Many website owners don’t pay much attention to the needed security of their WordPress websites. They only realize the importance of WordPress security once their website or blog gets hacked. Those who have a WordPress website know that WordPress is on the list of many easy-to-use and popular content management systems (CMS) you can find over the internet. But, at the same time, they also need to understand that the WordPress platform is also on the top target of spammers and hackers. Therefore, you must learn the steps to improve WordPress website security.
According to recent technological surveys, 5 out of 10 hacked sites use WordPress. But it doesn’t mean that WordPress is not a secure platform, and it is most secure than several other web development platforms. Keep your website to its latest WordPress version to keep the website more secure. Proper maintenance and security enablers make it challenging for hackers to attack your website.
Hackers don’t like to waste their time by attacking unpopular platforms. Hence their primary target is WordPress websites since almost 60% of active websites are running on WordPress platforms.
Even though your website has meager traffic, the risk is still the same. Many hackers try to hack into a small or unpopular website, not deleting files or stealing any data. Their primary purpose is to use the host web server for sending spam emails. Once they hack your website, they will try to install a unique software program or Malware and use it to send a load of spam emails. The hackers do it so that the website owner never notices that someone is using your server without your permission.
However, there is no need to be afraid. We present some important tips that will help you improve WordPress website security and reduce the effects of spam and attacks.
Here are a few steps to secure your WordPress website:
- Never use premium plugins available for free
- Protect important files using .htaccess
- Hide all the author usernames
- Hide the WordPress login page
- Always host your website with a reliable hosting company
- Keep your website up-to-date (Themes, MySQL, & PHP)
- Connect with Marketer for a secure WordPress website
Often, online business owners run their businesses with a tight budget, which forces them to look for ways to save money. We understand that running a website on a meager budget is not easy. However, it is not a good idea to download your desired premium plugins from any website that are available for free. All you have to do is to visit the plugin’s official website whenever you need to re-install that plugin.
Premium plugins available for free on several third-party websites may contain malicious software like Malware. Therefore, you should always buy premium plugins from the official website or authorized sources like Codecanyon.
To improve WordPress security, protect all-important files using .htaccess
Mainly experienced WordPress users always know the use of the .htaccess file and have easy access. Making specific changes to the file can significantly impact the security of the WordPress website.
If you have not yet known about .htaccess and have never worked with the file, it would be best to learn about it. The .htacess file deals with the webserver configuration. Additionally, the file contains specific rules for your webserver to handle files for your website.
This file creates easy-to-use URLs for every web page present on the site. We make necessary changes related to security on your website through .htaccess.
As given below, there are a few things the file will allow you to do for you to improve WordPress website security:
- Block suspicious IP addresses
- Disable browsing directory
- Allow authorized IP addresses to gain access to wp-admin
- Block blackhat bots
It is not a good practice to use WordPress defaults as they are. We ask you not to use WordPress defaults because every WP username is the same for administrators by default for each website built using WordPress. Usually, the default username for a WordPress website is ‘admin.’ So, you have to change it. If you do not change it, it will be easier for hackers to access your website as they already know about the site’s username in advance.
It’s best to keep multiple authors but a single administrator for the WP website. Because hacking an author’s account will not give the hacker complete access to the site. However, if you have a small WordPress website where only one administrator account is present, you use the same author name.
Then it would help if you changed the account’s name now and never used the username as an Author name. Because it can be visible on the post pages, try to give a different username not relevant to the author name for every author name.
If possible, hide the WP login page.
Although it’s not enough to hide the WP-login page because hackers can retrieve it, several elements present on the WordPress website will not prevent hackers from gaining access to them.
But at least it will make it harder for them to hack your website. Hiding your Wp-login page for your site can be done in a few seconds if you use the right plugin.
Another method is to move or rename your WordPress login page, making it very difficult for hackers to access unauthorized access. Hackers use different ways to attack; having a hidden login page, the hacker has to go through several attempts, making it tough to hack the site.
You can choose from many plugins that can make this task easier for you. But we recommend WPS Hide Login for hiding the login page.
Always host a website using a trusted hosting company.
Statistically, 4 out of 10 websites get easily hacked because they are more vulnerable because of compromised hosting. Therefore, it’s best to select the hosting with a maximum security level. Before getting any hosting, check out the list of the feature of a good hosting provider:
- Automated Malware scanning and finding suspicious files
- Automatic theme update
- Powerful Firewall Protection
- Appropriately optimized for WordPress site
To improve WordPress website security always update the site to the latest version of MySQL and PHP
There are some more tips to choose the perfect hosting service for your website. You never want to invest too much in hosting when there is limited traffic on your website. Find a hosting provider that is easily scalable and charges only for the services you use. It’s best to have a plan where the hosting provider offers limited visitors but has maximum security. Further to improve WordPress website security add anti-spam plugins which give extra protection to your website.
Do you need a WordPress website that is secure and help you with business growth?
If you want a wholly secured WordPress website, Marketer can help you. We provide WordPress website design services; you can get a powerful yet customer-engaging website with premium features.
We assure you that we deliver a secure WordPress website. Marketer only uses ethical practice and paid tools while providing a fantastic website you need for your business. Furthermore, if you want to use your website to its full potential invest in SEO. WordPress SEO services can help you in the ranking of your website for competitive search terms relevant to your business. Organic SEO is the best method in the digital marketing spectrum to get more traffic, leads, and sales.
