How to Secure Your WordPress Website

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, powering over 60 million websites. While it is user-friendly and easy to use, WordPress websites are also a common target for hackers and cybercriminals.

As a website owner, it is important to take the necessary steps to secure your WordPress website and protect it from potential threats. In this article, we will go over some best practices for securing your WordPress website.

1. Use Strong and Unique Passwords

One of the simplest yet most effective ways to secure your WordPress website is by using strong and unique passwords for your login credentials. A strong password should be at least 12 characters long and include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.

It is also important to use a different password for each of your online accounts, including your WordPress website. This will prevent hackers from using the same password to gain access to multiple accounts in the event that one password is compromised.

2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to your login process by requiring a second form of authentication in addition to your password. This can be a code sent to your phone, a security key, or a biometric feature such as a fingerprint or facial recognition.

Enabling 2FA can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your WordPress website. You can set up 2FA through a plugin or by using a service such as Google Authenticator.

3. Keep Your WordPress Software Up to Date

Keeping your WordPress software up to date is crucial for the security of your website. Each new version of WordPress includes security fixes and improvements to protect against the latest threats.

To update your WordPress software, go to the Dashboard and click on the “Updates” tab. If there is a new version available, click on the “Update Now” button to install the latest version.

It is also important to keep all your plugins and themes up to date to ensure that they are compatible with the latest version of WordPress and are secure.

4. Use a Web Application Firewall

A web application firewall (WAF) is a security tool that monitors and filters incoming traffic to your website, blocking malicious requests and protecting against common web attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).

There are several WordPress plugins that offer WAF protection, such as Sucuri and Wordfence. It is recommended to use a WAF plugin to add an extra layer of security to your website.

5. Use SSL/TLS Encryption

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) are encryption protocols that secure the connection between your website and your visitors’ web browsers.

Having an SSL/TLS certificate installed on your website is important for several reasons. It helps protect sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers from being intercepted by hackers. It also helps increase the trust of your visitors by showing that your website is secure.

To install an SSL/TLS certificate on your WordPress website, you can use a plugin such as Really Simple SSL or contact your hosting provider for assistance.

6. Regularly Back Up Your Website

Regularly backing up your website is important in case of a security breach or server failure. By having a backup of your website, you can restore it to a previous version and minimize the impact of an attack.

There are several WordPress plugins that can help you automate the backup process, such as UpdraftPlus and BackupBuddy. It is recommended to set up a regular schedule for backing up your website and store the backups in a secure location, such as an external hard drive or a cloud storage service. With Norservers.com, you get free daily backups, up to twice per day!

7. Use a Security Plugin

Security plugins can help protect your WordPress website from various types of threats and vulnerabilities. Some popular security plugins include Sucuri, Wordfence, and iThemes Security.

Security plugins typically offer features such as malware scanning, firewall protection, and login security. They can also alert you if there are any security issues on your website and provide guidance on how to fix them.

8. Limit Login Attempts

Limiting the number of login attempts can prevent brute force attacks, where hackers try to guess your login credentials by repeatedly attempting to log in with different combinations of username and password.

You can limit login attempts by using a plugin such as Limit Login Attempts Reloaded or by adding code to your .htaccess file.

9. Use Strong Permissions and User Management

Proper user management and strong file permissions can help prevent unauthorized access to your WordPress website.

It is recommended to assign the lowest possible permissions to users and only give administrative access to trusted users. You should also regularly review and delete any inactive or unnecessary user accounts.

In addition, you should set the correct file permissions on your WordPress directories and files. The recommended permissions are:

• Directories: 755
• Files: 644

10. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN is a network of servers that deliver content to users based on their geographic location. By using a CDN, you can offload the traffic on your website to the CDN servers, which can help reduce the load on your server and improve the performance of your website.

In addition to performance benefits, CDNs can also provide an extra layer of security by blocking malicious traffic and protecting against DDoS attacks.

Some popular CDN providers for WordPress websites include Cloudflare and StackPath.

Conclusion

By following these best practices, you can significantly improve the security of your WordPress website and protect it from potential threats. It is important to regularly review and update your security measures to stay ahead of the latest threats.

Keep in mind that no security measure is foolproof, and it is always a good idea to have a plan in place in case of a security breach.

We hope this article has been helpful in understanding the steps you can take to secure your WordPress website. Stay safe online!

Oh, and by the way, Norservers has all the tools for your new or established website.