How to keep a WordPress website secure can be a real mind-boggler. Website security in general is a complicated business, with whole industries set up based on covering just website security alone. This is then there is divided still further into WordPress website security.
Thousands of websites are successfully hacked every single day, and there are billions of password attempts blocked every single day too – these are staggering numbers!
When you set up a new WordPress website, the last thing that you want to do is to have it hacked by unscrupulous, low-life scumbags who seem to have nothing better to do than to just trawl the Internet looking for WordPress-based websites that they can take advantage of.
About WordPress website security
It’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to the topic of WordPress website security as there are so many different elements to think about for those that are in charge of the security of a website. That’s right, often, for bigger companies that use WordPress as their content management platform of choice, there is often an entire department dedicated to handling things like keeping the website secure and not only preventing it from being hacked but also things like preventing WordPress spam, which can be both annoying and dangerous for larger businesses to fall victim to.
How secure is WordPress out of the box?
WordPress website security article
Interesting for you to wonder about the issue of WordPress website security.
The first answer to this question that comes to mind is “not very” in regards to how secure WordPress is right out of the box.
let’s just say that if you value your WP-based website and have spent time producing content for it or money getting it to exactly where you want it to be, then you need to also take the time to delve deeper into what steps you need to take as the owner of the website to beef up the security of your website; because if you leave it as it is when you perform a base install of WordPress, you will be leaving your website open to the possibility of all sorts of attacks from those with bad intentions.
Reasons why you need to keep your WordPress website, secure…
There are quite a few reasons to ensure that you have as secure a WordPress website as you can possibly get. Let’s delve a bit deeper into just a few of these good reasons…
Google will penalise your website in their search results rankings if it’s deemed to be unsecure
One of Google’s most notable updates means that they now require ALL websites & domains to be secured via an SSL certificate, which represents a huge step towards making the internet more secure.
For years we had been getting away with websites just being able to use the “HTTP” protocol – but now, if your website address bar does not display that miniature padlock symbol followed by “HTTPS“, then (when clicking in from a Google search) visitors to your website will be shown (quite an off-putting) message informing them that your website is not secure and even trying to dissuade them from continuing to click in and visit it.
So, one of the first things to do with wanting to keep a WordPress website secure is to ensure that your website has a valid SSL certificate.
Your visitors/customers will be expecting complete website security
With the immense growth of online shopping, website visitors are now even savvier when it comes to who they choose to spend their money with online.
If a single thing about your website or business puts them off, then they end up clicking “back” on their web browser and be off to spend their money with one of your competitors instead of you.
It’s bad for business and leads to more headaches for you
Just let word get around within your industry that your website is bad with security or flimsy with customers’ data and watch your sales slide and your business’s reputation dwindle!
How to keep a WordPress website secure
Always keep WordPress version updated
The creators of WordPress know about and are well aware of its many flaws and vulnerabilities. They are always releasing patches and updates with a view to fixing these as they find them. The problem is though that the bad guys are also constantly looking for and finding weak points, back doors and vulnerabilities in the software too – making it a seemingly neverending battle.
As you can imagine, there is numerous way to be able to keep your WordPress website secure in 2022 and beyond. Some methods are newer than others and some are just good old common sense.
Limit admin login attempts & change the admin folders location + username
The first two we are going to look at are super important for those that want to take the quickest step towards securing their WordPress website in the quickest possible time.
Change the location of the Admin folder
Anyone that works with WordPress will know the default location of the administration folder – this includes hackers too. It’s remained the same for many years – if not since the beginning of WP.
Many people are unaware that it is possible to change the location of the WordPress admin folder, but it is. Doing so helps to strengthen the security of a WordPress website because in order for a hack to brute-force their way into the administrator’s section of your site, they will first need to know where to find it; and if you have changed its location away for the default, then it can be really hard
Limit admin Login attempts
Hackers love it when this step has not been taken because they will have access to unlimited attempts to try to break into the admin area of your WordPress install. For hackers, to step just includes using software that will attempt to try to guess the password that you have used to secure your WordPress admin area. If you have not limited the number of admin login attempts, a hacker could have all-day access to try to guess the password that you have used.
Change admin username
You would be surprised how many people just leave the username for their WordPress store as “Admin” (which is the default wp username). Not only is this silly, but it’s also downright dangerous too – in terms of over-all website security.
Choose your WordPress website hosting wisely
The hosting that you choose for your WordPress website can be one of the most important factors when it comes to determining how safe your WordPress install actually is.
In the past, before getting our own web hosting servers, we tried some absolutely shocking web hosting companies and because of this, we had was having nothing but headaches and experiencing frequent website downtime where our sites would just randomly become inaccessible.
Install security-focused WordPress plugins
There are specific plug-ins out there that are built solely with the maximum security of WordPress in mind. Securing multiple aspects of WordPress is their sole focus.
As a WordPress website owner, you can install these plug-ins and they will help to make your job of securing your website become that little bit easier.
Conclusion to how to keep a WordPress website as secure as possible…
Keeping a WordPress website secure can be extremely difficult and seem like a never-ending battle.