How To Keep a WordPress Website Safe 

In the digital age, small businesses with a website have the edge over their competition through marketing and accessibility. While having a business website benefits your company, you do have to practice smart security habits. According to Statista, about 155 million people were affected by data exposure in 2020. To protect your business from cybercrime and data exposure, here are four tips presented by The WP Stack.

Choose a Website Host

Your choice of website host depends on your business’s requirements. Size, customer support, shopping cart infrastructure, and scripting support are factors in choosing the right host for your business’s site. For sites hosted by WordPress, you can have any of the following servers.

Cloud hosting has become more common; multiple websites are hosted on a cloud-based system. Cloud-based servers are flexible and good for businesses that may fluctuate in size. The most affordable service is shared hosting. If your small business has minimal traffic, shared hosting may be an optimal choice. It allows you to store more than one site on a single server.

Dedicated servers are more expensive than shared servers, but they provide a higher level of performance. These servers only host one website, so all of the power is focused on your site.

Obtain an SSL Certificate

A Secure Socket Lawyer certificate or SSL certificate is installed on your web server. When installed, the HTTPS protocol creates a secure connection between web servers and browsers. If you want clients to make credit card transactions, transfer data or have a log-in system, then an SSL certificate allows it to remain secure.

If a hacker tries to access your website or attempts to steal secure data, an SSL will prevent them from receiving anything valuable. Instead, all they’ll receive are encrypted characters.

Control Admin and Employee Accounts

With over 56.8 million small business employees in the United States, small business owners have to take extra steps to ensure their employees’ information and company data are safe. Your staff should be trained on phishing attacks, social engineering attacks, and password strength. If your website has an administrative portal, consider restricting the IP ranges. In this case, only those at your company headquarters can access the portal.

Even specialists can make mistakes, so try to have consistent training for all employees and administrators. Phishing attacks, for example, often occur through email. If there is a dangerous link or attachment, you do not want your employees to open them accidentally.

Hire Outside Help

Most small businesses cannot afford to have an IT department. You can still hire IT and cybersecurity services. Hiring freelance workers has several advantages. Most contractors have their own insurance; you don’t have to pay taxes and many have their own equipment. Freelancers may work for a larger company or themselves.

Freelancers easily blend into a company’s culture and will work together with you and your employees. Seasoned and experienced freelancers tend to view themselves as a part of your company and care about your security. To find a cybersecurity professional, check the internet for reviews. Weigh the reviews, the cost and the timeliness of the professional.

Online security is critical when hosting a business website — especially when you want to build trust with customers! Hosting sites on WordPress is extremely flexible. To find out more about how to keep your online presence secure, visit us at The WP Stack.