How To Make Your WordPress Website Secure in 2025?

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Why Security Of Your Website Is Important

You must ensure the security of your website from the day it became live on the internet. 

Let's see some of the reasons why it is crucial to secure your website.

• To protect your website from hackers and prevent them from stealing vital information such as credit card details or other bank account information.
• To protect your website from viruses and malware.
  Once affected by these, it will be challenging to recover from it. Even if it is possible, you may have to pay a considerable amount of money.
• To protect users from phishing emails that can be sent using the website.
• If your website has an SSL certificate and opens with HTTPS, your website may rank higher in the search engines than your competitor sites that do not have an SSL certificate.
  

How To Make Your WordPress Website Secure

Below I have covered seven important steps to secure a website from crash, bug or external threats.

1. Choose a Secure Hosting Provider

Your hosting environment plays a critical role in your website's security. A reputable hosting provider will offer robust security features and proactive measures to protect your site.

After experiencing repeated security issues with a budget hosting provider, I transitioned to a managed WordPress hosting service. The difference was palpable - enhanced security features, regular backups, and prompt support made a significant impact.

Best Practices

• Research Hosting Providers: Look for providers that prioritize security, offering features like malware scanning, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. For example, my website is hosted on Wpx.net and as per my experience it is one of the most secure website hosting providers.
• Managed WordPress Hosting: Consider managed hosting services that specialize in WordPress. These providers often handle updates, backups, and security configurations, allowing you to focus on content and growth.
• Server Configuration: Ensure that your server is configured securely, with the latest versions of software and protocols. Regularly review server logs for any suspicious activity.

2. Update WordPress Regularly

Best Practices

• Enable Automatic Updates: WordPress allows for automatic updates of the core software. For themes and plugins, consider enabling auto-updates where possible. However, always ensure compatibility by testing updates in a staging environment first.
• Regular Monitoring: Even with automatic updates, it's crucial to monitor your site regularly to ensure that updates haven't caused any conflicts or issues.
• Remove Unused Plugins and Themes: Deactivate and delete any plugins or themes that are not in use. Unused components can become outdated and serve as potential entry points for attackers.

3. Use Compatible Plugins

Plugins allow us to customize and enhance the functionality of a WordPress website. However, make sure that you install plugins that are compatible with the latest WordPress version. 

Don't use plugins that are not compatible with the latest WordPress version. Hackers are often on the lookout for such an opportunity. If a site uses a plugin that has not been updated for a long time, hackers may use it to hack your site.

See the example below.

Like WordPress, plugin developers also releases new updates to a plugin providing new features or fixes to bugs and vulnerabilities.

So, always make sure to update your plugins as soon as a new update is available. 

Please Note: Before updating plugins, always check if any WordPress update to its newest version is available. If an update is available, update WordPress first, then update the plugins.

4. Take Backup Regularly

Take a backup of your site regularly. If ever your site is hacked or any malware injected, a backup will help you to restore your site to normal.

You can use plugins like UpDraftPlus or BlogVault to backup your website. My blog uses BlogVault to take regular backup. 

You can schedule BlogVault to take backup of your website daily, weekly or monthly. 

It also has an option to store your backup to cloud or third party sites like Google Drive, etc.

BlogVault offer one-click option to restore your website. One of the best feature of BlogVault is that it keeps 90-days archive of your site backup.

In case anything goes wrong and your website is not functioning normally you can always restore your website by using your working version of your website from backup files.

You can try BlogVault for free without requiring any credit card.

Please Note. Before updating your website to the latest version of WordPress, make sure to take a backup of your site as an additional security measure. If an update goes wrong, a backup will help to restore your website.

5. Add SSL Certificate

6. Implement Strong Passwords & Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Weak passwords are a common vulnerability exploited in brute force attacks. Strengthening your login credentials and adding an extra layer of security can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

In the early days of managing my WordPress sites, I used simple passwords for convenience. It wasn't until a security breach occurred that I realized the importance of strong, unique passwords. Implementing 2FA further enhanced my site's security, providing peace of mind.

Best Practices

• Use Complex Passwords: Ensure that all user accounts, especially those with administrative privileges, use strong passwords comprising letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Implement 2FA: Utilize plugins like "Two Factor Authentication" or "Google Authenticator" to require a second form of verification during login. This could be a code sent to your mobile device or generated by an authenticator app.
• Regular Password Updates: Change your passwords periodically and avoid reusing passwords across multiple platforms. Also, don't store your password online as it can get leaked.

7. Install Security Plugins

When you start a WordPress blog, it needs investment in purchasing a hosting plan, domain name and a premium theme. So, I would recommended you use a good security plugin from day one to protect your site.

To prevent any hacking attempts on your site, you can use any one of the following popular WordPress security plugins-

• Wordfence
• Sucuri
• iThemes Security
• Bulletproof Security
• Malcare

These security plugins address the security vulnerabilities that are inherent in each platform. It will foil any additional types of hacking attempts that could threaten your website.

For example, implementing a WAF on my sites drastically reduced the number of spam comments and thwarted several attempted attacks. It provided an added layer of security that was both effective and easy to manage.

Also, if you or your collaborators work remotely (from home or a different location), look for reliable cloud VPN services, like the ones available on goodaccess.com, to keep your connection secure.

8. Secure The .Htaccess File

Users can have unauthorized access to your .htaccess file and they must be stopped from misusing it. To do this, we just need to add a security code to this file. 

To perform this step, log in to Cpanel and open File Manager.

When you open the File Manager, it may be possible that you do not see any .htaccess file under the public_html directory.

Sometimes it is kept hidden by your web host for security purposes. If you want to see the hidden files, in the File Manager, select Setting at the top right and select the checkbox to enable Show Hidden Files (dotfiles).

After enabling this option, now you can see the .htaccess file in the public_html folder.

Now select the .htaccess file and select Edit. Now add the following code before #End WordPress and click on SaveChanges.

#Deny access to .htaccess

<Files .htaccess>

Order allow,deny

Deny from all

</Files>

The above code will restrict any unauthorized access to your .htaccess file.

9. Secure the Login Page & Implement Access Controls

The WordPress login page is a common target for attackers. Strengthening its security can prevent unauthorized access attempts.

After noticing a surge in failed login attempts, I implemented measures to protect the login page, which significantly reduced the number of unauthorized access attempts.

Best Practices

• Change the Login URL: Use plugins like "WPS Hide Login" to change the default login URL from /wp-admin to a custom address, making it harder for attackers to locate.
• Limit Login Attempts: Implement plugins that restrict the number of failed login attempts, temporarily locking out users after a specified number of failures.
• IP Whitelisting: Restrict access to the login page by allowing only specific IP addresses to log in, adding an extra layer of security.

Wrapping Up

When a site's security is comprised, it is most often the site owners fault. The security measures mentioned above is enough to protect your site. Implement the security tips as mentioned above and your site will always remain secure.

If your existing web host is not capable of protecting your site against denial-of-service (DDoS) threat, malware, viruses and others, then you may consider moving your site to a more secure host like WPX Hosting.