Now is great time for you to start thinking about how to secure your WordPress site. WordPress is a very reliable platform, however, with all of the break-ins and hacks on WordPress lately, I thought it would be prudent to discuss some ways you can improve the security on your blog.
We will look at three specific ways you can secure WordPress.
Figuring out the best tools for the job is crucial in securing your WordPress site. The key here is to be proactive and stay on top of your site security, so nothing goes wrong over time.
3 Ways To Secure Your WordPress Site
1. You need to have a secure host. Your host should have an uptime record of over 99.7%, and have multiple redundancies in place in case of a hack or security flaw. Hosts like WebHostingBuzz, HostGator, and BlueHost all offer dynamic hosting packages.
Make sure you do your homework in advance. A number of great sites exist to help you understand the pros and cons of various hosts. Use reliable information to choose a host with a secure platform.
The independent Uptime Institute, for example, ranks WebHostingBuzz as a Tier 3 ranking. This is the same ranking they gave the state of California, Florida, and Oregon for their hosting centers on reliability. Most web site owners do not look at uptime statistics, but this is essential in finding a good host. Who cares if you pay $1.99 for hosting each month if your host is down 2 weeks out of the month?
2. Once your hosting is secure, you need to make sure you back everything up. Especially when you deal with a site like WordPress, you need to be prepared. For me, this has always meant backing up my WordPress site in case of an emergency.
While there are a number of free alternatives, I recommend Backup Buddy for your WordPress backup. This plugin does a full backup of your entire site. You can have a copy saved on your desktop, or better yet sent off to a third party cloud server like Amazon S3, Google Drive, or DropBox. BackupBuddy also includes a built in Malware scan powered by Sucuri.
3. Next, protect your site against hackers. While there are a number of ways to do this, check out WordPress's free plugins at: WordPress.Org/Plugins.
One of my favorites is Better WP Security. This plugin not only protects your WordPress site, but also firms up potential weak spots with plugin installs and brute force logins from hackers. Note: Since third party developers develop plugins, they sometimes do not have the security features as WordPress. Also, hackers use brute force logins by going through every possible combination to figure out your password.
[shadowbox]Check out this post from Nile Flores to know the signs to look for if you think your site was hacked.[/shadowbox]
Using this plugin, you limit your liability to these weaknesses.
Use All Three Ways Above To Secure Your WordPress Site
In the end, you will find that you need to use a combination of all three ways above to protect your WordPress site. Otherwise, you will find yourself vulnerable to attack. Secure your WordPress site today, so you can sleep soundly tonight.