Getting your site hacked is no fun so here are 10 simple tips to improve WordPress security.

1. Strong Password - Username combination

The first step to better security is to create a unique username and strong password combination. Common usernames like admin, administrator, webmaster are prone to hacks. Always pickup a random password and update it on a regular basis. Here’s a guide for maintaining secure passwords.

2. Keep Everything Updated

A very common reason for WordPress hacks is outdated version of WP, themes or plugins. Hackers can exploit outdated versions easily. So, it’s recommended to update everything to latest version. Every new version of WP rolls out some security enhancements and fixes.

Make sure you always backup your site, before performing updates. In case something goes wrong, you will be able to roll back to the last working version. Checkout our list of best backup plugins for WordPress.

3. Use Secure Hosting

Instead of going for the cheapest hosting provider, spend some time going through the security features and the infrastructure. Using a secured hosting can be a life saver.

We recommend WP Engine for managed and secured WP hosting. If you are looking for some affordable, high performing, secure shared hosting then SiteGround is the one to go for.

From our past 4 years of experience of being with WP Engine, we have never had a single day fighting with any sort of security issues.

We also use SiteGround for our development and testing environment, it has been a trouble free hosting as well.

4. Using Security Plugins

There are some popular security plugins that can help you improve the security with a few clicks and easy to understand terminology.

Check out best free and premium security plugins

It’s recommended to use a security plugin so that you can prevent malicious login attempts, get rid off weak passwords, brute force attacks and other common security issues.

Some premium security plugins like iThemes Security, Wordfence and Sucuri provides advanced features like IP blocking, Firewall etc. that can be highly useful if you are facing security issues even after improving basic security.

5. Keep Regular Backups

Backup - that’s the only thing that can help you in tough times. Yes, that’s true and I say this from experience. When I started my first blog, I lost almost all of my work because of a hack and the reason that I never cared to create a backup.

You can go through our list of backup plugins and choose the right one for yourself.