How to Protect Your WordPress Website: 5 Practical Cybersecurity Tips for Business Owners

Cybersecurity WordPress security business audience SEO

If you have a business website on WordPress, securing your website is not an option—it’s a necessity. As anyone in the digital age should know by now, today’s cyber threats continue to expand, increase in size and develop their craftier ways. So we have to be out in front of them if we are to protect our data, our customers, and our brand. In this post, I’m going to provide you with easy and practical tips to beef up your WordPress security. And I’ll simplify difficult concepts into easy steps you can start using from today. Let’s get started.

Why is WordPress Security Important for Businesses?

The web is ran by WordPress, from business sites to the web as a whole. Such popularity makes it also a prime target for cyber attacks. Let’s get to it shall we? If your WordPress website has been hacked and here the things can get really bad:

• Lost customer trust
• Purloined classified material
• Bad search engine rankings
• Potential legal problems

That’s why the time you spend on WordPress security never seems to be going waste. We want our websites to run smoothly and we want to keep attackers at bay.

Fundamentals About Security of WordPress That You Must Be Aware of

I am one who likes to go back to the basics. In some cases, just a few simple measures can prevent all but the most determined attack. Here’s what you probably should have paid attention to:

• Keep everything current: Plugins, themes and WordPress itself receive regular security updates. Don’t ignore them.
• Employ Strong Passwords: No “12345” or “password.” A password manager can also assist if you need help.
• Login attempts limit: Stop hackers from guessing your password by restricting failed attempts.
• Be mindful of user roles: Only grant admin access to those who absolutely must have it.

Those are relatively simple steps, but they’re an excellent beginning for your site’s security.

Additional Security Measures for More Protection

Now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to level up. Cybersecurity is not about one single fix but multiple layers of defense. Some of the things I suggest are:

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

This will add an extra layer of security.

So by including 2FA, a hacker won’t be able to get in even if they’ve lifted your password. It requires one additional step, such as:

• Using a code that was texted to your phone
• With the help of an app such as Google Authenticator

This will prevent almost all unauthorized logins.

Install a Security Plugin

There is no dearth of WordPress security plugins. Choose one that is relied on by numerous organisations which includes:

• Firewall protection
• Malware scanning
• Login security features

A good plugin functions as a security guard for your website.

Regular Backups

When a cyber disaster strikes, backups are your best friend. If anything goes wrong, you’ll want a clean version to hand back as fast as possible.

• Schedule automatic backups
• Store copies offsite (not just on the hosting servers)
• Verify the integrity of your backups by testing them

Use HTTPS and SSL Certificates

Customers have confidence in sites that support HTTPS. And secure sites are ranked higher by search engines.

• Ensure that your site is HTTPS compliant
• SSL certificates are provided by most of the hosts for free
• It secures data between your visitors and your website

SEO Suggestions That Go Hand in Hand With Cybersecurity

You may be asking yourself, what does SEO have to do with security? In fact, there is a very close connection. You get Better SEO with a Secure Website because:

• Sites without security warnings are rated higher in search engines
• HTTPS is a ranking factor
• Sites that are quicker and better at running clean end up ranking higher

Here are ways that you can leverage security to improve your SEO:

• Make sure your site is running at top speed (slow sites lose visitors)
• Maintain and update broken links and errors routinely
• Protect your reputation for sending out clean email histories by removing malware in a timely manner as to not be blacklisted

SEO and cybersecurity need to go hand in hand to ensure your business can grow securely.

WordPress Security Check List For Any Business Website

Finally, here’s a summary as a checklist which you can use to assess the security of your WordPress site:

• Keep WordPress, themes and plugins up to date
• Strong and unique password for each account
• Turn on two-factor authentication for all admin users
• Use a well-regarded security plugin – Don’t forget to install a trustworthy security plugin
• Restrict the number of login attempts and track logins pages
• Regularly back up data offsite and test it
• Force HTTPS and add SSL Certificate
• Uninstall themes and plugins you’re not using
• Apply correct user roles and permissions
• Regularly scan for malware and vulnerabilities
• Keep a check on your website’s speed and correct errors as and when needed

Final Thoughts

It is important that you keep your WordPress site secure for the success of your business. Cybersecurity might seem intimidating, but one step at a time is manageable. We’ve delved through the easy stuff right up to the more advanced tips, seeing where that leaves SEO and why it should matter for companies such as yours. Remain consistent; learn; don’t miss security alerts. Would you leave your real storefront unlocked — don’t do it with your website.

Cybersecurity WordPress Security business audience SEO.