Are WordPress Websites really safe? This question gets asked a lot both by new and old website owners. And if you are serious about owning a site then WordPress security is a very important topic you need to be focusing on because having the right securities and protection for your site has a lot of influence on its success and growth.

According to resent research released by Google, the tech giant’s blacklists around 20,000 websites for malware and around 50,000 for phishing activities weekly. These numbers are so alarming especially given that the WordPress core software is very secure and is constantly being audited, updated and maintained by hundreds of developers. However, there is a lot you can still do to strengthen your WordPress website. And in this article we will be sharing the top WordPress security tips and tricks to help you achieve this total protection of your website from hackers and malware.

1. Regular WordPress Updates Are Important

By default, WordPress will automatically install minor updates to your site however, for major releases, you will need to manually initiate the update. These updates come with a lot of bug fixes and security upgrades and it is important for the security of your site. It is also important you always update any and all plugins you use on your site whenever there is an update available. This way you won’t give hackers any weakness to exploit.

2. Use Strong Passwords

Password brute force is the most common WordPress hacking methods used to hijack websites from their owners, and the best way to solve this is by only using very strong and difficult to guess passwords that are unique for your website. These strong passwords should not be only used for the admin login page but also for FTP accounts, database, WordPress hosting account, and your professional email address.

3. User Permissions

User permissions are important too for reducing your websites vulnerability. Do not give any one access to your WordPress admin account unless you absolutely have to and If you have a large team or guest authors you are working with, then make sure you fully understand the capabilities of the various user permissions available to you and the kind of roles they play on your WordPress site.

4. Use 2-factor authentication

The 2-factor authentication (2FA) module for logging in from your WordPress login page is a very good security measure to take. This way you can make it extra difficult for any hacker to hijack your website even if they get your password right. With this feature the website owner decides what the extra means of identification should be and can be something as simple as typing in a regular password followed by provide an answer to a secret question or a secret code. You can even use the more popular Google Authentication app; this app sends a secret unique code to your phone every time you try to login.

5. Change your login URL

This is a great hack to use in order to bring that extra security you need to your site. Normally WordPress login page can easily be accessed by simply typing in the default “wp-login.php” or “wp-admin added to the site’s main URL.”
Changing this URL to something else only you and your team knows can give you that extra protection you need, restricting unauthorized entities from accessing the login page and reducing your sites vulnerability to brute force password combinations.

6. Limit the Login Attempts

In an event that someone gets the exact URL of your login page even after you changed it, you can increase your protection and security of your site by limiting the amount of login trial any one user can make. By default, WordPress allows users to try to login as many time as they want, but with this limit feature you can easily reduce your sites vulnerability to brute force attacks.

7. Install a WordPress Backup Solution

Do you have a backup solution for your WordPress site? Even though it seems like you have nothing to fear when it comes to running a WordPress website, it is always important to have a server or offline backup for all files on your website. You can use it as protection and self-defense in case of a server crash, hacker attack or a mistake on your part where you delete files. With this backup in hand, you can easily restore your site back instead of watching all your hard labor, sweat and well researched articles get washed down the drain.

You can easily save yourself the stress and implement an automated regular backup of your site using one of the many free and paid WordPress backup plugins available to WordPress site owners.