WordPress is the most popular CMS (Content Management System) in the world. Moreover, websites developed with WordPress represent 65% of sites built using a CMS. The popularity of WordPress is due to its simplicity and ease of use.

Given its popularity, some hackers attempt to take control of unsecured sites. Therefore, if you have a WordPress site or plan to create one, securing it should be a priority. Here are 10 points you should check to secure your WordPress website:

1. Update WordPress Regularly:

Many bugs and vulnerabilities are fixed with each new version.

• To update WordPress, go to your dashboard.

• At the top of the page, you’ll see a notification whenever a new version is available.

• Click on the update, then click the blue “Update Now” button. It only takes a few seconds.

2. Update Your Themes and Plugins:

• To update your plugins, simply click on “update now” beneath them, and they will update in seconds.

• To update your theme, go to Appearance / Themes, and you’ll see all your installed themes. Those that are outdated will be marked similarly to the plugins. Simply click “Update Now.”

3. Back Up Your Site Regularly:

Backing up your site means creating a copy of all your site’s data and storing it in a safe location. This way, you can restore the site from this backup in case of an issue.

4. Limit Login Attempts and Change Your Password Frequently:

Don’t let your login form allow unlimited attempts to use the username and password, as this is exactly what helps a hacker infiltrate and take control of your site.

Additionally, by changing your passwords frequently, you reduce the chances of hackers accessing your site. However, “frequently” doesn’t mean daily; once every 2 or 3 months is enough.

5. Install a Firewall:

In addition to installing a firewall on your computer, you can also install security tools on your WordPress site. This type of firewall protects your site from viruses, malware, hacker attacks, and more.

Sucuri does an excellent job in this regard and is one of the best security services for WordPress. It does a bit of everything. You can also use the Wordfence plugin.

6. Limit User Access to Your Site:

If you’re not the only user with access to your site, be cautious when creating new user accounts. Keep everything under control and try to limit access to users who don’t necessarily need it.

If you have many users, you can limit their roles and permissions. They should only have access to the features they need to do their job.

7. Rename Your Login URL:

By default, the URL you use to log into your dashboard is either wp-login.php or wp-admin, added after your site’s main URL. For example, YOURSITE.com/wp-login.php.

The Themes Security plugin can do this trick. For example, your login URL can change to something like YOURSITE.com/I_love_my_site. This is one of the very simple security tricks for WordPress.

8. Enable Security Scans:

Security scans are performed by specialized software/plugins that crawl your entire website for any suspicious elements. If something is found, it is immediately deleted. These scanners work just like antivirus software.

9. Use SSL:

SSL certificates allow us to verify the ownership of a public key. If this sounds like jargon to you, don’t worry. Choosing an SSL certificate is not complicated, and it’s really necessary to have an SSL certificate on your WordPress site. The goal here is to have an https:// URL, which shows a padlock to your users.

10. Protect Your wp-config.php:

A simple thing you can do is move the wp-config.php file just one step above your WordPress root directory. Your WordPress site will not be affected by this move, but hackers will no longer be able to find it.

Conclusion:

You need to put in the extra effort to secure your site. A frequently hacked site would certainly affect your customer trust, so your first priority should be to implement strong security protocols.

According to Sucuri: • 83% of hacked sites created with a CMS are made with WordPress. • 39% of hacked WordPress sites have outdated WordPress versions.

Statistics like these are common on WordPress, and if you have no security measures in place, you should be worried. By following the previous steps, you should be able to keep your site secure.