In today’s business world, it is a necessity to have a website where potential clients and customers can find you, read about the products/services you offer, and get in contact with you. People are doing their research online to find the products and services they need, so it just makes sense to give your business the best chance at demonstrating to potential clients that you are the right company for their needs. If your customers are online, you should be too!
However, if you haven’t had training or gotten experience in coding, creating a website may seem like a daunting task. There are so many components to website creation that you may be wondering how your business can have an online presence without extensive knowledge of code. That’s why website setup services like WordPress exist. You can easily create a website using WordPress without learning how to code or taking time away from your business to make your website from scratch.
Will My WordPress Site Be Secure?
As a business owner, making sure that your business is secure in the real world and online is high priority. You may be wondering about the security of your website if you use WordPress and how you can rest assured that your website is safeguarded against cyber attacks. If you have a physical storefront, you would never leave the door unlocked after closing or the cash register open. Your online storefront needs to be secure too, so how can you be sure your site’s WordPress security is as safe as your locked door?
The core WordPress code is open-source software which means that it could potentially be modified by any user with any kind of intention. However, the core developers work tirelessly to ensure that WordPress security is a top priority. Whenever they are made aware of a security issue, it is resolved and users are notified of an important update to be downloaded.
WordPress Beyond the Core
In addition to the core code of WordPress, themes and plugins are needed to make WordPress sites function. Themes give your site a particular appearance, and plugins allow you to expand the functionality of your site beyond simply blogging. However, themes and plugins pose WordPress security risks, especially those which are available to download from third-party developers who have not submitted their code to WordPress.
There are many ways that WordPress users can keep their sites secure including installing recommended updates for WordPress, themes, and plugins, choosing strong passwords, using supported and maintained plugins and themes, backing up the site often, and installing the best WordPress security plugins to meet your needs.
How to Keep Your WordPress Site Secure
Hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities in websites, and third-party themes and plugins may put your website at risk. To reduce that risk, you should install one of the best WordPress security plugins and protect your business. Here are a few we recommend:
- All in One Security and Firewall
- Sucuri Security
- iThemes Security
- WordFence
When you have a WordPress security plugin installed, it will do routine checks for malware and any sign of a security issue. However, if you notice a sudden drop in traffic or rankings, you may want to run your own manual WordPress security scan to ensure there are no problems. Using an online scanner is very simple: enter your URLs and let them do the work. If the WordPress security scan does find a problem, it can’t remove the malware or fix your site, but you will at least know that there is work to be done. This is when you will want the professionals to step in, but you should remember that you are the first line of defense for your website.
Making sure that you are installing updates, changing the default admin name and password, using verified plugins and themes, and choosing to integrate one of the best WordPress security plugins will help you keep your WordPress site secure and useful.