Simple Website Security Tips

Online security breaches are alarmingly common, even for small businesses and their relatively modest online presence. On average, a small business website receives 50 hacking attempts every single day.

Withstanding these attacks is a matter of building security into the fabric of your website and maintaining that security for as long as your website is up and running. While you can take many steps to create a strong website, there are a few simple, ongoing practices that you, and your website support company, can implement to ensure the security of your site.

Create and maintain secure passwords.
Brute force attacks rely on rapidly trying many different passwords in the hopes of guessing the correct one and gaining access to a website or an account.

The best defense against this type of hacking attempt is to create and maintain secure passwords throughout your website.

Here are some of the best password practices to follow:

Create passwords of at least 10 characters
Use a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters
Use upper and lower case letters
Randomize the password as much as possible
Use a password generator (and storage program, such as LastPass) to create and store your passwords for easy access
Create a separate password for each account
Use two-factor authentication
Enforce a policy of regularly changing passwords.

Your website support company can help you by both assisting you in finding and using password tools, guiding you regarding your password policy, and making sure that passwords are regularly updated across your organization.

Choose a reliable hosting provider.
Hosting refers to placing your website on the servers that will make your site available on the Internet. You have to have a web host, unless you have the time and money to build your own server for your site.

However, not every web host is equally reliable. Some provide less security than others, fail to follow security best practices for their own servers, or house your website on the same server as other, less secure sites.

In order to maintain the security of your website, select a host who can provide you with clearly articulated security measures, high-quality server neighbors, and trustworthy processes for preventing and dealing with hacks.

Your website support company may be able to help connect you with a reliable and secure web host, or even provide the hosting services themselves so you can start your website journey with peace of mind.

Maintain secure plugins.
Plugins are the source of 98 percent of vulnerabilities within WordPress websites. Ensuring their security will go far in ensuring the security of your entire site.

Create secure plugins by making wise choices while designing your site. Choosing a custom WordPress developer who can minimize the number of plugins your site needs, while also selecting reliable and high-quality plugins, is a good first step.

Once your website is active, you can maintain secure plugins by regularly conducting updates of both the core site and the add ons.

To do so, you may need the assistance of a website support professional, who can take the time to keep track of these updates and install them promptly while you focus your attention on completing other important tasks.

Use SSL encryption.
If customers are going to trust you to keep their personal information secure, they have to know that you have the tools to do so. Demonstrate this readiness with SSL certification.

Secure socket layers (SSL), when installed on your website, encrypts the data sent to and from your site. This means, for example, that your customer's credit card information is secure as it passes through your site.

SSL certification is relatively simple to obtain, can sometimes be obtained for free, and is one of the most basic markers of website security that most consumers look for before using a site.

If you do not want to go through the process yourself, you can always have your web support company do it for you. Simple and straightforward, this process yields additional security and credibility that can boost your website's success.
Create regular website backups.
If your website is successfully hacked, you may lose part or all of your website data. Starting from scratch could leave you without an operable site for a month or more.

Avoid this costly and highly stressful scenario by creating regular backups of your website. Storing these backups on a separate server will ensure that you can quickly restore your site whenever disaster hits.

Whether you experience a natural disaster, suffer a hacking attempt, or endure a user error that deletes your information, up-to-date backups can quickly restore your website to normal.

Monitor your website.
Your website needs constant monitoring in order to catch small problems, prevent major issues, and ensure a smooth user experience.

Regularly tracking of your website's performance can also alert you if a hacking incident does occur. Early awareness of the problem can help you to mitigate the damage the hack causes and save you costly money (and help preserve your reputation among consumers).

You may not have time to check on your website's health regularly, but WordPress support does. Choose a company that makes regular website monitoring a part of any maintenance plan they offer.

Website security is a non-negotiable aspect of your small business website. Do not try to operate your site without it.

Implement security as much as possible throughout your site. Then, use a website support company, such as Distinct, to help you keep your site secure over the long term.

We will complete many of the security tasks your site requires, from regular monitoring and updates to password management and SSL. In addition, we can provide you with the other services you need to build a profitable site: SEO, copywriting, web design and development, and more.