5 Steps You Should Take to Secure your WordPress Site

WordPress is a very popular and easy-to-use

Content Management System (CMS)

for creating a website. You don't need to be a technology pro to build an attractive and useful website on WordPress. However, this CMS sometimes gets criticized for not being very secure. In reality, WordPress is a secure CMS. With the frequent updates from the community, it is quite hard to be hacked from a security breach. But still you have to do your part to keep your site safe. Specifically, there are a few steps you should take to protect your WordPress site from being hacked

Undelete 360

.

Perform Regular Backups

You spent a lot of time building your WordPress site and getting it just how you want it; the last thing you need is to become victim of a malware or intruder and lose all your hard work. Fortunately, by following just a few simple steps, you can

back up your WordPress

site so that in the event that it's hacked, you can easily revert back to the previous backup and restore most--if not all--of your previous data. Check with your hosting server to see if they provide regular automatic backups; if not, ask about setting them up or simply do a

manual backup

once a week. We know that checking if the backups are working or not may not be an easy thing but we do really encourage you to do it, for the safety of your business.

File recovery software

.

Complete Updates as Needed

One of the most important aspects of protecting your WordPress site is keeping it

updated

. WordPress is improving their security measures all the time, so by keeping your site up-to-date, you'll always have the maximum level of protection. Otherwise, there is a probability to lose your data. Specifically, make sure that you're always updated to the

latest version of WordPress

, in addition to the latest versions of all your plugins and the theme that you are using.

Stay Away from Free Themes/Plugins

Speaking of plugins and themes, it's generally best to stay away from free ones that are available for download online. Unless the developer is well known and trusted for using the coding best practices, then you have to at least check with a professional if that theme/plugin is safe or not. A good & trusted source for free

themes

and

plugins

is

WordPress.org

as they have a great team of reviewers to check the site before it is uploaded to the market.

Scan for Malware Regularly

Even if you're taking all the necessary precautions to protect your WordPress website from hackers, it's still a good idea to scan it for malware every so often (once a week is usually enough). If you're not sure how to scan for malware, consider downloading a

reputable security plugin

for your site (you may have to pay for it, but it'll be worth it). From there, you can launch the plugin and simply run it as needed. If any malware is detected on your site, most of these plugins will also provide you with assistance in recovering from an attack or getting rid of malware. You can use

Sucuri Site Check

to make a quick check up on your website security status.

Always Use Strong Passwords

Last but not least, now is a good time to check your “12345678” passwords for your WordPress site and make sure they're as strong as can be. The strongest passwords are completely random--essentially gibberish. So if your current password is too logical, such as your pet's name or a kid's name with a few numbers mixed in, you're at risk. Consider using a

password generator

to come up with a totally unique and difficult-to-crack password. As you can see, there are many steps you can take to protect your WordPress site from hackers. For more information or assistance, feel free to

contact us

today.

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