WordPress Security Tips And Tricks To Secure Your Website
July 12th, 2016 | by Ravi Chahar || 7 Comments |
While handling a WordPress website, you should consider each and every aspect of security. There may be many vulnerabilities on your WordPress site. You should know some WordPress security tips and tricks so that you can secure WordPress site. Though WordPress is a secure platform to use. But, you know that hackers are there who continuously seek for a vulnerable website.
To secure WordPress site, you should look up the possible backdoors. It may relate to any plugin, any theme, or even from the WordPress itself. In this post, I am going to provide you some WordPress security tips.
WordPress Security Tips For Beginners
For the beginners, it’s important to know about all the possible reasons of a website hack. When people listen about hacking, they fret about it. Instead of panicking, they should secure WordPress site. The WordPress security tips should be provided to the newbies.
1. Change the default username.
When you install WordPress for the first time on your blog then the default username is “admin”. If you don’t change it then there is a possibility that hacker may hack your website.
It’s because guessing the username would be easy which may lead to the hack. To secure WordPress website, you should change the default username with something you can remember.
Always remember, never share the username of your WordPress admin panel with anyone. People can use it to spam your website. They can spam your website.
2. Keep a strong password.
Just like the username, the password should be strong enough to secure your website. Never use your name as your password. It’s always recommended to generate your password from a password generator or you can create your own password including letter, words and special characters in it.
It would be better if you keep changing the password on a regular interval of time. What if you lose your password? You can change it using your registered email ID. If you’re not able to open the login page then you should change the password using the phpMyAdmin from the cPanel.
3. Update to the latest version of WordPress.
One of the best WordPress security tips is to keep updated WordPress. If you keep the older version of WordPress on your website then the level of vulnerability increases. Hackers keep searching for the weak portion in the older version of the WordPress. And before updating WordPress don’t forget to backup your whole website and the database.
4. Delete unused plugins and themes.
I always say that the WordPress plugins are the tools to enhance the working of a WordPress website. But they are also one of the weakest portions of a website. To secure your website, you should keep all the plugins and themes updated.
If you’re not using any plugin then delete it. The same thing goes with the theme. Though it’s always advised to keep a default theme on your WordPres blog. But still, you should be alert and don’t keep any extra theme on your WordPress.
5. Choose a secure web hosting.
You all know that for a secure WordPress website, the most important role is played by the web hosting your choose. The hosting should have a firewall for your website. It should support all the latest PHP and MySQL versions. There should be a system which can track the users and secure your website from suspected users.
6. Install the trusted plugins and themes.
You may find any plugin which is great in its use. But you are forgetting about the old code of that plugin or theme. The new version has come and people are using more secure plugins and themes. You shouldn’t use any old plugin or theme. Always check the last updated time, read the reviews and then decide to install the plugin.
7. Change the permissions.
While handling the website, you should choose the permissions for the images, files, and directories according to WordPress.org. There should be a specific permission for a particular file. You should learn more about providing permissions. You should know whether to select 777 permission or the 750. For files, should it be 600 0r 644? Know the permissions better and secure WordPress site.
Have You Followed All The WordPress Security Tips And Tricks?
I have mentioned some basic WordPress security tips so that the beginners can have the basic level of WordPress security on their website. Checking the code of the plugin is always a good idea. Have you completed the task to secure WordPress website? If not then start doing it.
I am sure, you don’t want your website to be hacked by anyone. Many people ignore these basic WordPress security tips. But, you shouldn’t do that. Keeping your WordPress blog secure is very important. Follow the guide and enjoy blogging.
Hi Ravi,
I think I’m secure according to these great tips you have given. I have a self hosted blog and the service is amazing. I do change my passwords often. And Never put plugins that I won’t use in my back office. Once I had done that and broke my blog. Since then it’s been hands off for me. I use Tinymce Advanced when I need to but ALWAYS unplug it after use. That one can cause a problem on my site. That’s the only thing I fool around with.
-Donna
Hi Donna,
It’s always good to see you around.:)
There is no doubt that WordPress is a secure platform to use. But, you know even the most secure platforms have some vulnerabilities. And with WordPress, users can create many doors to get their website hacked by doing some silly mistakes.
People keep the older version of the WordPress on their website which isn’t a good idea. Always try to maintain the clear and managed list of plugins and the themes.
Have an awesome week ahead.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi. You’ve given some great advice for new bloggers so that they can keep their WordPress site more secure. I just want to add one thing that goes along with item #1, your username. If I remember correctly, WordPress will use your username by default any time that it displays your name, which defeats the whole purpose of changing your username in the first place. You should go into the User menu in the WordPress dashboard and select Your Profile. There you can add your first name, last name, and change your nickname to something other than your username. Then in the drop-down box below that you can tell WordPress how you want your name displayed publicly. Just choose something other than your username.
Hey Ben,
I agree with the process you have mentioned above. The final significance of my guide was the same as you. But most of the time, when your website gets hacked, you can’t able to login. So you have to change the username from the cPanel of your web hosting account.
The point is that you shouldn’t keep the default username to login. Just have a unique name and increase the security level of your WordPress website.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Have a great day.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
Great tips here. I was using the same password for multiple accounts for a long time. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Password strength is key. As my blog grows I need to be more concerned with security.
Off to share on social media!
Keep up the good work.
Hey Ayo,
Using the same password on multiple platforms isn’t the good idea. You should have a strong password which even can’t be predicted. Mix the characters and the numbers with special characters.
Other things are also important in terms of WordPress security. You should be aware about the brute force attacks and keep a firewall to protect your website.
Have a great day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is an awesome one. Securing one’s WordPress site is the best thing that can ever to a blogger.
Your tips are well-understood and I have been doing exactly what you mentioned. Adding some premium tools will also make sense.
Thanks for sharing.