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When it comes to running a website today, one of the most effective and popular hosting platforms is WordPress. Easy to use, customise, adjust, and edit to fit your needs – there is a reason why many people look to use WordPress for their websites. In fact, today it’s the platform used to run around 30% of the whole internet: think about how big that is. Millions of websites, all built using the basic system that is WordPress. That’s amazing, right?

The only problem is that with such popularity comes the potential for someone with less scrupulous intent to get involved and tamper with your website. Want to avoid that problem? Then we have a few simple ideas for you below.

Use these to your advantage, and you will spend a lot less time tearing your hair out over potential security concerns. So, what matters to secure a WordPress website in 2019?

1.       Use strong credentials

When you are setting up any WordPress website, the best thing that you could is secure the site with some strong password credentials. Use a password manager to generate a unique, nigh-impossible to guess password. Make it a long password, too; anything from 15-30 characters.

It’s a good idea to always have a password that is long, robust, and totally random. Don’t make it an ‘easy to remember’ password. If you use a password manager, make the ‘master password’ something that is very personal so it’s memorable to you and you only.

With regards to login credentials, though, make login as hard as it can be.

2.       Scan your website for malware

Also, make sure that you scan your WordPress website for malware as often as you can. Many hosting platforms will provide scanning solutions in-house, but you can also get some great third party plug-ins that will do this for you instead.

Either way, we recommend that you spend some time and money looking into finding good quality hosting options to do this for you. It’s a good way to make sure you are going to keep your site safe and secure. Regular scanning for malware is an essential part of positive website management.

3.       Use a VPN

You may also wish to use a VPN when you are logging into the website when doing hosting edits, too. For example, are you making some changes when out and about in public? Then never log-in to your WordPress site using a public Wi-Fi. It’s too dangerous and leaves your site open to invasion.

Instead, Bestvpn recommends when logging on anything but a secure internet connection at home or in the office, make sure that you use a VPN to login. It’s going to make sure that you are not being watched or viewed in any way that you would rather avoid.

4.       Install SSL

Also, make sure that you invest in the installation of Secure Socket Layer technology. This is the little green padlock that sits on the URL of any web browser. It basically tells people that they can input personal details – even payment details – onto your site without the risk of the information being seen by someone who it should not be seen by. It is essential if you wish to have a secure, safe website that is entirely free from being seen as untrustworthy. Many users will leave a site without a green padlock, especially if they need to make an account or a purchase. So it is good to get the best SSL certificate for your website.

5.       Back up your website

Always have a regular backup of your website being created as often as you can. The best thing that you can do is look to backup the site because it can have a few issues for your long-term prosperity if you wish to keep the site secure. When you don’t have a backup and something goes wrong, you could be losing precious data, updates, improvements etc.

You naturally want to avoid that. A daily incremental backup plan might be a bit more expensive than you first planned, but if you wish to keep your site secure and safe then it might be a necessary investment.

6.       Use 2-factor authentication

Many 2-factor authentication apps exist now that you could use for your WordPress website. Basically, if someone tries to log in, then you have to confirm access using a second device – a smartphone, a tablet, even another PC. You would have to give permission and confirmation that you are the one who is trying to log-in.

If you cannot provide that, then the users will not be able to log in and get into the site. You should do this as it simply avoids anyone being able to log in without access to your second form of authentication.

7.       Create another admin user

Also, another thing that you should look to do is ensure that you build your entire site around having secure access. You have your main ‘admin’ account. We recommend you change the name of that account. Then, create another very hard to guess (even just a set of numbers for the username and password) and have that as the secondary admin account.

Now, if you cannot get access through the main account, you could log in through this secondary account that is likely to be very high to be able to break into.

8.       Scan your website for updates

The last thing that we recommend you do is make sure you are fully updated when it comes to apps, plug-ins, and WordPress itself. A fully updated and secure website is much more likely to produce long-term results and security benefits in the long-term than working with a site that is not secure and not updated.

All of this is going to be very important, but updating WordPress is the simplest yet most effective way to improve performance and keep yourself well on the right track to success. Keep that in mind, then; it must be the difference that stops your website from being hijacked, and that is something we would all like to avoid when possible!