You’ve built your website using a very popular CMS platform, but that doesn’t mean it’s free of risk. When you’re in business online, security threats are common. Here are four ways to protect your content, secure your site and ensure a safe experience for viewers.
When updates are ready to install, install them.
WordPress updates are available from time to time. These updates combat security threats and improve the performance of your website’s content management system.
TIP: If you don’t receive update notices from your website host, follow @WordPress.
While updates are a cinch to do from the Dashboard, use FTP or the new WordPress to Dropbox plugin to backup your site content and key data before you install updates.
Change your password, and keep it to yourself.
It seems straightforward, but you’d be surprised how many people never change very simple passwords. Once their website is hacked and business shuts down for a while, they learn a valuable lesson about password security. Learn from their mistake, now.
Not only do you need a new password, your new password needs to contain a mix of capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers and, if you can easily remember it, symbols. There are programs to help you create passwords, such as 1Password, Simple User Password Generator and LX Password Generator. We encourage you to come up with your own, memorize it and, of course, change it often to avoid a hacked site scenario.
Research plugins, and update the ones you’ve got.
While the plugin review process is in place at WordPress.org, you can’t always rely on every plugin’s creator having your website’s safety and security in mind. Research what you add to your site. PHPDeveloper often has advice on how to avoid bad plugins.
In the March 5 post on the Homegrown Hosting Blog, MicKinny Brown suggests two stellar plugins to help keep your site secure: Bulletproof and Secure WordPress. The best advice, of course, is to consistently update the plugins you have installed.
Backup your site content and key data, regularly.
Before you do anything to your website—install updates, change passwords or update plugins—please backup what you already have: website content and its key data. If you use DropBox, you may want to install the WordPress Backup to DropBox plugin.
Tweet back: How often do you follow these four steps to safeguarding your site?
