You’ve spent countless hours posting content and building up trust with Google. Now, you’re at the top of the search engine rankings, and your website is performing better than ever. Then, the worst happens — you realize your WordPress Security is not set. A hacker has taken your files, your data, your customers’ data, and all of your employees’ data.
If you’re wondering if your WordPress website and all of your business’ data are secured, you’re not the only one. Online security breaches are a serious concern of every major business across the world, and it’s also no secret that WordPress has been getting media coverage lately for major security vulnerabilities.
Don’t let a hacker compromise your business and all of its data. Below, learn how to increase maintain security on your WordPress website in five major areas.
How to Increase Security on Your WordPress Website Today
Update your version of WordPress now, and always.
WordPress recently launched WordPress 4.2.2, a critical security update that fixes the two recent security vulnerabilities. As stated on the WordPress blog early last month, it is strongly recommended that you update your website as soon as possible secure itself.
After WordPress finds a security vulnernability, it will always release a new version within a few days or less. As WordPress customers, it’s critical to always keep your website up-to-date with the latest version of WordPress. When a new version is available, you’ll see a message at the top of your website’s main dashboard. You can also click on Updates on your left side panel, and after backing up your files, click Update Now to do a full website update.
Get your WordPress passwords up to par.
As the WordPress Security Team said, “The weakest link in the security of anything you do online is your password.” Not only that, many times, we make the mistake of using passwords across multiple devices and accounts. When one password is compromised, the end result isn’t pretty.
Passwords were meant to be difficult to guess, and using a password generator like the Norton Identity Safe password generator helps it become a no-brainer, producing up to 50 hard-to-guess passwords at once for you to use and download — free of charge. WordPress also recommends using a two-step authentication plugin, such as Clef or Wordfence, to give you an extra blanket of security. Take it a step further and update your entire company’s passwords for all company accounts online, weekly or monthly, depending on the level of security needed.
Update and clean out your WordPress website’s plugins.
It’s important to carefully choose which plugins you install. Make sure to read through reviews, updates, and do your research before installing just any plugin on your website. If not developed and coded properly, one or more of your plugins might be vulnerable to hackers.
It’s time to clean out your extensive plugin directory. Keep only the most important ones on your website and remove what you don’t use, for extra protection. Also, make sure your plugins are always up-to-date. Go to the Updates tab on your WordPress Dashboard to do a full site update, which includes your plugins.
Make sure your website has an SSL certificate.
As recommended by Google for all websites, an SSL certificate protects private information submitted your website. You will only pay a small yearly fee.
Not only is this great for securing your website, it will also help your business in search engine rankings, as you’ll be building trust by following Google’s recommendations.
Talk to your web host about the security on your website’s server.
If your host keeps your website on a shared server — one that is shared by many other websites, and one of the websites on the server is compromised, then your website might also be compromised.
Your hosting company should keep all of its servers up-to-date, use firewalls and an operating system, such as Linux.
Secure Your WordPress Website Now, Before It’s Too Late
Your website is a big investment, and the longer you’ve built up your reputation online, the more valuable it is to you. Just like any other big investment, it needs proper maintenance to keep a high level of security.
By taking precautions and maintaining security in these five major areas, your customers, your employees and your business are secure.
Contact the WordPress Experts Today
If you have any other questions on how to keep and maintain security on your WordPress website, don’t hesitate to contact the WordPress Security Experts at MosaicVisual to see how we can help your company secure its data, files and reputation, before you are the next headline on the news.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.