Over the last couple of years, starting a website has become more straightforward. This is thanks to a growing number of Content Management Systems in the market.

Still, a lot of people do not know how they can keep their website safe.

It is essential to secure your website. Otherwise, it can ruin your reputation and compromise your site visitors’ safety.

There are several practices that you can follow to enhance your site security. Here are the eight vital things that you need to do to safeguard your site:

Add SSL Certificate

To keep your site safe, you need an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate. This is a crucial site protocol that you should adhere to.

That’s because it transfers the personal information of your visitor between your database and site. It will also encrypt all the information and data, preventing other people from reading it while in transit.

Aside from that, an SSL protocol denies those that don’t have the authority to access your site data.

Update Your Software

You must keep all your platforms and scripts which you installed up to date. Since hackers will target the security flaws of popular web software, you continuously need to update it.

This mends all security holes. It’s also vital that you maintain and update every security product that you’re using. So, regularly check your site for updates, or if you can, add an update notification plugin.

Some platforms do updates automatically, which is an excellent option if you want to secure your site security. Also, keep in mind that the longer you wait, the less secure your site will be.

Use a Secured Hosting

Your site’s domain is like your street address. Now, think of your web host as a plot “real estate,” which your site exists online.

That’s why you need to research potential web hosts and pick a host that’s right for you.

There are several things that you need to tick when choosing a web host:

• Does the host offer a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)?
• Will it use a Rootkit Scanner?
• Does it provide file backup services?
• Does it make regular security updates?
• Does it use the latest PHP and MySQL versions?

Whether you paid for the best NZ WordPress hosting there is, see to it that you have what you need to keep your site secure.

Strengthen Your Passwords

At this point, you must choose strong passwords. That’s because hackers are using high-end software that uses brute force to crack passwords.

To protect your site, the password that you should use be complex. It must contain both upper cases and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.

It should also be ten characters long. Ideally, you should maintain this kind of password policy throughout your organization.

Additionally, you should avoid adding any personal information to your passwords as well. Don’t use your birthday or the name of your pet. As much as you can, make it unguessable.

It also helps if you change your password every three months or so and don’t use the same password twice or share it with other people.

If you’re a CMS manager or if you own a business, make sure that all your employees change their passwords frequently as well.

Scan Your Website for Vulnerabilities

It would help if you also did regular security scans to check for your site and server vulnerabilities in the same way.

These web security scans should be done regularly or in addition to other web components.

There are several free tools out there that you can measure how secure your site is. But keep in mind that these only work when doing a brief review. It will not detect all the possible security flaws that your site will have.

By having a professional perform these security scans, you’ll be getting an in-depth review. You’ll also get an explanation of your site’s vulnerabilities.

Install Plugins to Enhance Security

You might also consider adding plugins to your site to enhance its functionality. Doing so helps avoid any hacking attempts.

WordPress, for instance, offers its users several security plugins that they can use.

Still, no matter what CMS or web platform you’re using, you must look for the best plugins to avoid incurring any security breaches.

Implement Automatic Backups

Now, even if you do all these things on this list, you’ll still face some risks.

The worst thing that can happen is for your site to be hacked, and you’ll lose all your data because you forget to back up your site.

That’s why you have to ensure that you have a recent backup of your site. That way, recovering everything when the worst happens will be so much easier.

You can make it a habit to regularly back up your site on a daily or weekly basis. However, there’s still a chance that you’ll forget something.

So, it helps that you also invest in automatic backups for your peace of mind.

Work with a Security Expert

Creating a relationship with an expert or a firm that offers security services can be an absolute lifesaver. You can significantly benefit from it when it comes to keeping your site secure.

Although you can take care of the little things, many security measures are best left for experts.

A professional or a company that provides security services checks your site for any vulnerabilities. They can also do a full site security audit, monitors it for any suspicious activity, and is always there if you need any help.

Over to You

You and the rest of your team should continuously stay vigilant of the security threats out there. That’s because you can’t set up a site and then forget about it.

Although creating a site is accessible than ever before, it does not change the fact that security maintenance is essential. That’s why you should always take a proactive approach in securing you and your customer’s data.

And hopefully, you can learn a thing or two from the tips listed above.