As you’re probably aware, keeping your site secure is extremely important. However, the task of making your website safe can seem daunting. This is especially true if you lack experience or technical know-how.

One easy way to get started is to look at what security features other sites implement. You’ll find several elements on just about every secure WordPress website. As it turns out, many of the techniques they use are not that difficult to add to your site.

This article will introduce you to several security solutions you can implement on your WordPress website. Before that, we’ll discuss why safeguarding your site is crucial. Let’s get started!

Why Keeping Your WordPress Site Secure Is Important

WordPress is an inherently secure platform. There’s a reason why it currently powers a quarter of all sites on the internet. However, that ubiquity can also make sites using WordPress a prime target for hackers.

Because malicious hackers, bots, and viruses are evolving new tactics daily, no site is ever completely immune to attacks. For this reason, you can’t just rely on WordPress’ default security measures. You mustn’t get complacent and take active steps to protect your site.

Fortunately, you can ensure your site’s safety in plenty of ways. Here are some general tips to keep in mind:

• Choose the right web host. The host you choose will be a huge factor in how secure your WordPress site is. Almost half of all WordPress attacks are due to vulnerabilities in the hosting platform. Make sure that your host provides a strong security plan and reliable support.
• Only use trusted plugins. Plugins can be susceptible to security vulnerabilities, especially larger ones. Therefore, you should always use trusted plugins with reliable support and regular updates.
• Make sure you have a secure username and password. This may seem obvious, but many successful attacks are accomplished by guessing your password. Some easy ways to avoid this are not using “admin” as your username and generating a strong password.

These basic strategies will set you on your way to a more secure WordPress website. However, there’s still more you can do.

The 3 Key Elements of a Secure WordPress Website

Now, let’s look at more advanced ways to keep your WordPress site safe. You’ll find these elements on nearly any secure WordPress site, so you’ll want to consider how to implement them carefully.

1. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a security measure that sits in front of your site (metaphorically) and protects it against “illegitimate traffic.” This includes hackers and bots trying to exploit your site by exploiting vulnerabilities. New flaws, such as the recently discovered WordPress DoS vulnerability, are found and targeted regularly.

A WAF is a simple way to mitigate this and other common attack types. These include Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which try to overload your site and bring it down. It also protects against brute-force attacks using automated scripts to decrypt encrypted data, such as your password or other sensitive information.

Finally, a WAF will help protect against software vulnerabilities and stop code injection attacks. This is where an attacker tries to break your site or access sensitive files by entering invalid data. With a WAF in place, you can worry less about these tactics.

2. Create a Solid Backup Strategy

The hard truth is that you can do everything right to safeguard your site, but something can still go wrong. Sometimes, the worst happens regardless of your efforts, and you must be prepared for that eventuality. This means creating regular backups of your site, which are perfect copies that enable you to restore it to its former state if its defenses are ever breached.

You’ll need to consider how to implement your backup strategy and how often to create new backups. For example, more extensive and frequently updated sites require you to create backups more regularly. Daily backups are usually recommended, but you’ll want to tailor your strategy to your site’s needs.

Storage is another potential problem since if you keep your backups on the same server as your site, you risk losing them both simultaneously. An offsite backup service will help you avoid such problems and ensure that you can quickly recover your site if the worst happens.

3. Make Sure WordPress Is Always Up-To-Date

The easiest way to ensure that your site remains protected is to keep your WordPress installation and your themes and plugins up-to-date at all times. It may get annoying when you constantly get notifications about available updates, but those new versions are brought out for a reason. Many updates fix vulnerabilities and exploits and protect against new types of attacks. Therefore, installing them as soon as possible is in your best interest.

Fortunately, this is not as difficult as it once was. Most plugins can be updated with a button, and WordPress will automatically apply minor updates without your input. However, you’ll need to take care of significant updates yourself.

To help you do that, WP Republic! We will keep your WordPress installation up-to-date at all times. This can be particularly helpful if you’re unsure how to update manually but still want peace of mind. WP Republic! also provides many other security-related features that will keep your site safe, so we encourage you to check them out and contact us with any questions.

Conclusion

Site security is no small matter. If you compromise on it, you’ll likely soon be in trouble. Fortunately, ensuring your site is protected doesn’t have to be a burden.

If you incorporate these key elements, your WordPress website will be much more secure:

1. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF).
2. Create and implement a solid backup strategy.
3. Make sure your WordPress installation is always up-to-date.

Do you have any further questions about site security or how we can help secure your WordPress site? Please let us know in the comments section below!

*Photo by pixelcreatures on Pixabay