5 Ways to Keep Your Website Safe from Hackers
Categorized in: SEO
Cyber attacks are nothing new but have received newfound attention after the infamous WannaCry and subsequent attacks went after huge corporations, showcasing that nobody is immune. If you own a website, it’s important to do what you can to protect it. From an SEO perspective, it’s important because when a website is hacked, Google will warn visitors right in the search results that the site has been compromised and it will take time to earn back trust. At a high level, here are 5 things we recommend to our SEO clients to keep their website safe:
Always update your CMS
We specialize in WordPress websites but no matter what CMS you’re running, there are going to be updates. Whenever a new version is released, it’s important to update. The same goes for updates to any plug ins you are using. Hackers are more likely to get into a site when the CMS and/or plug ins are outdated. After you update, be sure to confirm that all functionality of the site including forms are working properly.
Change CMS password regularly
You don’t need to be changing your password every week, but every few months or so is sufficient. And while it seems obvious, always create an encrypted password that nobody could easily guess. There are still people out there using 1234 as their password. Don’t do this!
Monitor access
Only a limited number of people should have access to the CMS. Keep tabs on who has access at all times. Change the password whenever access is revoked for any reason, such as if you stop working with a web developer/designer or SEO firm.
Use a 3rd party monitoring service
If you don’t have an in-house web security team (which most small businesses don’t), the next best thing is to invest in a 3rd party website security product that provides continuous website security monitoring and can quickly identify and alert you to potential threats. We like Securi (https://sucuri.net/).
Invest in domain privacy protection
Visiting https://whois.icann.org/en, anybody can get the information of the registered domain holder of any domain. When you invest in domain privacy protection, this WHOIS information is kept private. For security reasons, this is a good thing. However, transparency is also important online and if this information is withheld from potential customers, they could be wary. So be sure to weigh the pros and cons of this one.
This is obviously a very short list of the ways to keep your website safe, but it’s the basic list that we recommend to SEO clients. When working with a web developer, ask them what they recommend. In our opinion, website security is something to always over invest in. After all, your website is one of the top representations of your brand and for an e-commerce or lead gen website, it’s your livelihood.
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