Are you wondering how to protect your WordPress site from hackers? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
WordPress is a global platform for website creation, popularly used for its free core software, themes, plugins, and more features that can be used to create a beautiful, functioning website. It’s also frequently targeted by hackers as many businesses fail to secure their WordPress websites effectively.
The good news is that there are many preemptive security measures you can take to elevate your security and safeguard your WordPress website against hackers and cybercriminals. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how you can make your WordPress website more secure against hacking attempts.
5 Ways to Protect Your WordPress Site from Hackers
Here are some ways in which you can protect your WordPress site from hackers:
1. Use a Firewall to Secure Your WordPress Site
A firewall will essentially act as a failsafe for your website if you forget to update it or are unable to update certain plugins due to software configuration. It will secure your website even if your themes or plugins aren’t up to date. A website application firewall acts as a filtering mechanism for your website traffic as it filters out bad traffic and hacking attempts and only allows credible traffic through to our website.
It blacklists hackers and bots while preventing SQL injections, DDoS attacks, and malware. It can also enhance your website’s speed and performance. Plus, it helps you add a needed layer of protection to boost your cybersecurity.
2. Keep Your Plugins and Themes Up to Date
If you want to keep your site secure, make sure to update everything on it, including your WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Apart from updating the core software, make sure to install high-quality, secure plugins to enhance the functionality of your site. Don’t forget to update them timely by logging in to your dashboard to keep an eye on regular updates. Similarly, always install your themes from reliable sources and keep them updated to prevent hackers from attacking your website.
3. Create Strong Passwords
If you’re using a weak password, you are increasing the risk of getting hacked or suffering from a brute force attack. It’s why you must use strong passwords to protect your WordPress site from hackers. You will need to create passwords with a random assortment of capital and small letters, numbers, and symbols for admin access, to connect to your website via FTP, and to create your WordPress databases. If you have trouble remembering your passwords, you can use a reliable password manager, such as Keeper Security, LastPass, and Dashlane.
4. Limit Login Attempts
Apart from having a strong password, you can limit the number of times a user can enter the wrong password before locking them out. For instance, you can limit the number of login attempts to five times. In this instance, after the fifth attempt, you will receive a notification highlighting the user and their IP address. You have the option to ban the address as well. One reliable, well-received plugin that you can use to limit login attempts is Limit Login Attempts Reloaded.
5. Install a WordPress Security Plugin
Find a reliable WordPress security plugin and install it to secure your website from hackers. A good plugin will scan malware, offer built-in firewall protection, notify you to update plugins and themes, provide you with login screen protection, and so much more. WordFence, VaultPress, and MalCare are all excellent security plugins for WordPress websites. You can use their free versions, but for maximum security, it’s best to upgrade to the premium version.
Now that you know how to protect your WordPress site from hackers, you can focus on creating a secure and functioning website for your users. If you need to enhance the functionality of your website to attract more traffic, get in touch with Marketing Tiki for advanced web development services!