If you own and operate a website, then it becomes essential for you to secure your site. And if your website is built on the WordPress platform, then this task becomes even more vital. Even though WP sites are very secure in general, but due to their open-source nature, there is always the threat of hacking attempts that will essentially leave your site exposed.
But a lot of people use various types of plugins to safeguard their online WP site. They think that it does the job and that your site is now safe enough from cybercriminals. But they couldn’t be any more wrong. Though some plugins do provide WP sites with some level of security, they are not foolproof solutions in any way. No single tool or practice in the world is enough to secure your WP site. You need to have a complete 360-degree approach when it comes to safeguarding your WP site.
Today in this article, we will discuss some of the best practices for securing your WP site manually without any plugin support. So without wasting any more time, let us discuss the topic at hand, shall we?
Why is it essential to safeguard your WP site?
Let’s talk about the reasons why ensuring online security should be a top priority for any successful site designed using WP. These are applicable to organizations of any size operating in any field.
1. It safeguards both your personal information and your professional reputation
Suppose cyber criminals manage to get confidential info about you or the people who visit your website. In that case, they will have virtually unlimited options for how to use that information. In the unfortunate event that your cybersecurity is breached, you put yourself at risk of having sensitive information made public, having your identity stolen, having your servers collapse, and the list goes on. It goes without saying that participating in any of these activities is not even close to ideal for the development and reputation of your company, and they almost always represent a significant waste of time, money, and effort.
2. It can keep your users secure
As your firm grows, the range of issues that require resolution will rise, as will the level of anticipation that your clients have over the manner in which you will handle these issues. One of these challenges is maintaining the confidentiality of your clients’ personal information. If you are unable to deliver this core service right from the beginning, you will destroy the faith that your customers have in you.
Whether it be their personal info, their financial details, or any other kind of data, your consumers need to have faith that the information they provide will be utilized appropriately and preserved correctly.
3. Search engines promote only safe and secure sites
Maintaining the safety and integrity of your WP site is essential if you want to keep your site ranked well.
Why? Because a trustworthy site is one that can be searched. Since quite some time ago, site security has been one of the direct factors that determine how visible a site is after a search on various search engines. Increasing your site’s level of protection is one of the most straightforward strategies to improve your search rank.
The Most Effective WordPress Security Procedures
Now that we are clear about the fundamentals let us discuss the best and most effective procedures that can enhance the security of your WP site.
1. Ensure consistent updates
The team responsible for the core functionality of WP performs routine checks on the system’s security. If a new flaw is discovered, they repair it. Fixes for bugs and updated software patches are made available as updates on a regular basis.
Always ensure that your site is being updated on a consistent basis. Not only should you update the core, but you should also update all of your extensions and themes, as the developers of those elements often issue software updates as they become available.
2. Limit the privilege’s policy for other users
One of the most prevalent issues in WP is the fact that site owners give users excessive powers. Users should only be granted the minimum number of permissions required for them to do their tasks in an appropriate manner on the website, as recommended by the best industry standards.
Users who really conduct administrative duties, such as upgrading extensions, adjusting settings, or installing themes, should be the only ones to have administrator capabilities. When adding a new user, you will be presented with a dropdown menu from which you can simply pick the user role that corresponds to that person. On top of that, the administration section makes it simple to modify the roles of already-registered users.
3. Change the default login credentials
Using the default username in WP might result in significant security issues. Attacks using brute force are usually automated and target administrative user accounts in bulk. These are limited assaults that aren’t aimed against a particular website; instead, they search for sites that haven’t changed the default username in an effort to get access to such sites.
However, changing the username is not as simple as it may seem since WP does not permit users to alter their usernames from within the administration area of the website. You absolutely have the ability to alter the username stored in the database. Nevertheless, creating a new user with a new username is the method that is the least complicated to implement. Thereafter, all that is required of you is to log in using the new admin and remove the previous one.
4. Use stronger passwords for all users
Even though WP provides strong passwords by default to every new user, they usually change them into something easy, small, and less complicated. This can have some adverse effects on the safety of your WP site. That is why it becomes crucial for you, as the owner of the site, to monitor the password settings on your site regularly and also enforce all users to use stronger passwords for logging in. Ask them to use a password manager if they can’t remember lengthy and complicated passwords.
5. Delete any extensions and themes that aren’t necessary
Webmasters frequently make excessive use of extensions and do not delete themes that they do not use, both of which can substantially affect WP security. More extensions and themes equal a greater likelihood of vulnerabilities. The possibility of getting hacked grows whenever a new extension or theme is installed.
Because of this, you should only utilize extensions if they are absolutely essential. Not only should you disable the ones you don’t need, but you should also eliminate them. In addition, because you may only use one theme at a time on a website, it does not make much sense to have themes that you do not use installed. Consider removing the inactive ones from WP in order to improve its security. You will easily be able to restore them if you deem it necessary in the future.
6. Maintain consistent backups of your database
When it comes to protecting the data of your business, there is no such thing as being too careful. Because of this, it is extremely vital to do frequent backups of your database. Not only is this important in the case of a natural disaster or a malfunctioning system, but it is also important in the event of an attack by hackers. Suppose you back up your database on a regular basis. In that case, you’ll be able to restore it in the event that it suffers any additional harm and stops any further damage from occurring.
7. Disable the ability to edit files
Everyone who has administrative access to WP gets access to the in-built code editor that comes with the platform. In the event that unauthorized parties obtain this information, the security of your site will be compromised. Nevertheless, you have the ability to turn off this function. That way, you can ensure that only a select few have access to such sensitive information.
8. Secure all of your sensitive files with .htaccess
Making sure your WP site’s essential files are protected with .htaccess is a great way to keep your site running smoothly and ensure that you’re protected from malicious attacks. In order to prevent unauthorized access to files such as the wp-config.php file, which contains user information, and the uploads folder, which contains media files, you need to configure the .htaccess file on your web server.
In order to protect these files, you should create a .htaccess file and place it in the root directory. The purpose of the .htaccess file is to control which users are able to access which files on your website.
9. Choose a hosting service that you can trust
If you don’t invest in a safe web hosting service, it doesn’t matter how many different security protocols you have in place; there’s a good chance you’ll end up losing everything. People join up for web hosting services that are either completely free or extremely inexpensive but have very little to no protection on the server end. As a result, the quality of the hosting they receive is severely compromised. At Myresellerhome, we take the matter of server security very seriously and take all necessary precautions to protect them.
Conclusion
Our goal was really simple today. To help our readers understand the importance of WordPress security and how they can keep their WP site safe from external attacks by using manual settings instead of extensions. Thank you for reading, and hopefully, you liked it.
