For years, WordPress security is a talk of the town for every WordPress site owner. We have seen many website owners constantly worried about how to secure WordPress websites from hackers.

Being an open-source script platform, you cannot deny vulnerability to all sorts of attacks. But you shouldn’t blame WordPress because that can be prevented.

Every week, Google blacklists around twenty thousand websites for malware and fifty thousand websites for phishing.

We would recommend paying careful attention to WordPress security-related activities. If you are still unknown to WordPress vulnerabilities then get ready to face consequences. It is high time to know the security measures for the WordPress website in 2021 in case you missed last year.

Here we share a few useful tips to secure your WordPress-based websites. However, you need to take other preventive steps also to ensure the safety of websites against malware and hackers.

Securing your WordPress website doesn’t mean risk elimination. It is all about risk reduction.

But, before elaborating the useful tips, let’s quickly go through the risks associated with the poorly secured website followed by the importance of website security:

Risk of poor security:

1. Damages business reputation– As mentioned earlier, if your website is hacked even once, it can ruin the reputation of your business and your customers would prefer to stay away from your website.

2. Data at risk– A breach can put sensitive and important data like your customers’ personal information and passwords at risk.

3. Malware distribution– Some hackers are notorious for installing malicious software on a target website, and you may distribute malware to the users unknowingly.

4. Loss of revenue– Hacking your website costs you a lot as you lose the trust of your customers, and as a result, your revenue decreases gradually.

Powering millions of websites, WordPress is a soft target for hackers. Although no website is100% secure, you can certainly minimize the possibility of hacking.

Let’s take a look at why it’s important to secure your WordPress website.

1. Prevent your online business from losing reputation and revenue.
2. Protect your customer’s sensitive and personal information.
3. Reduce the risk of spreading malware on other websites.
4. Build a strong business image and staying on the top by offering a secure web experience.

Do not worry if you are not technical, you can easily implement these tricks yourself. Here is a WordPress security checklist to be followed to prevent WordPress hacking:

1. Take Backups Regularly

Even if your website is secured, it is always advisable to take a backup for any critical and sensitive business information. The backup is your first line of defense. You should set the backup at regular intervals of one day or one week on the basis of the frequency of updating your website. You can use backup solutions like BackupBuddy to set automatic backups.

Moreover, a WordPress backup service like BlogVault offers more than just daily backups. It allows users to take on-demand backups and even schedule backups. The plugin takes incremental backups to make sure that a large WordPress website is properly backed up. BolgVault also offers real-time backups for WooCommerce websites. Users can access up to 365 days of backups which they can easily restore with the click of a button. Besides these, other facilities include migration, off-site off-server storage along with free staging, and merging facilities.

2. Keep Your Website Updated

You always receive notifications of new updates in WordPress. Yes, that annoying notifications irritate you but consider them and update them. You can set the updates as manual or automatic. Setting automatic updates is easy but sometimes compatibility issues can give you headaches. Hence we suggest updating your WordPress website manually.

3. Optimize WP File Permissions

File permissions play a significant role in keeping files safe. You can restrict user access through permissions. Wrong permissions can be dangerous. For example, you should not configure directories with 777 permissions because these permissions give a reading, writing, and execution access to everybody.

When there are a lot of users, you may find it difficult to allow permissions to them. A User Activity Log Pro WordPress plugin remains handy to serve this objective. When there is a requirement for many people to log into your website, this plugin can work wonders.

User Activity Log Pro WordPress plugin

4. Use 2-Factor Authentication

However complicated and strong your password is, it has always a risk of being known to smart hackers. Therefore, you should use 2-factor authentication for login. Also, you should avoid using “Admin” as the username because it is the most frequent and easiest name! That’s not all. A strong password and unique username are not enough to secure your website. You should use iThemes Security WordPress plugin to enhance the login security.

iThemes Security WordPress Plugin

5. Hide Admin Panel

How about hiding your back panel or the backend URL? It is always helpful because a hacker cannot break in. You can prevent even the most forceful cyber attacks by hiding the backend URL. You can do so by creating a customized login URL. Also, you can hide your WordPress version number to remain protected against mass hacker attacks.

Source: hackmageddon.com

This plugin is a great help in monitoring day-to-day activities done by various users. Hackers initiate the cracking activities mostly through admin login. By monitoring activities, you can prevent any suspicious activity done on a website.

Useful Read: WordPress Maintenance Checklist (Must Perform Regularly)

6. Get Plugins from Known Resources Only

One of the biggest advantages of WordPress platform is its huge treasure of plugins. The official repository of WordPress has over 55,185 plugins.

But, it is always necessary to check comments or reviews and support info before downloading any plugin because a plugin may come as a Trojan for your website. Always remember to trust only known and reliable resources to get plugins.

7. Limit Login Attempts

A genuine user can enter the right credentials in maximum three or four attempts. You should limit the login attempts based on this fact to eliminate the possibility of guessing your password by a hacker. When you fix the limit on failed attempts, you provide another level of safety to your WordPress-based business website.

8. Never Download Premium Plugins without Paying Anything

Yes, premium plugins are pricey because of their enhanced performance and excellent functionality.

Is It possible that someone will pay for a premium plugin and then distribute it for free?
The answer is simple- NO!

By downloading premium plugins for free on your website you give an entry to malicious plugins. They may harm your website by any means, so stay away from such plugins.

Related Reading: Why Buy A Premium WordPress Plugin (Is It Worth It?)

9. Go for HTTPS

When you switch the WordPress website to HTTPS, you ensure its protection from hackers and any unreliable hidden scripts.

Also, you can get a better ranking on Google SERPs because WordPress has made it mandatory to have HTTPS for considering the website on search results. Your tech-savvy customers will notice HTTPS and put trust in your website.

10. Use Security Plugins

Last but not least! You use plugins to enhance the performance of your website. You should use them to improve the security of your site as well.

iThemes Security, WordFence, User Activity Log Pro etc. are a few of the most popular security plugins for WordPress website. Such plugins monitor every suspicious activity and protect your website by locking any vulnerable areas.

Related Read: Top 10 WordPress Security Plugins 2021 (Keep Your Site Secure)

Conclusion:

It is a herculean task to secure your WordPress website completely with little or no technical knowledge. These security measures will certainly help you minimize the potential risk of a cyber-attack or data breach.

At Solwin Infotech, we understand the worries of website owners. As a renowned WordPress development company, we take care of every aspect related to the safety of the website and provide real-time technical assistance. Let’s connect to keep your business website safe and sound.