How do you keep your WordPress website safe from hackers?

There are a lot of things you can do to keep your WordPress site secure

It’s easy to think your WordPress site is safe from hackers, especially if you’ve taken basic steps like setting a strong password and checking the “force SSL” box. However, the truth is that even the most security-conscious site owners are at risk of being hacked. One of the most common reasons people fall prey to hackers is because they use outdated versions of WordPress.

The good news is that there are a lot of ways to prevent hacking. You just need to know how! In this article, we’ll go over some simple steps you can take right now to make sure your website doesn’t get hacked.

• Keeping WordPress up to date

  Keeping your WordPress site up-to-date is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent security problems. To do this, go to Dashboard > Updates in your WordPress admin area. This will show you if any updates are available for your installed plugins or themes and if so, it will give you information on which version of the plugin or theme needs to be updated (if any). You can then update that manually by clicking ‘Update Now’:

  When updating, make sure you don’t encounter any errors during the installation. If you do encounter an error, simply restore to an earlier backup you made before installing those updates.

• Use a strong password

  A strong password is the one important step in keeping hackers at bay.

  • Make sure it is long and a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
  • Don’t use words from the dictionary, or anything that is easy for hackers to guess, such as your name or your birthday.
  • Make sure it is not the same as your username on the site, especially if you have multiple accounts, this can be an easy way for someone to access all your accounts with one click!

• Use an SSL certificate

  An SSL certificate is a type of security certificate. It protects your website from hackers and helps ensure that your website is safe to use.

  You can also get a free SSL certificate through Let’s Encrypt, which provides free and open certificates for all content on the web.

• Implement two-factor authentication

  Two-factor authentication is a method of confirming a user’s identity by requesting additional information when logging into an application. The purpose of two-factor authentication is to provide an additional layer of security for your account, even if someone has obtained your password.

  In general, you use a username and password to log in to your WordPress site. However, if you enable two-factor authentication on that site, you will also need access to another piece of information: usually your phone number or mobile device. If a hacker tries to access your account without this second factor (by guessing the correct answers for both username and password or by using stolen data), he will not be able to log in because he also does not have access to the required second factor – and this protection can save you from being hacked!

• Do not use “admin” as your username

  If you have an important website and want to keep it secure, don’t use “admin” as your username. That’s one of the first things hackers will try when they try to gain access to your site. They know there are many sites with the username admin, so they can just guess that password, and BOEM! They are in.

  There are two ways around this: either use different usernames for different services on your server (so if one is compromised, it won’t affect all of them), or use unique passwords for all of your services (so even if someone guesses one password, it won’t give them access to other services).

• Only install trusted plugins and themes

  • Check plugin and theme reviews.
  • Check the website of the developer of the plugin or theme for contact information, such as an email address or phone number, in case you need to contact them regarding a problem with their product.
  • Check the developer’s social media accounts to see if they have offered support to customers who have had problems installing their products on WordPress sites. If this is the case, it indicates that they will also be able to help you when things don’t go according to plan!

• Limit login attempts

  Limit the number of times a user can attempt to log in before the account is blocked. This way, if someone tries to hack your website, they can’t try to log in again and again.

• Remove unnecessary users

  Delete any unused accounts that you don’t need to keep on your site. Remember: it is better to delete an account than to change the password, so you can keep the username vacant and available in case you ever need it again.