M/s VIKASH TECH - 9 Tips & tricks to secure your WordPress site?

It's always a big concern when we talk about security. Hosting your website on a global network not only gives you global reach, good business opportunities, and great outputs but also gives you great risk of data loss, brand reputation risk, and a lot more.

When it comes to website security, you need to implement few basic stuff to ensure that you are on the safe side.

If you are using a WordPress-based website you can follow the below tips and tricks to secure your WordPress website from the attacker.

• Use an updated version of WordPress
• Always keep your plugins and themes up to date
• Use fewer plugins
• Turn off/disable XMLRPC if not being used.
• Use SSL for your website
• Always use a good password policy
• Use Jetpack for security and monitoring of your WordPress site.
• Keep away from unverified publishers of plugins and themes, or any other code you put on your site.
• Last but not the least, always host your website on a secure web host.

Use updated version of WordPress

It's always suggested that you should not keep an out-of-date version of WordPress, as it will open up loopholes for attackers to get inside your site.

WordPress is one of the most used frameworks to develop a website, thus it has a huge client base too, which makes it a big target for attackers.

Finding a loophole in WordPress will violate millions of websites. So too keep it secure and smooth, WordPress community keeps on developing security patches for WordPress and its plugins.

Sitting on the older version of WordPress will make you a good target for attackers and it will also keep you away from the latest features and functionalities.

Always keep your plugins and themes up to date.

As we talk earlier, keeping your website code up to date, keeps you safe from attackers and also ensures smooth performance and updated functionalities.

Your plugins play a great role in making your website vulnerable, and due to which we suggest keeping them up to date and always stay on the latest version.

There are features in the latest version of WordPress to automatically update your site plugins, I'll suggest going for that. If in case you have made changes in the plugins and do not want to update them you should always keep an eye on your site and its security then.

Use fewer plugins

The more you use ready-made codes, the more you'll find yourself vulnerable. It is always suggested to use limited amount of plugins, as it will decrease your area of vulnerabilities.

If you have installed more than 20 plugins, it will not only give you an insecure place but also make your website slow and non-SEO/non-user-friendly. You must the radius small.

Turn OFF xmlrpc in WordPress

If you are not a user of xmlrpc or if you do not have a plugin or a theme that requires xmlrpc, you must turn it off.

We’ve come along way since WordPress was first launched. Back in the day, the feature called XML-RPC was extremely useful. In a time with slow internet speed and constant lags, it was difficult to write content online in real-time, like we do now. The XML-RPC function enabled users to write their content offline, say on Microsoft Word, and then publish it all together in one go. But you might do not know that you should disable XMLRPC in your WordPress website.

Today, with faster internet speeds, the XML-RPC function has become redundant to most users. It still exists because the WordPress app and some plugins like JetPack utilize this feature.

If you don‚Äôt use any of these plugins, mobile apps, or remote connections, it‚Äôs best to disable them. Why? Every additional element on your site gives hacks one more opportunity to try to break into your site. Disabling the feature makes your site more secure.

Use SSL on your website

It's always good to use an encryption policy, SSL is something similar. It keeps your website users safe and secures their data from a man-in-the-middle attack.

Using SSL will not only provide an extra layer of security to your website but also provide SEO to your website listing. Search engines also love websites with SSL. Sot keep an SSL assigned to your website.

Always use good password policy

A good password policy is a way to keep your account safe from people who try to invade. You should always make sure that you and your customer follow a good password policy.

Each of your users should update their passwords quarterly and should always keep a password having a combination of characters(both small and capital cases) with digits and special characters. Also, a minimum character count of 8 characters should be maintained and the password should not contain easy strings like the name of the user, etc.

Use Jetpack for security and monitoring of your WordPress site.

Spamming is one of the big concerns nowadays. People have created bots to put backlinks of their own websites and also for several other purposes. Filtering comments one by one and marking them spam is a hectic task. You can use Jetpack for securing your websites from different types of attacks including spamming, and it can also help you in monitoring the visit count of each post and page.

There is multiple blog management feature available in Jetpack. You can go for a premium version to get an add-on security and management feature for your website.

Keep away from unverified publishers of plugins and themes, or any other code you put on your site.

Un verified plugin and theme publishers can create a great risk to your website. To ensure the safety of your website, you must stay away from them or use it at your own risk. It is always suggested to either go through the entire code before you put it on your website or else, do not use it at all.

I have seen it in many instances, a malicious code comes coupled with very needy stuff. Like if you require a plugin to allow social media to log in, it can carry a malicious code to share your credentials to a different site too. This will create great damage to your website as well as the reputation of your brand. Also, can lead to legal actions.

It's always better to stay away from such unverified publishers. Use a plugin only if it is inside the WordPress store or if you 100% know the developer of the plugin or you have got it developed by hiring a company or a freelancer or else if you have gone through the entire code and have found the code worth putting on your website.

Always host your website on a secure web host

One of the best solutions suggested to keep your website secure is to host it on a secure web hosting platform. A good web host ensures that fewer attacks happen on all of its hosted websites and also provides multiple mechanisms to maintain the valuable flow of genuine users.

We suggest going for CLOUDPOKO, it is one of the fastest-growing web hosting platforms and provides secure web hosting solutions. WordPress installation and use on the platform are easy and user-friendly.

The hosting provider also provides add-on layer of security to the WordPress websites.

CONCLUSION

If you are a website developer or someone who is hosting a website on the global network. It is very essential to secure your website, not only to secure your data, but also to secure your website and brand's reputation.

If you require any consultation, you can get in touch with us, here