Website security is one of those things that everyone knows they need but don’t always stay on top of. Ignoring website maintenance is like ignoring putting on your seatbelt in the car—it’s a huge risk! There are multiple measures for website security you can take to protect yourself. Below are the simple, most important things you can do to keep your WordPress site free from malware and hacks.

1. Update WordPress

WordPress comes out with updates regularly and it is always a good idea to stay up to date. Once you login into your WordPress account, you will see “Dashboard” in the top left corner. Hover over that title to find “Updates”. It will tell you if there are any updates available. If so, just click “Install”. It is that easy!

2. Update your Plugins

To start off, I always take the time to review my plugins and make sure there aren’t any I’m not using.  I love to test new plugins but sometimes I forget to uninstall them which can slow down my site. If you aren’t sure which ones are active, check with your development team because less is more.

Updating plugins is very similar to updating WordPress itself. There are a few ways to do this, but I click on the “Plugins” tab on the left navigation bar and review any rows that tell me there is an update available or is highlighted yellow. There is typically a link in the plugin description that says “Update Plugin”. Click on each one that has an update available and you are all set!

3. Website Backups

I cannot stress enough the importance of backing up your website. Don’t let your hard work and valuable content go to waste because your site was hacked and posts got deleted. Unfortunately, it happens more than you would think. I use the UpdraftPlus plugin which saves all of my backups to Amazon Web Services. There are many different processes and plugins to choose from and any will do. If you need the help of a developer or WordPress expert to ensure your site is backed up properly, I highly recommend doing so because your site security and peace of mind are worth it!

I keep website maintenance as a monthly “to-do” for the first of every month. I typically use that day as an “admin day” to go through my site and make sure it is completely up to date. Although website maintenance is not a fun task, it can be simple and will save you time and money in the long run.

Our team handles website maintenance for all platforms. If you are interested in delegating your monthly website maintenance, get in touch today!