5 Tips On How To Secure Your WordPress Website

5 Tips On How To Secure Your WordPress Website

The sheer popularity of WordPress as a content management system makes it an ideal target for attacks. What most website owners don’t realize that most of the time, it’s their fault that the website got hacked in the first place. There are numerous responsibilities when it comes to owning and maintaining a website.  Most of them are there to prevent it from being breached and falling into hacker’s hands. Here are 5 essential tips that will help secure your WordPress site.

Rename the login URL

Brute forcing is a popular method of choice for hackers once they know your login URL. This is why it’s so important to protect it, and although it’s a pretty straight-forward procedure, most web owners simply don’t implement it. By default, your website’s login page can easily be accessed by adding wp-admin or wp-login.php to website’s main URL. Using the iThemes Security plugin, you can change the main login URLs from, let’s say wp-login.php to something more unique, like my_new_login.php.

Protect wp-admin directory

Simply adding a password protection to the wp-admin directory creates an additional layer of protection for the admin area, login screen, and all your files. This not only prevents site visitors from accessing the directory in question, but it also prevents any hacker from hijacking or forging a valid authentication cookie. If a normal users request access to a specific part of the wp-admin directory, you can unlock that specific part while keeping everything else locked and inaccessible to everyone except yourself.

Use SSL certificates

Using SSL or Secure Socket Layer certificates is one of the best ways to properly secure your admin area. These certificates are there to ensure that the data transferred between the server and the users is secure, which makes it a lot harder for hackers to breach and exploit that data. There are dedicated companies available online which sell these certificates. If you’re having a hard time finding a reputable one, then you might want to check with your hosting company to provide you with one.

Don’t go overboard with plugins

As most plugins are created by 3rd-party developers, their quality and levels of security aren’t always top-notch, to begin with. Not to mention that overloading your WordPress website with plugins will not only increase the page loading time, but all those plugins present a liability when it comes to your website’s security. Be careful when installing various plugins and make sure to only install those you actually use. Some of the best web developers from Sydney recommend that you avoid poorly maintained plugins at all costs, as they are more likely to be riddled with bugs and vulnerabilities.

Keep WordPress and the plugins up to date

One of the most common issues regarding the security of your WordPress website and its plugins is to use old versions which haven’t been updated in a while. In fact, the easiest way for most hackers to break into your website is to exploit websites and plugins which haven’t been updated or patched. Fortunately, both WordPress and most of its plugins have the option of updating automatically, so make sure to double check that option once you’ve finished installing them.

Final Words

These are just some of the many tips and trick you can use to fortify your WordPress website against hackers. Most revolve around basic procedures and common sense, but there are plugins which are made specifically to increase your website’s security. Just make sure to install only the ones you really need and plan on using. Having too many plugins or and out-of-date version of WordPress can only increase your chance of getting hacked. The more you focus on securing your website, the harder it is for an average hacker to access it without you knowing it, so make sure you act accordingly.