Worried about the security of your website? Find yourself having nightmares about hackers, stolen customer data, and other nuisances?
Although cyber crime is a fact of life these days, most hackers aren’t using sophisticated techniques to break into business websites. Instead, they are looking for easy targets – companies that aren’t following basic security procedures and have left themselves open to attacks.
If you want to avoid being an obvious victim, here are seven simple steps you can take beginning today…
#1 Restrict Access to Your Site
Very few vendors or employees need administrator-level access to your website. And the more of them who have it, the greater the risk that you will be victimized, either because someone in your circle has malicious intent or just isn’t all that careful with their access credentials. Keep your usernames and passwords on a “need to know” basis.
#2 Develop Complex Passwords
Speaking of passwords, yours should be complex. Ensure every one contains capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and even special characters. That makes it much harder for hackers to break in using “brute force” techniques. And while you’re at it, keep different passwords for separate accounts, and leave reminders to change them at least once or twice a year.
#3 Cut Back on Unnecessary Plugins
The more plugins you have on your website, the more pieces of software there are for thieves to exploit. This is particularly true if the plugins are expired or aren’t widely used. Unless an add-on gives you some important piece of functionality or marketing power, consider deleting it from your website altogether.
#4 Update Your CMS
Often, business owners see updates to WordPress and other content management systems as an unnecessary hassle. However, updates often contain important security features and close known exploits. So, make sure you’re always running the latest version, or work with a web designer who will do so for you. And while you’re at it, don’t let your plugins get out of date either.
#5 Invest in Better Hosting
Online or off, you can prevent a lot of crimes by simply staying away from the wrong neighborhoods. Bargain-basement shared hosting plans could leave your site on servers next to online casinos, link farms, spam magnets, and worse. By spending a few dollars more to improve your hosting, you could keep your website away from these trouble spots.
#6 Think Before You Click
More often than not, hackers target your curiosity rather than the coding in your website. Make sure you and your team members think carefully before you visit unknown web destinations or download unexpected attachments. Thieves use these to gain access to your servers and inject bits of malicious code.
#7 Review Your Website Regularly
You won’t necessarily stop website attacks by browsing your pages and checking your web analytics, but you can minimize the damage. It’s one thing to get hacked; you don’t want days or weeks to pass before you notice. Look through your website at least once a week, and work with a creative team that will keep an eye on your website activity, as well.
Ignoring these seven website security tips is like walking through a dark alley while wearing plenty of expensive jewelry. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll run into trouble, but it’s not exactly doing much to keep criminals away, either.
Need a Secure Website?
After you’ve put this advice to use, why not look at other ways you can not only keep your website safer, but make it more profitable? A free website audit and online marketing review is just a phone call away, so contact a member of our creative team now to get the answers you been looking for!