10 ways to ensure the security of your WordPress website

WordPress is the world’s number one content management system and if you are using it then you’ve made a very good choice. WordPress has loads of features and also has powerful SEO that ensures you a fully functional website. But like every coin has two sides similarly WordPress also comes with a lot of security risks. Since WordPress is so popular hence it attracts a number of hackers who try to exploit your site. And the last thing which every business owner wants is to have his site hacked to the hands of such hackers or suspended for hosting malware or for sending spam emails. All this can not only cost you your reputation but also you will have to spend a lot of money to restore your website back to safety. And this is not the only negative effect that it has, if Google finds out that your website is at high risk then it lowers down your ranking considerably. But the good news is that these security threats can be neutralized by following a few simple steps. And we have today laid down those 10 simple steps for you.

Use two-factor authentication login

Brute force attacks can be prevented by using the very simple yet effective way of two-factor authentication login. They add an extra layer of security to the login procedure by asking for an additional ID proof. This additional proof can be in the form of a security question or a mobile generated code. In simple words other than entering the password the user will have to answer the security question or enter an OTP too. You can install WP Google authentication plugin to your website in order to ensure its security.

Regulate the login attempts

Regulate the login attempts

Reducing the number of login attempts is a sure way to ensure that hackers are not able to breech through the security of your website. All you need is a locking mechanism that locks your website if a hacker attempts to log in to it after several unsuccessful attempts. You have the WP limit login plugin to prevent brute force to attack your login page by blocking any IP address that crosses the limits of failed login attempts.

Change the admin login URL

Change the admin login URL

Most business owners make the huge mistake of leaving the WP admin login to either wp-admin or wp-login.php. A way to make your website more secure is to change the admin login URL to something that the hacker won’t be able to predict easily. This can be something like my_login.php or anything else that you find secure. This step shall alone prevent attacks to the admin URL page.

Use strong passwords

Use strong passwords in WordPress

You should not only use strong passwords but also keep on changing them from time to time to ensure maximum security. If you use a password like maya123 for your website then it will take hackers only a few minutes to hack your website. But on the other hand if you use a password that is a combination of numbers and letters of uppercase and lowercase then it would be very difficult for hackers to enter into your website. You can also make the use of several password generation tools to generate a strong password.

Protect the WP-admin directory with password

Protect the WP-admin directory with password

Wp-admin is the most important directory of any WordPress site and thus it requires additional protection. You can add two passwords to it, one for logging in and the other one for WordPress admin area.

Use strong account passwords

Wordpress Security

If the blog of your website has multiple users then you must ensure that they use strong passwords. If you use a plug-in like Force strong passwords then your users will be forced to choose a secure password that it difficult to hack. It will also ensure that the users use passwords that are a mixture of uppercase, lowercase letters and numbers.

Switch to secure HTTPs

Switch to secure HTTPs

Another way to ensure the safety of your website is to switch from an insecure HTTP to a secure one by using an SSL certificate. Apart from the security factor HTTPs also has the additional benefit of providing a better Google ranking.

Monitoring of WordPress files

Monitoring of WordPress files

You need to actively monitor your WordPress files so that if a hacker tampers with your files then you come to know about it immediately. You can use various plugins to keep track of your files so that if any change is made to them then you are notified about it immediately. Plug-ins used to monitor WordPress files are packed with a lot of features such as intrusion detection, live security scanning and other prevention features.

Perform regular back-ups

Perform regular back-ups

If you follow the above listed ways then your site won’t get hacked. But in case it does then you need to have a proper back-up of your previous site. There are various WordPress plugins that ensure you to take a proper back-up. If you do not back-up your website and in case it gets hacked then your entire website will be gone.

Keep WordPress and its plug-ins updated

Keep WordPress and its plug-ins updated

 Many hackers are able to get into your website only because you haven’t patched or updated the plug-ins. You also need to constantly update your WordPress website from time to time to ensure the security of your website.

 There are a lot of simple steps that one can follow to ensure the security of your WordPress website and if you follow these you will never face any security threat ahead. Contact Queppelin today if you want us to build a WordPress website for your organization.   

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