8 Proven Tips To Improve WordPress Website Security In 2021

Are you looking to know how you can secure your WordPress website? Today WordPress website security has become the topic that every WordPress website owner is taking into consideration. Not to mention but the internet space is becoming highly vulnerable and the popularity of WordPress CMS is not only grabbing users’ attention but also encouraging hackers to perform some other kinds of malicious action. 

If you are running a WordPress website for log or planning to create on then you must be focused on offering a better user experience and appealing design. Undoubtedly these two are the key to getting online success. But if you are ignoring yoru WordPress website security then you are putting your website at higher risk. Remember if a hacker gets access to your WordPress dashboard then all your years of effort and work can go in vain and that is the last thing you would want to happen with your website. 

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The reason why most businesses look to hire an experienced WordPress website design company for their website is that they are aware of the fact that experienced professionals ensure to lock down the site to prevent hackers and vulnerabilities. Now you must be wondering whether the WordPress website is secure or not. Well the WordPress itself is highly secured and there are a lot of experienced professionals working in the backend to ensure that WordPress remains a secured platform. 

But many times the third-party addons you integrate into your WordPress website make the platform open to higher risk and different security issues. If your WordPress website comes across any security issues then it can directly impact your WordPress website’s authority and performance. Many times poorer security creates a negative impression about your website and business that leads to a high bounce rate and lower ranking. 

Google alone blacklists more than ten thousand websites every day just because of the presence of malware. That is the roens why we said the security of your WordPress website should be the primary concern if you are looking to get online success in the competitive marketplace. There are various plugins available that can help you to add an extra layer of security to your WordPress website. 

Built still there are other factors that you need to consider to improve your WordPress website security. Below we are going to highlight some of the important and effective points that you can consider to enhance your WordPress website security. So make sure you go through every point to understand how you can secure your WordPress website. 

If you are looking to know the best security plugin for your WordPress website then make sure to check our blog on 5 Best Free WordPress Security Plugin To Use In 2021

Tips to Improve WordPress Website Security 

sfwpexperts.com-wordpress-website-security-tips21. Keep your WordPress Website Updated 

The offers and foremost thing that we recommend you to do is to keep your WordPress website updated. WordPress is an open-source platform that continuously rolls out new pages. The recent update launched by WordPress is 5.8 that focuses on enhancing website performance, interface, and security. If you are looking to know more about the latest WordPress updates then make sure to check our blog on WordPress 5.8 Update: Things To Know About The Latest WordPress Update

The reasons WordPress offers updates are to enhance its performance and eliminate all the potential risks that can damage the website. But many times WordPress site owners neglect to update their WordPress website because of a number of reasons mostly because of compatibility issues. And there are few who ignore updating their WordPress website just because they don’t want to. 

Will WordPress automatically install minor updates but when there is a major release of updates like the 5.8 then WordPress website owners need to do it manually. If you are ignoring to update your WordPress plugin then there are high chances that your website might come across com or other kinds of vulnerabilities that can harm your website and business in a number of ways. The reason why you should keep your WordPress website updated is that it offers stability and security.

So when it comes to enhancing your WordPress website security then it’s always recommended to keep your WordPress website core, theme, and plugin updated for better security and performance. If you are getting your WordPress website designed by an experienced WordPress web design company then you do not have to worry about WordPress security as they will ensure to create a design that enhances your website security and performance.  

2. Two-factor Authentication 

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The next thing that we recommend you make use of is two-factor authentication as it adds an extra layer of security to your WordPress website. In recent times two-factor authentication has been adopted by many WordPress websites as it enhances the WordPress website security and ensures that no random person can get access to your WordPress website. 

Brute force attacks can still be a problem for those not using strong usernames and passwords for their WordPress website. But adding two-factor authentication can still help your WordPress website from security breaches. Undoubtedly the two-factor authentication can increase the time of getting access to the WordPress dashboard as you will be aiding an extra layer where you need to approve before accessing your dashboard.

But that’s totally fine if you are looking to lock your WordPress website to prevent it from hackers and vulnerabilities. Most of the leading platforms like Gmail, Facebook, and more are already making use of the two-factor authentication either through email or OTP to secure the account. The same you can do with your WordPress dashboard. 

WordPress offers you access to different plugins using which you can add two-factor authentication to your WordPress website. Some of the popular plugins like AUthy, authenticator, LastPass, and more allow you to add two-factor authentication. So if you are looking to secure your WordPress website then we always recommend you to add two-factor authentication to your WordPress website. 

However, if your existing WordPress website is failing to offer you desired amount of traffic and conversion then we always recommend you to get your WordPress website redesigned by hiring an experienced WordPress website design company for your website and business.

3. Limit Login Attempts 

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If you are not new to the WordPress industry then you must be aware of the fact that WordPress by default allows users to try login as many times as they want. If a bot or a hacker is getting access to the login dashboard then they get full freedom to try username and password as many times as they want. This way you make your WordPress website open to more security issues and vulnerabilities. 

That is the reason why we always recommend you limit the login attempts this way you will be able to reduce the brute force attack and ensure that only users aware of the username and password are able to access your WordPress website. Most of the hackers try to get access to the WordPress dashboard by logging in with different combinations.  

By enabling login attempts you ensure that users are able to enter the wrong user name or password a maximum of 2 to 3 times. There are various plugins that allow you to limit the login attempts where you can decide how many times a user can enter the wrong username and password. If it exceeds the limit then the user won’t be able to get access to the login dashboard for some time. 

If you have a firewall setup then you don’t have to worry about the login attempts. However, if you do not have a firewall setup then you can install a plugin and limit the login attempts. If you are looking to know more about how you can limit login attempts in your WordPress website then make sure to check our blog on How To Limit Multiple Failed Login Attempts In WordPress? (Different Ways To Follow In 2021)

If you are looking to know more about how you can ensure your WordPress website drives more traffic and conversion on your website then we always recommend you to get in touch with an experienced WordPress website design agency for your website and business. 

4. Use strong Password 

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One of the basic but important tips that we recommend you to consider is to make use of a strong password for your WordPress website. Most of the time hackers or bots guess the random passwords and get access to the WordPress dashboard. By selecting a strong password with different combinations you can make it difficult for them to get access to your WordPress dashboard.

Not only for the WordPress dashboard but we recommend you to make use of strong passwords for WordPress hosting, Database, FTP account, and more. Many people avoid using strong passwords just because it becomes difficult for them to remember. For that, you can make use of a password manager that allows you to manage your password more effectively. 

Apart from that making sure you are offering access to your admin area to only those who need it or until you have to. If you are working with a large number of teams then you can assign the role and give them unique usernames and passwords so that your website remains the same without any security issues. WordPress offers you access to add new users and assign the author name. 

5. Change the WordPress database prefix 

The next thing that we recommend you to do to improve your WordPress website security is changing the WordPress database prefix. When you install WordPress you will come across the wp_ table prefix. It is nothing but the default database prefix that has all the login details of your WordPress website. If hackers get access to it then it will become easy for them to access your WordPress dashboard and steal important data for your website and also delete your WordPress website. 

If you are using the default database prefix then it will automatically become easy for the user to guess your table name. Not only that but hackers can also get access to your SQL. If you don’t want your WordPress website to come across such types of attacks then we always recommend you to change the WordPress database prefix. If you are looking to know how you can change the database prefix then you can check the article here

If you have already installed WordPress then still you can make changes to it with the help of a plugin called WP-DBmanager, Itheme security, and more. Within a few clicks, you can easily install the plugin and change the data prefix but make sure you have the updated backup of your WordPress website. 

If your existing WordPress website is failing to offer you desired amount of traffic and conversion then we recommend you to get in touch with an experienced WordPress web design company that can help you to create a research-based design that drives more traffic and conversion on your website.

6. Rename Login URL
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Another effective tip that can help you to improve your WordPress website security is by renaming the “Login URL”. By default WordPress allows users to access their login page by entering the /wp-admin after your website URL. Not only your website but Most of the WordPress site owners use the wp-admin in the URL that makes it easy for hackers and intruders to get access to your login dashboard. 

If you are looking to secure your WordPress website then we recommend you rename the login URL so that users are not able to access your login dashboard. Mainly if you have not added the limit login attempts then you make it easy for the hackers as they can easily land in your WordPress login dashboard trying millions of combinations to get access to your WordPress website. 

By renaming the URL you are making it difficult for other users to get access to your WordPress login dashboard.  You can make use of plugins like WPS Hide Login to rename URL just you have to install and activate to rename your login URL. You can make use of numbers some letters in the place of admin.

7. Avoid using “Admin” as your username

Many newly started websites assume that their website is free from these vulnerabilities just because their website so small. But in reality, small and medium websites are the primary target of the hackers as they are easily able to gate access to the dashboard. If you think that hackers manually visit every website then you need to know that they create a bot that crawls the internet and looks for a website with poor security and a website that can be easily accessed. 

Not only that but they are designed to do brute force attacks as well that is the reason why we always recommend you to avoid using admin as your WordPress username. Many new beginners ignore changing their username, which makes the WordPress website more open to security risks. By making use of admin as your username you are making it easy for the hackers to guess your username and get access to your WordPress website. 

Instead of using admin as your user name you can go with selecting a unique username that is difficult to guess. Even WordPress asks you to use a custom user name for your website which can not be easily guessed by any random user. 

Today with the increase in WordPress vulnerabilities, most WordPress website owners have started to use the custom name.  Not only that but WordPress also asks you to select a custom username when installing WordPress. Remember WordPress doesn’t allow you to change the current WordPress user name. So if you have already used admin as your username then we can change your WordPress website to a new username. 

If you already have a website that has admin as the user name then it’s time to shift your content to new hosting and transfer your current website content to a WordPress username having a custom and unique username. If your existing WordPress website is coming across any kind of issues or you are looking to get your website redesigned to enhance its security then we always recommend you to hire an experienced WordPress website design agency for your website and business. 

8. Disable Theme Editor (file editor) & Protect wp-config-PHP 

Like we have mentioned before, wordpress allows you to give access to multiple users depending on their role. If your wordpress website offers access to different users within your organization then you should be aware of the fact that wordpress offers you access to the built-in code editor where you can easily edit your wordpress themes and plugin. 

But here is the take: if you are giving access to your wordpress dashboard to the wrong hands then it can lead to major wordpress security issues. Sometimes these types of issues occur purposely and many times users not familiar with accessing the wordpress dashboard commit some or other kind of mistake that damages your website in a number of ways. 

That is the reason why we always recommend disabling the file editing option. This way you will restrict users from making changes in the codes off your files. Even if hackers or intruders get access to your wordpress dashboard they won’t be able to access the file editing option that will save your website from going down. Now you must be wondering how you can disable the file editing option on your wordpress website. 

If you are looking to disable the file editing option in your wordpress website then you can do it from the wp-config.php file by pasting the below-mentioned codes: 

  1. // Disallow file edit
  2. define( ‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true );

You can also look to protect your wp-config.php file to enhance your wordpress website security. The wp-config.php file is one of the most important files on your wordpress websites’ root directory that allows you to make changes in your wordpress blogs. Securing these files will help you to protect your wordpress blogs from various vulnerabilities. 

If you are able to secure your wp-config.php file from different vulnerabilities then it will become easy for you to reduce the various vulnerabilities happening on your wordpress website. You also have an option to move your wp-config.php file from the root directory to the higher level. 

Apart from that if you are looking to create a wordpress website design that drives more traffic and conversion on your wordpress website then we always recommend you to get in touch with an experienced wordpress website design agency that can help you to create a research-based design that drives more traffic and conversion on your wordpress website. 

Conclusion 

By now you must be having a  detailed idea about how you can enhance your WordPress website security. Remember no matter how effective and result-driven design you have for your website if you are neglecting to improve WordPress website security then it can harm your website and business in many ways. By using above mentioned tips you will be able to add an extra layer of security to your website that can help you to secure your WordPress website from different kinds of vulnerabilities. 

Your website might be offering you the desired amount of results but if you’re failing to do the routine checkup of your WordPress website security then it will open your website to various security issues. That’s the reason why you should always keep security as the top priority. Make sure you always have the updated backup of your website. This way you will ensure that if your WordPress website comes across any security-related issues then you are ready to revert back again quickly. 

Further, if you need any assistance with WordPress website design then we always recommend you to get in touch with an experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to create a research-based design that drives more traffic and conversion on your WordPress website.