ays to protect your WordPress website

You know the importance of protecting your WordPress website as a web developer, marketer, or SEO.

These tips will help protect your site from hackers by using strong passwords, updating plugins, and installing security plugins.

SEO security: Why security is important

Site security is often neglected. Site security is crucial for SEO, and digital marketing.

WordPress, the most widely used content management system (CMS), powers millions of websites.

WordPress sites can also be vulnerable to attacks that could lead to:

These can all damage your reputation and hurt your SEO. They also cost you money. It is important to take proactive steps in order to protect your WordPress website.

WordPress is a popular target for hackers due to a variety of reasons.

Hacked WordPress sites can be a major source for spam and malware.

WordPress security is important

WordPress’ large user base makes it an attractive target for hackers.

According to Sucuri, the top three types of attacks on WordPress are malware, backdoors, and SEO spam.

SEO is most concerned with how hackers are using WordPress websites for their own malicious purposes. The usual strategy is to redirect traffic to a malicious site or to inject spam links onto your website.

This is not only a benefit for the attacker, but it can also cause damage to your website’s reputation and possibly harm your user base.

How to protect your WordPress website

Let’s get into the fun parts of how to secure your WordPress site.

These techniques are almost all free and do not require any technical knowledge.

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1. Add a firewall at CDN level

Bots and malicious actors can attack any website. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), attack on a server can cause it to crash or make it inaccessible.

The CDN-level firewall provides additional security by filtering and identifying suspicious traffic before it reaches its destination. This will help protect your site against DDoS attacks and other bot attacks.

A CDN-level firewall can improve your website’s performance by caching static content, and delivering it faster to visitors. A CDN-level firewall can be an effective way of protecting your website and improving its performance.

2. Change your login page URL regularly

Although it may seem like a minor security measure, regularly changing your login URL can deter hackers from gaining easy access to your site.

Hackers can’t guess or brute force into your site if you constantly change your login URL.

Although there are manual ways to modify the URL, most hosting providers recommend plugins.

3. Your login page can now include a JavaScript challenge

Adding a JavaScript challenge (JS) to your login page will ensure that only authorized users can access your site, and not bots.

It is enabled on the page to verify that the request comes from a browser capable in JavaScript execution.

Although the challenge does not require interaction from the user, it adds a brief delay (less that five seconds) to the time the browser processes the JavaScript.

4. Limit login attempts

To deter hackers using brute force methods to gain access to accounts, it is important to limit the number allowed login attempts. Hackers will find it harder to guess your password, and they will be unable to access your account if you have provided your username.

Limiting login attempts will also help protect your account against being locked out by someone trying to guess your password.

5. Enable two-factor authentication and secure all passwords

You can also make your WordPress site safer by increasing the difficulty of your passwords, and enabling two-factor authentication.

It is important that passwords are difficult to guess as they are often the first line defense against hackers. A strong password should have at least eight characters and contain a mixture of numbers (uppercase and lowcase), letters, and symbols. Avoid easy to guess words such as “password” and your birthdate.

Two-factor authentication (2FA), which requires a second form or identification such as a code sent via SMS, email address, or authenticator app, adds an additional layer of security. Even if hackers know your password, this makes it harder for them to access your site.

6. Remove XML-RPC.php

To secure your WordPress website, you can simply delete the XMLRPC.php file. This file can be accessed remotely from your WordPress site by anyone. Hackers could inject malicious code or take control of your entire site.

This file can also be used to make brute-force login attempts by attackers.

It is easy to delete the XMLRPC file. Connect to your site via FTP, and then delete the file. To prevent further access, make sure you update your.htaccess file.

7. Remove plugin and WP versions

Hackers find new ways to hack into websites and exploit security holes. This includes checking the WordPress versions and plugins you’re using.

An outdated version of WordPress may have security vulnerabilities that could be easily exploited. You should keep your WordPress installation up-to-date and all plugins updated.

However, hackers can still access your website using zero-day exploits. Knowing which version of a plugin you are using or the WordPress core that you’re using can help them identify how to hack it.

8. Comment disabled

The most vulnerable part of any website is the comment section. Hackers can insert malicious code in otherwise harmless comments if this section is not moderated.

Website owners must be careful with how they manage comments and ensure that safe content is permitted.

9. Reduce plugins

A WordPress site’s security can be compromised if it has too many plugins, or worse, duplicate and unused plugins. Each plugin is a possible entry point for hackers.

Security risks can be reduced by reducing the number plugins that are installed on a WordPress website. This can help improve site performance by reducing requests the server must process.

10. Install plugin auto-update

WordPress’s auto-update function is an easy way to make sure that all themes and plugins are up to date.

This is particularly important for themes and plugins that deal with sensitive data such as credit card numbers or personal records. Auto-updates provide security and stability benefits.

11. Open ports

Although open ports may have some benefits, hackers can exploit them to gain access to security holes in web servers.

Run an Nmap scan to determine if your server has any vulnerable ports. You can close any open ports by working with your web hosting provider.

It is safer to choose a WP-managed host provider that locks down your ports.

12. Make sure SSL is properly set up

SSL certificates are an essential part of website security. SSL certificates encrypt communications between websites and visitors, making it hard for hackers to intercept data.

If SSL certificates are not properly configured, they can pose security risks. Hackers can exploit outdated or unpatched SSL certificate to gain access to sensitive data. Regular renewal of SSL certificates will ensure that they are current and less likely to get exploited.

Additionally, it is important to properly set up SSL certificates in order to prevent possible vulnerabilities. Hackers will be more likely to crack encryption if strong cipher sets are used.

13. Security headers can be added

Security headers protect against malicious code injection and reduce the risk of cross-site Scripting attacks. They can also be used to block malicious code injection and minimize the risk of your site being compromised with malware.

I recommend the following security headers to be added to your website:

14. Daily backups

Every website owner is aware that data loss can occur due to hacking, power cuts, and other unpredicted events. Daily backups are a great help. You will always have a backup option to restore your site in case your site is compromised.

Although there are many ways to backup your data, the most popular is a WordPress plugin. As part of their core services, I recommend that you work with a web hosting company that automatically backs up your data every day.

15. Final security checks

You can now relax and enjoy your newly secured WordPress site. However, you must do one more security scan to make sure that no vulnerabilities have been overlooked.

There are many security scans that you can choose from, both paid and free. You can choose which one you prefer, but it is important to ensure that the scan is thorough.

After the scan is completed, you should take a closer look at the results. Take immediate action to correct any vulnerabilities found.

For better search performance, secure your WordPress site

These 15 steps will help you secure your WordPress website. Although no system is perfect, these steps can make hackers much less likely to access your website.

Also, make sure you keep your software current as security patches are frequently released.

To ensure there are no new vulnerabilities, you should run security checks on your website regularly. These precautions will help protect your website from being attacked.

Search Engine Land first published the post 15 ways you can secure your WordPress website.

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