Tips to Prevent Your WordPress Blog from Getting Hacked

Most people are not aware that the blogs they post through WordPress can be hacked easily if they do not take precautions. Hacked WordPress blogs can affect your site’s popularity. Hacked sites are usually black-listed by search engines and many users will not open them. Even if you are successful at recovering from such attacks, the image of your website is already affected. So it is better to prevent hacks altogether than recover from them. The most obvious reason behind your blog getting hacked is that most basic security tips are not followed. Taking certain precautions will ensure good security for your WordPress blog.

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Installing security plugins:

Security plugins protect your blog and also alert you when your blog is being tampered by someone else or when any other unusual activity occurs. The plugins don’t affect the loading time of your website. Some good plugins are capable of protecting your blogs from any form of hacks. You can find such plugins by searching online.

Good passwords:

Many users ignore to use strong passwords, thinking that there is little or no chance that their blog might get hacked. It doesn’t matter how much security you ensure for your blog when weak password can ruin it all. Do not use personal information, birthdays, or single words when forming your passwords. Mix up lower case and upper case letters and insert numbers in between the password.

A good password should be at least eight characters long. A longer password is harder to guess. Never share your password with anybody. Changing your password occasionally also helps in preventing hacks.

Update regularly:

New versions of WordPress come better equipped with protection from hackers. It is also necessary to hide the version of the WordPress you are using. Hackers can easily hack into your account once they know which version you are using. So, it is very important that you update your WordPress version regularly and create a backup for your files before updating it.

Lookout for malicious plugins and themes:

Some plugins and themes have buggy and malicious code. Often, malicious codes are hidden through an encryption making them virtually undetectable. It is one of the main reasons why you should download only from trusted sources. Pirated themes and plugins should never be installed and free ones should be avoided as well unless they are offered by official WordPress repository. Malicious plugins and themes sometimes hide backlinks on your website, weaken website security, and steal log-in information in general.

Do not share plugins:

Often, WordPress blogs are hacked due to weak-coded plugins. So, it is vital to only install tested plugins. You will find that many blogs share their plugins with their readers. But this is not a good idea, as it gives the hacker the idea for looking at vulnerabilities to hack your blog.

Change your username:

Many bloggers retain the standard username ‘admin’, making it easier for hackers to log into your account. So, it is very important to change our username as soon as you open an account with WordPress.

The above tips can help you add security to your WordPress blog. The tips are easy to execute and do not need any overhead expenditure.

About the author:

Grace is an expert associated with Godot Media, a provider of copywriting services. She is one of the blog writers whose interests lie in writing about internet marketing and SEO.