- We've got five WordPress Blogs security measures for you
here on The Journey.
An above average blog security set up for WordPress
can be handled with a couple of plugins.
It's good enough to stop most hacking attempts,
but it's not an ironclad approach.
Someone who's really determined
might still find their way in.
Better blog security involves taking several steps
using things like plugins, complex passwords,
and a few other best practices.
This video we're gonna go over a couple of different ways
to improve the blog security of your WordPress site.
- Starting with delete your admin account.
The most common name hackers
will attempt to break into is admin.
And if you don't have a login with that name,
well, they'll never be able to get in.
It would be like trying to pick the lock on your front door
when there's no door.
(laughing)
Also make sure that any other contributors
or authors to your blog
only have a contributor or author level account
in case someone manages to break into their account instead.
And this way the attacker will only have limited permissions
to do anything on your website.
- This really should go without saying,
but to get a jump on blog security,
check at least once a week
and update any old plugins immediately.
Outdated plugins can sometimes be exploited by hackers,
especially if said plugins have security holes in them.
So one reason plugin developers make updates
is to plug these holes.
But if you're still using the plugin
that hasn't been updated in two years, you're at risk.
And while we're on the subject,
limit the number of plugins that you do have.
More plugins not only slows down your blog,
but it also gives you more points of vulnerability.
I know it's super enticing to go and start adding
all sorts of functionality,
but only use what you actually need
to make your site function.
And don't overwhelm the site with a ton of plugins.
- Now you guys have heard me say this before,
use complex passwords.
We've talked about this numerous times
because it's super important to do.
And if you're using a simple password like carrot,
or even my awesome password number one,
that's gonna get hacked sooner versus later.
But if you can use a complex password
with symbols and numbers,
maybe change up the lowercase and uppercase letters,
maybe use three or four unrelated words
like manpower dash light dash feather dash Pacific.
Like how random is that?
(laughing)
They're going to be a lot harder to break into.
To generate and remember your passwords,
I recommend using a password vault,
like 1Password, LastPass, KeePass.
That's spelled K-E-E pass.
Those are also good alternatives.
There's not much difference between them.
And it just comes down to a matter of personal preference.
But they work on your laptop, tablet, mobile phone,
and they have browser plugins.
- Another way is to use Sucuri Security
or other blogs security plugins.
So knowing someone is attacking your site
is not the same thing as stopping them.
And as far as other blog security plugins go,
other than Sucuri Security,
there are several other ones to choose from,
such as Jetpack, WordFence, iThemes Security,
and All In One WP Security & Firewall.
Sucuri, WordFence, and All In One have free options
as well as paid upgrades.
But iThemes is a paid plugin only.
The free versions do quite a lot,
but you can always make it stronger for a few dollars.
It's up to you.
In the end, they all do the same thing, provide security.
- Be sure to eliminate comment spam.
So while not necessarily a blog security issue,
there are still spammers who like to dump
a couple of dozen links into a single spam comment,
nevermind that Google no longer pays attention to comments
for SEO purposes.
The spammers don't seem to have gotten the message.
Akismet is a spam fighter that comes with WordPress.
If it doesn't, you can actually just go download it
with the add new plugin command.
And you can get a free account, which is great.
Although I do recommend sending them a few bucks a month.
They catch hundreds and thousands of comment spam for me
every month on a variety of blogs that I manage.
So, hey, it's worth it.
And you could also make a list of keywords
to never allow in your comments.
If you keep getting certain kinds of comment spam,
yeah, just find the keywords they use consistently,
make a list, that'll work perfectly,
and their comments won't even make it
to your moderation queue.
So basically you'll never have to deal with them again.
- And now what if you don't use WordPress?
There are more than 80 different blog platforms available,
but WordPress is still number one in the world,
which makes it the most enticing for hackers.
And as a result, WordPress has created
stronger blog security than any other platform.
If you have Blogger, Tumblr, or a Medium blog,
you can make sure you use complex passwords,
but you won't be able to use plugins
or any of these other blog security measures.
- So, some takeaways, have a strong password,
delete your admin account,
and keep your plugins up to date and limited.
Finally, make sure you have
a solid security system like Sucuri.
And if you can do all of this,
your blog security will be tough enough
to make it nearly impossible for hackers to break in.
Of course, nothing is impossible to break into.
So just make sure that you have
a good backup system in place,
just in case something goes wrong.
- But your journey is not over yet.
We have over 200 videos for you to continue learning
and growing your business
and securing it while you're doing so as well.
Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
This is The Journey, Em and I will see you next time.