WordPress is a great platform to build a website if you’re new to site development and want to create a website with some built-in guidance. However, taking the necessary steps to secure your website is something that many novices overlook. If you are looking to build a good website for your business, let us talk you through how to secure a WordPress site for beginners.
Table of Contents
Tips to Secure Your WordPress Website
Use a strong password
While it’s tempting to use a simple password because passwords with mixed elements can be challenging to remember, having a strong password will make it more difficult for hackers to break into your website.
Keep records of your passwords in a logbook or secure online password service. Make sure that you only share access to your website with reliable people who will not share your information. Using a strong password is one way you can avoid having malware installed onto your website and distributed to your customers.
Choose a reliable hosting company
The easiest way to secure your WordPress website is by choosing a hosting company that offers you numerous security options. Choosing affordable hosting companies is tempting; however, cheaper companies usually do not provide you as many security options as you would get if you splurged on a hosting company that costs a bit more but has more features.
Another benefit of paying extra for a good website host is that you can use this hosting company to make your website work faster. If you have a small business website that is trying to boost its growth online, then the speed of your website will help pages load faster. Because some people are impatient when websites take too long to load, they often leave the site before the page loads if it is slow.
Avoid using nulled themes
When it comes to using premium themes on WordPress, you can expect to pay extra to access them. However, some websites offer hacked versions of these themes, which they refer to as “nulled themes.” The problem with using these themes is that they may contain malware that can corrupt your website.
If you want to use a theme for your WordPress website, then we suggest paying for it, because you usually get what you pay for. The premium themes come from highly-skilled programmers who invest a lot of time and energy to develop and produce them, and they deserve fair compensation. Instead of using nulled themes, invest in the premium themes since these are safer and more trustworthy.
Remove the file-editing option
There are two ways you can edit your plugins and themes. The first option is by following Appearance > Editor, while the other method is by going to the plugin’s editor by following Plugins > Editor. Once you are happy with the look and theme of your website, we suggest turning off the second option.
Should a hacker gain access to your website, if that option is open and available, they can use that option to add malicious software into your website, which they can then use to distribute the malware to customers who use your website. The problem is that the malware code will be so subtle that you won’t notice it immediately, and that gives it time to mess up your website.
To disable this option, you should paste this code: “define (‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true )” into your wp-config.php file.
Add a WordPress security plugin
Before you make your website live, installing a security plugin is the best and easiest way to keep your WordPress website secure. WordPress makes security plugins so that you don’t have to check your website every day for malware, and the company offers you a lot of plugins from which to choose.
Installing a security plugin is also beneficial even if you aren’t a developer and don’t have a lot of knowledge when it comes to looking at codes. The security plugin will keep tabs on your website 24/7 and can help you check to see if someone has added malicious codes or protect from DDOS attacks.
Restrict log-in attempts
A WordPress default option specifies that you can attempt to log in to your website as many times as you want. However, this isn’t safe if a hacker tries to log into your website. When building your website, be sure to restrict the number of times someone can log in to your website.
While this may lock them out of the website for a while, it’s safer for you and gives you fewer chances of getting hacked. WordPress has a plugin that allows you to limit log-in attempts—you can enable it through Settings> Log-in limit attempts.
Conclusion
When it comes to website development, you should know how to secure your WordPress Site. If you use your website for your business, then security should be your top priority. Building a website isn’t easy, which is why it’s beneficial to use the plugins offered by your hosting company to amp the security when you are developing your WordPress website.
Related: WordPress vs. Joomla