Perhaps you recently grabbed a domain name and purchased hosting for a website. Now you’ve chosen to make your website based on WordPress. Undoubtedly, you’ve made some smart decisions, but you could also make mistakes going forward. WordPress websites are incredibly powerful and simple to manage – everyone knows as much. Administrators of such websites are prone to making a variety of mistakes that can compromise a site’s security, though. As someone with a new WordPress site, you’re especially susceptible to this issue.

Consider a couple key statistics about WordPress websites:

* A majority of these sites are considered “vulnerable” to security threats.
* Some of the most popular plugins for WordPress are vulnerable to threats, too.

When it comes to owning a website, security should be your first concern. A secure website protects everyone from the administrator to the users. Likewise, secure sites are often trusted sites, which can lead to higher traffic and a better overall reputation. Even a single security breach could bring a website down, whether temporarily or permanently. It’s impossible to prevent every security threat, but common penetration points are easily avoidable. Don’t let your website become the next compromised WordPress website.

The following tricks come straight from the experts, and you’ll want to keep them in mind:

Common Sense Ways To Boost Security

First and foremost, never make your WordPress administrator username “admin”. Hackers will target this username every time they try to penetrate a website’s security. Millions of websites have this username, and most of them are compromised at some point. Also, your password should contain a long string of letters and numbers rather than something obvious. Your password should be changed every 30 days, and unsuccessful login attempts should be limited. Keep your WordPress version up to date to ensure the latest security patches are installed.

Proper Plugin Management and Oversight

You’ll probably install a dozen or more plugins for your website. Without a doubt, you need to keep these plugins updated with the latest version. It’s wise to uninstall unused plugins to avoid potential security flaws and openings. Many websites are compromised through their plugins, which come with extensive permissions and account information. To protect yourself, you’ll want to be selective about which plugins you use. Premium plugins should always be purchased directly from the provider, and you cannot install third-party plugins from random sources.

Slightly More Advanced Moves To Make

Changing the default URL of your website’s WordPress login is always recommended, and doesn’t require too much effort. For obvious reasons, you’ll want to give your website an SSL certificate to boost its overall security and safety. Various files and directories can be edited to better secure them from outside threats. Enabling automatic updates for WordPress and trusted plugins may make sense for the average person as well. Finally, you’ll want to backup your website every 24-48 hours to ensure a recent copy is always at your disposal.

Other random tips and tricks include the following:

* Manage account users and force strong passwords and good security practices.
* Keep track of the activity in your administrator dashboard to identify issues.
* Hide the WordPress version of your website for increased protection.
* Secure your hardware (laptop, desktop, mobile device) to avoid issues.

A Secure Website Matters Today

No matter what, you need to secure your brand new WordPress website. You’ll want to follow these tricks and implement the ones that apply to your website as soon as possible. The experts at wpsiteplan.com help WordPress administrators protect their websites and note that you’ll see tangible benefits from beefing up your site’s security. In the end, your secured website will gain the trust of users and may even run better with certain security enhancements. On the other hand, a lacking approach to security could lead to losing control of the site.