Powerful WordPress Security Tips To Keep Your Site Safe

WordPress is the gold standard of content management systems (CMS) for good reason. Not only is it free, but it also offers tons of customization features, such as plugins and themes.

Additionally, WordPress is one of the most secure CMS tools on the web. In fact, because of WordPress' reputation for security, many users put security best practices on the back burner.

WordPress is not perfect, though, so you have to take the extra effort to patch all of the potential gaps and ensure the safety of your site.

If you are wondering whether this effort is really worth it, consider this: so much of your marketing work lives on and benefits from WordPress. You gain much by keeping that material safe, and can lose even more if you do not make the extra step.

After all, WordPress sites take so much effort to set up correctly that you will end up wasting many resources (and causing yourself a lot of frustration) if you do not take the time to implement these security protections. Although WordPress security can be tricky, with the tips below you will be able to keep your content safe easily and simply, so you can focus on the most important work - connecting with your audience.

WordPress Security Tips You Cannot Afford to Ignore

1. Create Strong Passwords

You have heard this from your IT guy and, seemingly, from everyone. Still, it is the most important and simplest thing you can do to ensure your WordPress security. In fact, applications like LastPass can help you create strong passwords and, as a bonus, save them for you so you don't forget.

2.Start Using Two-Factor Authentication

On top of your strong passwords, two-factor authentication will keep anyone nefarious from cracking into your WordPress. There are plenty of ways to do this easily, and it will keep the vast majority of hackers out of your site.

3.Pay Attention to Plug-in Sources

The great variety of compatible plugins is what makes WordPress so great. They can also create security risks, though, if they come from questionable sources. To ensure that you are only getting the safest plug-ins, check the reviews and do your research to ensure that the providers are responsive to their users' needs.

4.Regularly Update WordPress

It may feel inconvenient at times, but keeping up with updates can be a website saver. Luckily, WordPress regularly prompts for these updates, and many of them are to patch up security vulnerabilities. All you have to do is pay attention to the prompts.

5. Keep a Clean WordPress House

Get rid of plugins and themes that you are no longer using. Not only do they slow down your site speed, they can also make the updating process more time consuming and confusing. Additionally, since you're not using them systematically, you are likely not updating them, which could introduce more potential security vulnerabilities.

6. Regularly Backup Your WordPress Instance

This may not protect your WordPress site, but it will keep you from losing all of your work if something does happen. It is worthwhile because all of the security tips in the world cannot fully guarantee that your WordPress is never compromised.

7. Download Plugins That Increase Security

Yes--they exist, and they are sometimes free. These plugins will do a lot of the security work for you, and will let you rest easy knowing your site is safe.

8. Start Using a WordPress File Monitoring Service

If your WordPress is compromised, a file monitoring service can help you locate the problem immediately and eliminate it before it affects the rest of your site. It can even help you figure out how your site was accessed, which can prevent problems in the future.

9. Conduct Regular Audits of Your Security Tactics

Unfortunately, WordPress security is not a set-it-and-forget-it task. Even if you start out with great intentions, you might end up slipping up when you are busier or when the novelty of your new WordPress site is gone. Create a reminder to go through this list every three months and ensure you are still following security best practices.

Keeping Your WordPress Safe

Ensuring WordPress security is no joke. And while it may seem like security is a side job to creating content for your WordPress site, that cannot be not the case. They are truly both equally important and it is vital that you treat them as such. Ensure that you are devoting the time and resources necessary to protect all of your hard work by following the tips above.