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This article will provide you some basic but effective methods to SECURE your WORDPRESS site

Why you need Wordpress Security ?

• The main reason as to why you should secure your WordPress website is that it protects your information and reputation.  As an individual or a business body running a WordPress site having the data and information within the site secured is crucial as it provides a sense of trust to your visitors and they expect it as well. Furthermore, having a secure website also affects your SEO status as google itself promotes secure websites granting more visibility, reach and ranking.

Accordingly let's look at some of the steps we can take to manage and maintain a healthy secure WordPress website

Secure your login procedures

This is the most basic steps you can take to secure a WordPress site but it is also amongst one of the most powerful initiatives that would ensure your site security. Accordingly these are the methods you can follow to ensure you have secure login procedures in place for your WordPress site.

• Use Strong Passwords: One of the biggest mistakes people do is using short and simple passwords as login credentials. Even though this is a very easy method to remember used password it can compromise your site security and lead to a numerous number of problems and security concerns. Therefore using a strong encrypted password with mixed case sensitive letters and symbols is vital to ensure that your WordPress back-end is strongly secured to keep out intruders. (If you are unsure as on how to use an encrypted strong password you can use the "Generate Password" option when installing WordPress to ensure maximum security, *However make sure that you store this password in a safe and secure place*)

• Enable two-factor authentication: Two-factor authentication or in simple terms 2FA when enables requires the users who are trying to log-in to verify their identity using a second device. Even though this method sound simple and easy it is one of the most effective ways to secure login to your WordPress back-end.
  

• Avoid making any account username "Admin": Admin is likely the first username any attacker or intruder would plug in during a brute force login attempt trying to break into your site. Therefore having a different username for your admin account is essential in order to have a secure login to your WordPress back-end. However, if you have already created a user with this name, create a new administrator account with a different username.

• Limit login attempts: By capping the number of times a user can attempt to login if the credentials have failed you are protecting your site against possible intruders/attackers. If people attempt to log in too many times by entering the wrong credentials, the CMS will lock them out which indeed would stop a possible brute-force login attack taking place. This can be accomplished by implementing firewall rules but you can also accomplish the same task by implementing a plugin such "Limit Login Attempts".
  

• Add a CAPTCHA: If the name "CAPTCHA" sounds familiar to you that's probably because you seen it any many other sites, CAPTCHAs are basically used to make sure and indeed verify that login is carried out through real human interaction. CAPTCHAs can also be used to limit login attempts which was discussed earlier in this article. You can implement a CAPTCHA by enabling the Google reCAPTCHA in WordPress.
  

• Enable Auto-Logout: Even though this might seem like a very blatant method it is quite efficient to keep outsiders from snooping in your work if you are using a public computer to access your WordPress back-end. To enable this feature try the Inactive Logout plugin in WordPress

Use Secure WordPress Hosting

In this section we are going to look at how your hosting provider plays a pivotal role in enhancing your WordPress security. First and foremost there are numerous factors that should be taken into consideration when choosing a hosting provider to host your WordPress site and it can include the steps your provider would take to protect your site data and information and promptly recover if an attack occurs.

We at HOSTBUDGET as your hosting provider, have implemented top of the line industry leading security mechanisms and protocols to our servers in which your WordPress site would function and can assure you that even if something goes sideways we will work to help you and sort everything out in no time.  We guarantee 99.9% up time ensuring that your site will be visible to any visitor 24/7/365. Therefore I can assure you that HOSTBUDGET is working around the clock to provide exceptional secured web hosting for you to host your WordPress site where you can just sit back relax and focus on other important aspects of your site.

Update to the latest version of WordPress

Outdated versions of WordPress is a huge threat and leaves your whole site compromised to attackers and intruders. Ensure that you on the regular checkout for WordPress updates to install them as soon as possible in order to eliminate possible vulnerabilities.

However before you proceed with a WordPress version update make sure to backup your site first and check that all the implemented plugins as of now are compatible with the latest version of WordPress you are going to update to, If not you may have to update your plugins as well to suit the WordPress version.

Update to the latest version of PHP

Updating or upgrading to the latest version of PHP is one of the most essential steps you can take in order to have a secure WordPress site running. Once an upgrade is ready it will notify on your WordPress dashboard and you can log into your cPanel account in order to proceed with the upgrade.

If you have any issue related to upgrading to the latest version of PHP contact our HOSTBUDGET support team via live chat or open a support ticket through your client portal and we have more than happy to assist you !

Install one or more security plugins

You don't really have to worry about SSL/HTTPS because we here at HOSTBUDGET provide you with a free SSL certificate for your domain whether it's purchased from us or not. You can contact our support team via live chat for more information if there is any confusion or doubt related to this topic.

Having SSL implemented on your site not only ensures the visitors that the site data and information is protected and secure but also it adds a layer of security to your site. Furthermore, having an SSL certificate to your site improved your SEO rankings as well.

Install a Firewall

Having a firewall implemented is crucial to running a secure WordPress site, as it can have many advantages such as blocking and allowing traffic, limiting log-in attempts etc. You can install Web Application Firewall plugin or in other words a (WAF) to protect and secure your site. Again before just installing any firewall conduct some thorough research to see which plugin suits you the best and what works best for your site and content.