Is My WordPress Website Secure?

Do hackers see an open sign on your website welcoming them in?

Is your website safe for your visitors?

Is your website malware free?

These are all questions business owners have.

Your Website Is Everything

In today’s age, your website is everything. It’s the first place where people get an impression of your business.

You’ve put thousands of dollars and countless hours to get it where it is today and it could be gone in the blink of an eye.

Let’s go over the primary methods to make sure your website is as secure as you think it is.

Let’s dive in!

Keep WordPress & Plugins Up-To-Date

First and foremost, you need to have WordPress and all plugins up to date. No excuses. This is required.

If your software is out of date, then there are security loopholes ready to be exploited.

SSL Certificate

Gotta have one. This is the lock icon you see next to the URL of your website.

This certificate secures yours and your customer’s communications on the website. This could be contact forms or your login information. An SSL certificate prevents that information from being intercepted by prying eyes.

Plus, Google ranks website higher that have an SSL certificate than those that don’t.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A web application firewall is a layer between your website and your users. It filters out the bad actors and prevents attacks.

DDoS Protection

A Denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is when your website is hit with a large number of requests in a short amount of time. It makes your website inoperable. DDoS protection prevents this.

Malware & Hack Scans

You need to have a system that thoroughly checks every line of code on every file of your server every couple of hours.

Hackers are masters at hiding their work. They know if you find what they did, you’ll remove it.

Simply looking through your server is not going to cut it. You have to look at every file and every line of code. No, you don’t have time for this.

I have many stories I can tell you a website becoming a fake PayPal website collecting personal information from people, spam examples, malware, etc. Give me a call sometime and we’ll talk about the many ways other businesses have been embarrassed online.

Two-Factor Authentication

You know when you log into your bank account online, you have to verify it’s you by getting a text message or phone call? That’s two-factor authentication.

Do you have two-factor authentication on your WordPress website? If you don’t, and someone has your password, they are in and ready to wreck havoc on your investment.

Daily Backups

You need to have your website backed up daily. If something does happen, you can quickly revert to a working version of your website.

Bonus Round!

Hosting

How’s your hosting? I hope you’re not using shared hosting. That’s not going to cut it. Not only is it slow, there are security concerns.

There’s a reason it’s cheap.

Up-time Monitor

Do you have a monitor checking your website 24/7 to verify it’s online? Or are you waiting for that customer phone call letting you know your website has been down for weeks?

Active Website Management

Do you have an agreement with a website company like ours that can respond to any hacks, malware? A company that can implement and manage any of the methods above?

Or will you be scrambling when something bad happens and not know what to do?

Get an agreement in place with a professional website company.

Secure Your Website Today

We secure our customer’s websites by all the means above. They don’t have to worry if their website is being hacked or taken down. We take care of everything for them, so they can focus on what they do best.

If you’d like us to take a look at your website security, fill out this short form, or call/text us at (360) 450-3711 today . We’ll also perform a 35-point website review absolutely free.

Written by Shawn Hooghkirk on March 12, 2019

Last updated on May 04, 2020. Shawn is the President of Graticle, Inc.