A lot is out of our control at the moment. Spending a little time now to secure your WordPress site may help you feel more in control. And we all could use a little more of that.
Related: GoDaddy guide to WordPress security
Security best practices
Businesses are relying even more on their websites right now. It’s your main method of communicating with customers, and you don’t want to lose it for any period of time. Here are a few things that are easy to do:
- Use a strong password that’s unique. Don’t use the same password for more than one site and include letters, numbers, and special characters. Longer is better.
- Update WordPress. Small updates are installed automatically for everyone, but you must install major updates.
Note: GoDaddy Managed WordPress offers automatic core WordPress software and security updates. - Update plugins. Plugin updates aren't part of WordPress updates. But you can find them in the same place in the WordPress Dashboard, and they take just two clicks to make.
- Talk to everyone who manages your site. If one person is using a weak password for everything they do, it doesn’t matter how robust your site security is. Make sure everyone is helping keep the site secure.
Related: GoDaddy guide to internet security
Sucuri Security plugin
Now it’s easy to think, that’s enough. The tips above will help, but if you spend a little more time you can really take control. The Sucuri Security plugin provides a significant increase in security, all in one place, and it’s easy to use.
Sucuri is installed automatically with GoDaddy WordPress Hosting plans and can be installed for free on any WordPress site, regardless of where it’s hosted. Once you set it up, it provides some very powerful tools:
- Security activity auditing. A fancy way of saying it records when things are changed on your site. Most changes you don’t care about, but Sucuri helps flag things that could indicate a problem.
- Security notifications. Recording changes on a list for you to view later is nice. But what about things you want to know about immediately? Sucuri can notify you so you can take action. And you decide when and how it notifies you. You won’t be overwhelmed with notifications for every little thing.
- Remote malware scanning. Once a day Sucuri scans your site for common ways that attackers may try to penetrate a site. If it finds a problem, you’re notified of the vulnerability and how you might fix it.
That’s taking control. Visit the WordPress.org site to learn more.
Ultimate and Ecommerce WordPress Hosting
If you have an Ultimate or Ecommerce WordPress Hosting plan, they include Website Security Essential. GoDaddy takes care of most of the security setup and monitoring and helps you if something goes wrong.
Summary
While all of us are limited in what we can do to stop unwanted changes created by COVID-19, taking a little time now to secure your site will decrease the chance of additional unwanted change happening in your life.
Give yourself that feeling of being a little more in control. It can help more than just your website.
You can do this!
If you need a helping hand, we’re here for you.
- Check out our How-To videos for content aimed at helping you navigate through COVID-19.
- Looking for stories and inspiration? Visit the GoDaddy YouTube channel.
- Dig into resources on the GoDaddy blog.
- Connect with like-minded people in our #OpenWeStand community forum.
- Find answers to product questions in our Help Center.
- Call or chat with one of our GoDaddy Guides.
Above all, have faith in yourself. We have faith in you.
