How to Secure your WordPress Site [Step by Step Guide]

Internet today has become the central force in human life. It is accessed for information, shopping, browsing and doing so many other things. While new websites are springing up each day, the security of the existing ones is a concern.

WordPress is an open source content creation platform that allows easy access to website owners to add, edit or alter content. While website owners take more interest on this aspect of website creation, they also need to worry about the security. It isn’t that WordPress does not offer security plugins or features but it is the lack of knowledge and a lackadaisical approach that threatens a website’s existence.

Here are some tactics that can help you secure your website

Have a Stable Login Page

There is no denying the fact that the WordPress login page is known to all those that create and manage sites. The standard WordPress login page URL (domain-name/wp-login.php) is prone to attack by hackers as they try to sneak in by trying out different usernames and passwords to get past the login page. As a step towards safeguarding your website from being hacked, you can change the URL of the admin login page of WordPress. You can customize the URL as per your page’s interaction making it difficult for hackers to hack the site.

If you are unaware of the process of customizing the login page URL, you can follow the given steps:

The steps involved in customizing the login URL include the installation, activation and configuration of a WordPress security plugin to the site. This will help in bringing the following changes:

/wp-admin/ to /admin

/wp-login.php to /login/

/wp-login.php?action=register to /register/

You can then change the URL as per the page selection in the plugin settings. However, before moving any further or making any changes about which you do not have adequate knowledge or impact, it would be better to discuss with the host and understand the security options of WordPress. You must follow these steps before moving any further:

  1. A full backup of your site must be taken and this should be verified so that in case of any wrong doing, you at least have the backup.
  2. You must choose and install a plugin from WordPress security as per the requirement and suitability of your website. Once you have checked that the features of the plugin are good enough to provide security to your login URL, you can activate it.
  3. The next step is to install and set up the wordpress security plugin.

Protection of the Admin Dashboard

The Admin dashboard is like the heart of your website. All website managers use their best security measures to protect the heart or the admin dashboard from being hacked. For hackers, this is the most challenging aspect of hacking a website. They try all their resources to hack the admin dashboard and once done, they try to do inflict damage as they can.

Protection of the Database

The information and data of your website is stored in the database and therefore, it is essential to protect it from being hacked.

Reasons to Backup WordPress site

Backing up all data and information before moving on to change anything on the website is essential so that in case of any problem, the data and information can be retrieved. Using external devices for the backup of WordPress sites is recommended as this will ensure the integrity of your data in case, there is a problem with the computer or storage device. Here are some reasons which make it essential to take backups at regular intervals:

  • The threat of the website being hacked
  • The chances of the updates going wrong
  • Problem with the computer
  • Virus, malware and other problems could hit the computer
  • An error leads to the deletion of important links or records 

Backing up the WordPress Site with BlogVault

The first thing that a host does when a WordPress site is attacked by the hackers is to shut it down for a few days. This can be a frustrating experience as it could hamper your work as well as your business. You will need to get the website back in its original form as soon as possible so that there are minimal losses. But this is possible only when you have a backup of your website.

With a secure backup, you will be able to bring up your website up and get it working in a few hours or days depending upon its size and the extent of damage done, if any. In the meanwhile, the security hole would be plugged and you will be back in business.

In case of no backup, you will have to get your website made again from the scratch and this can be really irksome!

BlogVault is the ideal solution to the problem as it is a backup service option like a vault for your blogs and websites. When you have secured your website with BlogVault, you can get back your website from the point you saved it.

BlogVault is a robust solution and it is suitable for all types of organizations and their websites. You are provided with a dashboard the moment you join BlogVault. You can easily manage your website using the dashboard. The platform lets you schedule the date and time of automatic backup of the entire site. Another benefit of using BlogVault is that it does not utilize your storage space to store the backup files. Instead it uses the off-site server to transfer the backup files. The best thing about using BlogVault is that you need not be logged in at the time of the backup as it runs automatically in the background. The latest version of your website is backed up by the service, saving your time, money and efforts.

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Conclusion

It is essential to understand that security is an important issue for your website. You must make all efforts to secure the data and information on your website, while also saving your website in the first place. Taking backups of your website is therefore, essential and you can rely on BlogVault for it.