WordPress platform is one of the most popular Content Management System (CMS) that powers more than 30% of websites. As this platform grows day by day, hackers have been watching it and are now beginning to specially target WordPress websites. These hackers do not care what type of content are you providing on your site, they won’t spare you. There are certain security measures that you need to take in order to secure your site. This is a serious concern that needs to address carefully.
To secure your WordPress site there are few things that you need to keep in mind. In this blog, we will share our 10 Best Tips to keep your WordPress website secure.
1. Hosting Company
The first step you can take is to choose the best & most secure hosting provider that provides multiple layers of security. It may be looking good to go with the cheaper hosting service after all saving money on your website hosting means you can spend it elsewhere within your organization. But, we suggest you not take this for granted. It is a good decision for now but after it could turn into a nightmare. The most common threat is that our data could be completely erased or could be stolen by hackers.
Spending more money on the hosting service will make sure that you are adding an additional layer of security that is automatically attributed to your website. Choosing good hosting will significantly speed up your WordPress site. Faster loading of the website means more business.
2. Use Premium Themes
The logic behind using the premium themes is that these are coded by highly skilled developers and are tested to pass multiple checks right out of the box. We highly recommend using the WordPress Premium themes because WordPress premium themes look more professional and have more customizable options than a free theme. Moreover, they also provide great support and you can fully customize the theme according to your needs. Above all, you will get regular theme updates which are beneficial in many ways.
There are many sites that provide you with nulled or cracked themes. These themes are the hacked version of the premium theme. that you probably think it is a good idea to save a few bucks. But don’t be tricked by them. These free pirated themes contain malicious code by the hacker, you could end up destroying your website and database or log your admin credentials.
3. Security Plugins
Well, you can’t be always there to secure your website from hackers or malware. It is a time-consuming task to regularly check up on your website security for malware, until or unless you regularly update your knowledge of coding practices. Even if you try to do that you won’t be able to spot the malware code. Lucky for you there are people who think of that and developed the security plugins.
A security plugin will work 24/7 to scans for malware and monitors your site regularly. These plugins offer security activity auditing, remote malware scanning, blacklist monitoring, effective security hardening, security notifications, and even a website firewall (for a premium user).
4. Unique Password
Password is one of the most important aspects of website security and unfortunately often overlooked. To secure your website it is essential to use a complex password or one that is auto-generated with a variety of numbers and special characters. If you are using simple passwords like series of numbers or letters then you are at risk of being exposed because it’s an easy guess for the hacker. You immediately need to change your password right away to avoid any loss of data.
5. Disable File Edit Option
When you set up your WordPress there is a code editor option on your dashboard. This editor is used to modify the code of your theme & plugin. You can access it by going to Appearance>Editor or Plugins>Editor. It is a good feature as long as you are the only one using your site dashboard. It can dangerous because if hacker get access to your WordPress admin panel, they can inject malicious code to your theme and plugin. Some the corrupted code is so subtle you may not notice anything is wrong until it is too late. So when you are about to make your website live we suggest to disable the file edit option. You can do by simply paste the following code in your wp-config.php file in your WordPress folder.
define(‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true);
6. SSL Certificate
The Single Socket Layer also known as SSL is a protective shield for all kind of websites. It is initially used to make your site more secure by encrypting the information before it is transferred between their browser and your server. It is recommended for all the sites that carry an sensitive information like passwords, or credit card details. Without it all of the information between the user’s web browser and your web server are delivered unsecured way. By adding the SSL you making your site more secure and your data less likely to be stolen.
Recently Google also recognized importance of SSL certificate and said that site with SSL certificate a more weighted place within its search results. Well nothing good comes for free and SSL certificate also have price range around $70-$199 per year. Moreover, almost every hosting companies provides free SSL certificate which you can install on your website.
