could have backdoor access to your website’s admin. Routinely review your plugins and theme installations and decide if they’re necessary for your site. Be sure to check if they’ve been updated recently or if the author is still maintaining them. If that is the case, uninstall them from your website.
Invest in High-Quality Hosting
Over 40% of all WordPress hacks were through a security vulnerability on their hosting platform. It might cost you a little more than you were hoping for, but it’s wise to invest in a high-quality hosting provider. Providers that specialize in WordPress will provide a WordPress firewall, current PHP and MySQL, routine malware scanning, a WordPress-designed server and a knowledgeable customer service team that understands WordPress like the back of their hand.
Install a Premium Security Plugin
There are a rising number of top-rated, free security plugins to help secure your WordPress installation. These will add security features like limiting failed login attempts, strong password administration and two-step authentication (which is using a password plus an authorization code sent to your phone to login to your website). Although none of these features can guarantee your website won’t be hacked, they will add another level of protection to your website and block specific types of hacking.
Face the fact: until your own website has been hacked, you probably will not take website security seriously. It’s usually the aftermath when you decide to make security a must for your site, but unfortunately it might be too late to fix what’s been broken. A hacked website not only puts your business’s computers at risk, but your hard-earned website visitors as well. Don’t risk your website’s, or your own, reputation by letting hackers, malware and spam infect computers. Start making your website hacker-free today so you don’t pay for it later.
Do you have other suggestions how to keep a website hacker-free?
