WordPress security ... it's not got the best reputation, has it?

Obviously, there’s more to be done than what I mention here, but this is a really solid start. And if you take nothing else from this video, take this: keep everything up to date! Just do it. Take 15 minutes each month to update all your plugins, to update core WordPress, to just make sure everything’s okay. Just do it. Please.

Prefer to read the transcript than watch the video? Nobody’s judging here:

Let’s be honest, WordPress has an indifferent reputation for security. A lot of that is kind of an occupational hazard. When you power 70% of the world’s websites, then you open yourself up to more bad actors with malicious intent.

But it’s true that WordPress can be vulnerable if it’s not managed properly, and that management needn’t be terribly complex. We’ve got three quick tips to dramatically boost your WordPress security. And the first is the simplest of all.

Keep everything up to date. The majority of security exploits people run into result from old versions of dodgy plugins or simply not updating core WordPress. So update every month and immediately you’re running a far more secure website.

Secondly, use strong login credentials. It’s so easy, it’s just a tick box to enforce strong passwords on a WordPress site. And sensible just to use unique usernames also.
Don’t use admin as a username. Many auto-installed processes for WordPress create a user with admin as the username. So most sites have that. And keeping it in, you’re doing any hacker half of their job already. So use something unique. It could just be your full name, but use something unique as a username. Don’t use admin.

And finally, work with a reputable web host. So we host most of our sites with WP Engine, and they run some sort of serious security across their whole network.

And it’s another layer built and managed for you that sits above your own website. So a reputable host can make all the difference to the security of your site. So if you’re tempted by those £4.95 a month hosting plans, don’t be.

They’re not good for your business. So invest in a proper website host as your partner. So there you are, three quick tips, and you can boost your security right now.
Thanks.