The internet is a place of increased opportunity but also a place that is increasingly dangerous for the unprepared. There are several thousand hackers out there who may increasingly be trying to steal your information and this can include trying to hack into your website.
Improving WordPress security
Whilst you cannot stop hackers trying to attack your website you can improve your security and stop hackers at the gates. Here are five key things that you need to do to increase your website security.
2 Factor Authentication
2 factor authentication slows hackers access to your website as they cannot access your site just with a password. To access your website, you would need a code sent to a mobile device so you’d need to type in this code as well as your website username and password.
Changing your login URL
WordPress has a standard login URL – “yourdomainname.com/wp-login.php.” You can change this/”wp-login.php” to a URL that is unique to your WordPress website. If you change this domain name to a unique URL then hackers will be less likely to be able to find where to log in to your website.
Organising an SSL certificate to encrypt data
There are several reasons you should look at getting an SSL Certificate. Firstly, one of the reasons is that Google has talked of ranking sites that have an SSL certificate more highly than those who don’t have an SSL certificate. If this is not reason enough for you to get yourself an SSL certificate, then you should get one to encrypt data on your website. This means it will be impossible for hackers to access your data because it will be encrypted. Some website hosts like WP Engine offer free SSL certificates on all their plans.
Create a different admin username
The standard username for a WordPress website is “admin.” You should not use this as your username as this will give hackers a leg up with trying to access your site. If you make usernames that are more complex, you’ll find that hackers have a harder time getting into your site. Don’t just make it your name either. Make it something longer and more difficult to guess.
Create regular site backups
It’s incredibly important that you regularly backup your website because, despite your best efforts, you may not be able to completely stop hackers. It’s also possible that you can get hacked through your host, not necessarily through WordPress. A regular backup means that you won’t be offline for too long if there was a problem.
WordPress website security is incredibly important and here are the 5 things you need to consider. If you want help with ensuring that your website is secure, please get in touch today.
