Best WordPress Security Plugins

Building a website on WordPress can be easy in terms of design and content, but once things become serious, threats and attacks can come from all directions. That’s why using one of the WordPress security plugins is not anymore an option, but a must-have tool that protects your site and makes it work better.

Without a doubt, having a good security plugin installed on your WordPress website will make a difference in site speed, ranking, and conversion rate, no one trust suspicious website these days and unfortunately, it’s not that hard for someone to access WordPress files and inject code inside, so the owner never knows about that and what’s next is just a nightmare that never ends.

WordPress security plugins comparison of the top 5 list

Because this list contains dozens of tools, there is no way to compare the top security plugins for WordPress without focusing on the top 5 list, (at least for me, it will take time) so, here are the best solutions with levels of protection and differences. That said, all the other plugins are good and I think the developers behind them spend lots of time writing the code and testing things, so, you can read the full guide below if you need details.

To have an accurate WordPress security plugins comparison, I installed the plugins on the different testing environments and ended up with a long comparison table that is too long, so I removed it, and here is the recommended security solution based on their overall features, usage and reviews.

1. iThemes Security Pro works well for bloggers with small to medium traffic
2. Sucuri should be the best option for high traffic sites and eCommerce (heavy traffic sites are using it)
3. MalCare best friend that you can count on when your site is hacked, they have an emergency malware removal service
4. Astra offers all in one security for all sizes of sites, WP and other CMS, lots of web agencies are using it for clients
5. JetPack works for those who need malware scan and backup in the cloud

Wordfence is also good, but only use it for dedicated servers as it will drastically slow down your site, it’s not recommended on shared accounts

Now, for details, let’s review each one of these security plugins and see what their dashboards offer as tools and options.

Top 20 security plugins for WordPress sites

Because there are thousands of WordPress plugins, you don’t have to go all the way, installing many of them. That will slow down the site and cause problems and not protect it. So, make sure you only install the right security plugin that secures WordPress and prevents attacks and malware.

Some plugins are free, but the good tools are paid for a simple reason, there is a team behind these paid security plugins who work day and night to build such powerful firewalls, malware scanners, and protection systems. There are many free tools for WordPress hardening, but the limitations of their functions can cause serious risks to the site. So, choose the one that you think works better for your site and share your feedback in the comment section below.

1. iThemes Security Pro

iThemes Security Pro is the best security plugin for WordPress in 2023. It doesn’t matter when or how you created your site if you don’t have iThemes Security Pro right now, then, it’s like you don’t have a door for a home. Anyone can study your site architecture and apply the right techniques to hack it especially if it’s an eCommerce site. It’s a must-have WordPress security plugin that protects the site and secures it like no other tool does.

iThemes Security Pro offers one of the best ways to protect WordPress sites using the Away mode. Thus, if you’re not adding content or making changes for a specific period of time, you can enable the options that completely block access to the admin area during that defined time of the day. So, it’s not only useful but a clever way to prevent hacks.

Now, because bad bots try to access your site, there will be lots of 404 Not Found pages in the log file. Consequently, the security plugin tracks these bad bots and blocks them when exceeding x number of views per minute. You can set the limit as you want or apply the recommended iThemes Security Pro plugin settings with a few clicks.

What’s, even more, attractive in this plugin is the user security check system, it scans all your WordPress site users and finds which one has weak security levels that can be a password or permissions. Then, the plugin applies the right protection technique and blocks bad bots and attackers especially if you use any service for WordPress and you’re not choosing hosting and domain provider the right way.

When you install iThemes Security, the plugin will ask you to apply the recommended settings by clicking on one button, I prefer not to use these settings as some features in WordPress require full access to the API. So, you can tweak them manually in the plugin dashboard one by one. It will be a long list of security tweaks. You don’t have to set them all, just use the same configuration or hire an expert that does it for you.

Best features of this security plugin for WordPress blogs:

• Easy setup
• Two Factor Authentication, (you don’t need  a plugin for it)
• WordPress security dashboard
• Users security check
• For users to update their passwords next time they log in
• Set expiration time for user passwords
• Brute force attack protection
• Option to hide security notification from admin bar
• Scheduled Database backup, and you can exclude tables from the file
• Custom login URL, so, no one knows her to guess your admin address
• Away more, so no one access the site admin area at that time no matter what he does
• You can ban users, hosts, countries, and IP
• Option to ban user agents from accessing WordPress
• WordPress file change detection and alerting
• Import and export security settings
• Strong password enforcement
• WordPress REST API tweaking for security
• Option to change WordPress salts and security keys (I recommend for WP experts only)
• reCAPTCHA
• Trusted devices
• WordPress version updater
• Outdated code detection and fixer
• Malware scan scheduling
• Strong WordPress protection against session hijacking
• Accurate location reporting for every unrecognized login attempt

Advanced WordPress security measures (don’t use them):

• Changing wp-content directory name (this is good for security, but it can break the site)
• WordPress database prefix change: don’t do it, you’ll end up with troubles
• Custom rules for wp-confi.php file
• Default WordPress Admin users removal

Keep in mind that even if you choose one of the best premium WordPress security plugins, you should train your webmaster, store manager, or content creator on how to properly manage things and keep login details secure. There are many password managers you can try and use.

2. Sucuri

With cloud-based malware scanning and site cleanup, Sucuri can help a lot in preventing site attacks and cleaning malware in a professional way. What’s different here is the additional measure the system takes to take WordPress website security to the next level, there is DDoS mitigation included which is highly recommended for WordPress eCommerce site that cares about safety and customer satisfaction.

The smallest downtime because of a DDoS attack can decrease online store sales dramatically. Indeed, statistics show DDoS attacks cost businesses $2.5 Million on average, which is huge and unpredictable.

WordPress sites are not far away from being victims of DDoS attacks, that’s because most businesses use Woocommerce and neglect the impact of cyber threats on their products and sales.

However, there are also others who sell products using the WordPress Woocommerce system and use advanced security plugins like Sucuri that stop DDoS in the Cloud and monitor the full site security in real-time. In addition, when having a WordPress vulnerability scanner, webmasters avoid unexpected downtimes and big problems.

Here is why Sucuri is recommended for WordPress

• Cloud-based malware scanning and Firewall
• Old company with years of experience
• Fast customer assistance
• Enterprise firewall and site cleanup
• Used by the most popular web hosts and WP sites (Yoast, GoDaddy, WPEngine, and more)
• Supports for all kinds of CMS and not only WP
• Automatic backups happen in the cloud
• Load balancing integration
• Well known for its WordPress hack cleanup
• DDoS mitigation with the plugin
• Integration with your custom security management
• SSL support
• Hack removal and code cleanup at no extra cost

All these features are good, but what I don’t like about the Security is that their first plan, called “Basic” is not supporting SSL, I think, they should do that as all sites have been moved to SSL these days and even more, attacks can be sent from secure servers, so, why not secure all the traffic from including HTTPS?

3. MalCare WordPress security

The MalCare WordPress security plugin distinguishes itself as an instant malware removal tool that cleans the site automatically, so, there is no need to wait days to get a WP Site cleaned from malware and vulnerabilities like the old days. Doing a real-time WordPress security scan should make things safer and better.

Now, for speed, I personally used lots of WordPress security plugins and a few of them worked well, this one scans the site remotely using their own servers and not yours. That means, no stress on your self-hosted WordPress account, and everything continues working without any issues. The scan and removal happen with advanced technologies that detect new vulnerabilities discovered in WordPress each week.

Best features:

• The plugin alert you if it’s 100%, that there is a threat or malware
• Automatic installation under one minute
• Online WordPress vulnerability scanner
• Custom smart captcha protection for WordPress login page
• Advanced WordPress hardening with the best security practices
• Off-site scanner tool
• A smart firewall that detects malware in real-time thanks to the global network
• The plugin carefully remove malware and not your entire files
• Dedicated WordPress core update from one dashboard, also it works for plugins and themes
• Team collaboration made easy, so everyone can track what’s happening in site security
• White Label dashboard and reports for web agencies that site for clients
• One-click malware clean
• WordPress file changes tracking, so you know exactly what’s going on in your site and who added something like code or text.
• Real-time IP and Geo-blocking tool
• Brute force attack prevention with smart recognition

If you run an online store on Woocommerce, then this is a must-have WordPress security plugin that you can count on. It fixed what many eCommerce security solutions failed to achieve in WordPress.

4. Astra WordPress Security Suite

Astra is another recommended WordPress security solution that’s easy to use without any complicated installation or setup. There is an online dashboard to monitor your site’s health and what’s going on as threats and malware removal. In addition, WordPress Firewall and Malware protection scans plugins for bad code and optimize them for better security.

I saw many WordPress plugins with weak security and code that’s not used the way they should be, and I think using this plugin will fix that especially for website owners who buy plugins from unknown developers or marketplaces.

Astra security plugin has a high level of protection for WordPress core, and it applies patches automatically in the case of malware discovered or viruses found on the site.

For online stores, this is one of the best security plugins for WordPress Woocommerce, there is a sophisticated system that protects the checkout pages and simulates scenarios when hackers can game your system and cause serious loss.

Don’t be surprised to know that this service works with talented hackers who work together to test your site and find every single threat that can destroy your best, so, logically find these problems and provide you with a clear report after securing the files and protecting the site.

I found many bloggers and even store owners who got their sites suspended by Bluehost and HostGator for having malware on the pages.

And because using a plugin alone won’t guarantee that the malware will be removed at 100% those who host their WordPress site on shared servers should consider this service for emergency cases, the team studied the server specifications of many popular web hosts and prepared a fast intervention in the case of malware or virus attack to fix the problem for their customers faster than others.

Main benefits of Astra security plugin:

• Unique security systems
• Machine learning technology and based on the latest WordPress security vulnerabilities
• Powered by a community of trusted hackers
• Daily website monitoring a scanning to check for blacklisting and issues
• Online dashboard with a clear report including real-time protection, threats stopped, file cleaner, etc…
• Login notifications
• GDPR compliant security in a few clicks
• No false-positive (which is good)
• Advanced blacklisting and whitelisting by IP, and country which is helpful when you have a developer in other countries who need to access some parts of the site)
• File upload protection against malicious code
• Instant file upload scans
• You can add your own allowed extensions for adding files to your site
• Trust seal,  on your site to make it look safe to buy from
• Cloud security dashboard for agencies who want to share reports with clients
• Chat and phone support
• It works with WordPress and all the other CMS

5. Jetpack

The JetPack tool is in the family of the official WordPress plugins developed and maintained by Automattic the company behind WordPress itself, and it scans the WordPress site for vulnerabilities in real-time. Engineers and developers work hand in hand to build such a powerful tool that combines security with backup and ease of use.

The basic JetPack features do not come with backups or security, so, only the premium plan offers site scanning in real-time for malware and protects the full site by creating a daily backup. So, you can restore WordPress with one click anytime you want the backup list of the previous 30 days.

Moreover, there are other tools for Google Analytics Integration that I don’t recommend, if one day you add a dedicated analytic plugin and forget it, your analytics reports will be wrong with double visits and a very low bounce rate that’s not even accurate.

With the JetPack security solution for WordPress I highly recommend the following tools:

• Activate the Backups and security scanning tool
• Turn on downtime monitoring
• Enable Anti-spam
• Optional auto-update plugins if you’re not logging regularly for site management
• Toggle the option saying Brute force attack protection
• If you do these basic security settings in JetPack, you’ll have a higher level of site security, daily backups, and most importantly a one-click WordPress restore when something wrong happens.

Here is how the JetPack premium looks like in WordPress:

When you log in to the online dashboard, you’ll find all your site backups, all the activities like adding comments, plugin update, post edits, etc… in historical order. So, you know for real what caused the problem, and of course, there is an option to restore WordPress on a specific date, even better you can choose what to restore in a WordPress backup, the database, the media files, all the plugins, or everything.

Here is a screenshot of what options you get when you click on the backup many in Jetpack.

When you click on the Restore to this point in Jetpack, you get options to get the site back partially or fully in case of attack, malware, or any other issue.

6. SSL insecure content fixer

The SSL Insecure Content Fixer is a popular plugin with over 300.000 installs that offers one basic but powerful feature, it forces SSL on your WordPress site with a few clicks. If there is a link to images or pages that still use the HTTP protocol, the plugin will add the “s” and make it HTTPS secure content, but of course, if you already installed a certificate to the server.

This WordPress SSL plugin keeps connections encrypted and you can use it for a single blog or multisite.

Why does this WordPress security plugin work?:

• Easy installation
• Click a few buttons and the site will be secure
• A good option to look save in the eyes of Google
• No complicated tools to configure

7. Wordfence

I used Wordfence the first time back in 2013, and then, tested it in 2020 and in 2022 and there are many improvements for the security of WordPress. But, it’s not a security plugin for shared hosting as it uses lots of resources and your web host may ban you for that.

Wordfence is a good WordPress solution for secure Firewalls and file scans, but also, it’s not optimized for a shared web host by default, so, I recommend it for VPS or dedicated WordPress hosting.

Even if it secures your blog, Wordfence decreases the blog speed as no other tool does, so, it’s like choosing between security or speed, but not both at the same time.

The plugin comes with a huge number of files, but frankly, it’s powerful, that’s why I recommend the plugin for VPS and dedicated server when you should not be in trouble when letting the system scan the WordPress files for days and nights.

The old plugin dashboard was better for me, easier to use, and not confusing like the new one, however, there is a good firewall that you should not enable before one week of installing the tool.

Unlike other Firewall plugins, Wordfence comes with a new way with machine learning, so it learns from your site usage and that mode can help in distinguishing between good habits and bad user behaviors, so, for better security in the end.

Wordfence plugin best features:

• Deep scanning
• Large database of users
• Real-time protection from the community of users who report vulnerabilities
• The first-time scan works well
• Dedicated intelligent Firewall
• Live traffic views
• Options to block users by IP, countries, or IP ranges
• WhoIs lookup for the IP or the domain that access your site and looks malicious

What I don’t like about Wordfence security:

• Bad dashboard design
• Not easy to understand the dashboard (confusing)
• It slows down shared servers and it’s banned my managed WordPress web hosts for that

8. WordPress limit login attempts

Sometimes, it’s better to limit login attempts when there is a big number of users who access the site, this happens in membership WordPress sites and community forums. So, installing a plugin that blocked login after a defined number or trial is a good way to keep the bad guy out.

The plugin dashboard comes with a handful of options to set the maximum login attempts before locking out the user for a defined number of hours until he can log in again. In addition, admins can whitelist or blacklist IP addresses and a range of IPs if they want.

9. Hide My WP

When building a website for a client or even for your personal use, you may choose not to hide that you’re using WordPress for security reasons. So, the Hide My WP plugin comes with advanced techniques to make the wp-content directory,  and themes or plugins completely secret and no one can tell you’re using WordPress.

The plugin hides WordPress from the theme from decors and so this site won’t be able to know what that you’re using and what version it’s exactly to prevent code injection and vulnerabilities.

• Apache and Nginx servers compatible plugin
• Downloaded thousands of times
• It supports Windows servers
• Dedicated security settings for WordPress multisite
• Blocking direct PHP file access
• Disable directory listing (many neglect their director, so, this is useful for everyone)
• Change WP plugins and theme names
• The plugin has been doing a good security job for WordPress for 7 years now

10. Antivirus

Because many are using themes and never check them for code injection, this is the best WordPress antivirus plugin that can help. The Antivirus starts by scanning the site plugins and theme files for possible exploits and malware injections. It’s not always possible to know which file is secure and which one is infected in case of a spam attack, but using this tool should be helpful as there are no advanced settings.

When the plugin detects a virus on its daily scan, it notifies the admin using the WordPress default email address. So, make sure you have a good email in your admin settings to get a notification and how to remove the virus if that’s happened. If you think that your theme is infected and some may have injected code here, use this plugin to scan it.

These are the main features of the Antivirus plugin:

• Easy to use
• Daily WordPress scan again virus
• Instant email notification
• Helpful tips on how to remove the injected code
• Optional manual file checking
• Optional check for Google safe browsing
• Good to know if your theme is clean or hacked

11. All In One WP Security

With 800.000 downloads, All In One WP Security & Firewall is one of the most popular security plugins for WordPress, it combines dozens of tools and makes them all available to use in one single dashboard. You don’t have to look for a separate plugin to change your WordPress database prefix for security, there is an option for that, and also, you can schedule database backups, limit their numbers, and send the files to your email address.

The plugins scan the WordPress directories including wp-admin, wp-includes, wp-content/themes, and also the wp-content/plugins, and look for weaknesses in security, then, it lets you set the recommended settings with one click. All In One WP Security compared to Wordfence is easier to use, better in dashboard reporting, faster, and even user-friendly.

Here is a screenshot of the All-In-One-WP-Security-and-Firewall dashboard, so you know how it looks like in WordPress.

Even if this is a free security plugin for WordPress, it does a great job compared to other tools in the same category. There are useful tools to harden htaccess the file and make the site well protected, but it’s better not to mess with these settings if you’re a beginner, they can lock you out of WordPress, and you’ll need to contact your web host for that.

So, carefully read the explanation of each configuration before applying them. You don’t have to achieve a 100% security grade in WordPress with a plugin and then cause problems more than securing the site.

Pros of All In One WP Security:

• Overall site security level from your dashboard
• Vulnerability Protection against the latest WordPress XMLRPC & Pingback Vulnerabilities
• Debug log file access will be blocked
• Basic Firewall settings with Max file upload size
• A dedicated tool to rename the WordPress login page for security
• Adding captcha to BBPress new topic forms
• Brute Force Prevention with smart Firewall on Htaccess level (no more PHP load)
• Optional Google Recaptcha use for logins
• Adding captcha to BuddyPress user registration
• Login IP whitelisting
• IP and Host blocking
• Spam Bots blocking for submitting comments
• Custom settings for the File Change detection scan
• You can enable maintenance mode in WordPress with one click
• Additional option to disable right-click text selection and copying content on your site
• WordPress database security with table prefix rename and backups
• Force manual approval for new registrations (this is helpful for membership WP sites)
• Site info with server specifications like the PHP and MySQL versions etc…

12. NinjaScanner

When you think that your WordPress blog was hacked, try this free security plugin, NinjaScanner checks the blog files for modified code and highlights the exact lines. That way, you know what to clean exactly. However, don’t always remove the code, that’s because plugin developers update their code, so, when you click the update button, there will be a change and the plugin may find that as code injection.

That’s why it’s always recommended to manually verify the file changes and not just remove codes.

Here is why NinjaScanner is a good security plugin for WordPress:

• Lightweight plugin
• WordPress file comparison with historical changes
• It creates snapshots of your database
• Snapshot of files, so, you know what has been changed exactly
• Email reports
• Debugging log
• It supports WordPress multisite
• Options to ignore file extensions and folders
• You can limit the scan premium file size

13. WP2Static

One of the common WordPress security weaknesses is PHP files and databases, a simple code injection can destroy the site and if there is no backup, then just forget it. However, for those who use WordPress to build personal sites for information purposes only, there is a simple, yet effective way to secure WordPress and make it hard to manipulate, their WP2Static plugin generates a static copy of your WordPress website and server it to the public.

That means, no PHP, no databases, nor CPU overload because every page is using HTML, CSS, and maybe Javascript.

By using this simple WordPress security plugin, you turn the site into static pages and look out for the bad bots and users. There will be Two URLs to use, one for your secure login page, and the other one, for serving the static contact, which means super-fast loading time even without using any caching tool.

Static pages are known for their lightweight size, speed, and high level of security. So, try it if you have a WordPress site with a few pages you don’t update or you don’t think that it should be dynamic.

How can this tool improve WordPress security?

• Separate URLs for admin and public pages
• Options to host the static page on Amazon, Github, or your actual host
• No more PHP and MySQL
• Database tables still untouched
• No access to WordPress files, (they will be hidden in their own directory)

14. NinjaFirewall

NinjaFirewall is another Web Application Firewall that scans all the files inside the WordPress directory files and even outside the installation. It protects the PHP file first and what’s featured here is that, unlike other WAF tools, this one doesn’t send your site-sensitive data to the cloud to scan it. That way, you keep the sensitive information secure and you only scan for possible malware injections and security threats.

For updates, the plugin receives the latest lists of WordPress vulnerabilities, and then, applies the right corrections to prevent any damage to your site. Keep in mind that every day, new vulnerabilities are discovered in plugins and themes and even in the WordPress core itself.

Thus, it’s not easy to collect that huge number of data without a large network of users and contributors. The plugin has over 30.000 installs at this time and the number is growing.

Features of the NinjaFirewall plugin:

• Full WAF mode
• File upload limitation by removing character you don’t allow
• Disable file upload
• Completely disable file access to PHP files
• Protection for admin-ajax.php
• Block access to the WordPress REST API (I don’t recommend it)
• Options to block Post requests to wp-content/themes
• Disabling the WordPress plugins and theme editor (improved security)
• Disable WordPress plugin updates or installations
• A long list of Firewall options that you can export
• Advanced security settings
• Lockout invalid username instantly
• Advanced login attempts rules
• You can see who views your site in real-time with a log file
• Statistics by month or period

15. BulletProof Security

When it comes to utilities, BulletProof Security is a good security solution for WordPress, it searches for Woocommerce plugin weaknesses and protects it and that’s what most store owners look for these days.

But once you accept the dashboard, it’s not as gorgeous as other tools, but it does the job anyway. This is one of the best free WordPress security plugins, but some settings look unclear and I’m sure beginners will be confused whether or not these security settings should be checked or not.

While there are security tools for most WordPress sites, the good options are reserved for paid members only, so, if you really need them to choose one of the top 5 plugins above instead get better protection with cloud scanning and not overload your server.

Bulletproof security should work well if you run the setup Wizard, spend a few minutes reading their configuration details and you’ll be able to take your Woocommerce site security to higher levels for free.

16. Cerber Security, Antispam & Malware Scan

With its unique features, the Cerber Security plugin offers dozens of advanced tools to prevent hacks in WordPress. Besides, the plugins protect WordPress from trojans, malware and secure all the contact forms. That means no more spam emails from bots, there is a Google Recaptcha on each WordPress form, and you can adjust the settings depending on your security needs and site usage.

Cerber Security WordPress plugin features:

• Block subnet
• Options to block fake username logins attempts
• Automatically disable redirection to the wp-admin section when the user requests it
• Custom login page setup (choose your own login URL)
• The threshold for login attempts
• Hide WordPress toolbar when users view the site
• Set session expiration time
• Force English for admin interface (not that good, but useful for security)
• WordPress live traffic viewer
• Restrict usage of email address, everyone who signs up with an email that matches words, names, domains, etc…
• Optionally, you can save $_SERVER and prevent sending sensitive hosting details
• Block usage of a certain username
• The full site scans for modified content files, directories, and other locations of WordPress
• Protect registration and comment forms with bot protection engine
• Invisible Recaptcha mode
• Clear view and reporting about your database info, tables, and status

17. reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce

When running a website on WordPress Woocommerce without taking care of forms, you may get lots of spam and user-generated comments with no sense. The reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce plugin secures all the product checkout page forms, signup forms, and everything else.

It’s like having ReCaptcha everywhere, but wait, that’s not that good for user experience, that may make the user feel like dealing with lots of verifications and they may see another website.

For that reason, choose carefully the right locations on the site where you want to display the Recaptcha protected form and signups, that’s what works better and you’ll keep the store safe at the same time.

• Security prevention for Woocommerce sites:
• Recaptcha everywhere
• On login pages and Singp pages
• Lost password forms
• Recaptcha on checkout pages
• It may help prevent chargeback fraud
• Protecting your WordPress site with a plugin is not enough

18. Shield Security

With the Shield Security plugin, you can have a good level of WordPress security without wasting time with time-consuming configurations. It starts from the dashboard where you can see the scans now button after installation. When you do the scan, wait a few minutes, and see the report with what you need to do to make the site clean. I think that many good features are not included in the free version, but it works anyway.

19. User Role Editor

Not all WordPress threats come from outside the site, users themselves can mess with security settings or site code and accidentally cause open ways to bots and hackers. For that, I added the User Role Editor plugin to this list to let you choose the exact roles and permissions every editor on your site should have. No matter what role it’s there are options for admins, subscribers, and users of the site.

After installing the plugin there will be no dedicated menu as other tools in the admin menu, but you can find two options, one to enable administrator role edit that will be disabled by default under Settings, then, User Role Editor, and the other menu which is the main one under Users. So, use that to set the permission for editing posts, publishing, using custom post types, etc.

For membership sites, use this tool with one of the top WordPress security plugins above to have extra layers of protection against bad users and even reboots.

20. Rename WordPress login

If all that you see in WordPress notifications are login attempts, then, you have one option to kill all these attempts and stop accessing the dashboard, changing the admin URL to something else you only know. So, the Rename wp-login protects your site by letting you add a custom login URL, and so, when someone tries to access the default URL, he sees a Not Found page or a redirect.

Tips for secure WordPress sites

Lots of people (luckily not all of them) install a good security plugin and then forget other factors completely like where they host their sites and what server system they use.

Now, imagine if you have the most secure website on the Internet, but you’re hosting it with a bad company that doesn’t care about server security, Uptime, speed, and trust, in this case, even if you have a super-secure WordPress, no one will find it useful for the awful page speed and the bad user experience.

Here is the list of WordPress security measures I created for you, so you can level up the site protection, and make things work better for your online business.

Keep WordPress up to date, but be careful

Updating WordPress to the latest version is what security geeks prefer, but also, there is one thing to remember here, what if you have plugins that are not yet compatible with that release? Or what if your theme is out of date and you should update both?

Don’t click on every update on WordPress, but also, avoid installing plugins from sources you don’t trust, later, things will be better if you choose good companies.

A WordPress security plugin won’t work alone

Many businesses prefer using a premium quality plugin for their WordPress site security, and they never care about prices, but what about hosting?

Nowadays, there is a huge number of attacks each hour on WordPress sites worldwide, most of these attacks happen automatically and no one can control them with one button. But once you have secure WordPress hosting, the plugin will do the job easily and it’s because of the server-level security systems that help to speed up the site and make users happy.

The WordPress theme also should be secure

As many web design companies create WordPress themes, thousands of them use lots of code, bad architecture, and all types of security issues. So, don’t buy a site theme from anyone and look for trusted providers and developers who are known in the industry and who can help with custom development if you need it.

Having a security plugin on your site without using a well-coded theme won’t help, that’s why switching to an optimized and secure theme should keep the site better and secure.

Ultimate security environment for WordPress

I don’t think that using any regular hosting will be secure as there are big server-level configurations that only enterprise-level web hosts can offer. For WordPress, I used LiquidWeb and it’s the perfect solution that combines managed hosting, with secure servers and the iThemes security pro plugin in one place.

It’s like having an army who protects your site and you can focus on managing the content instead and let security experts do the rest. In addition, there is a dedicated WooCommerce hosting solution with optimized servers, eCommerce-specific security, their own data centers, and in-house customer support.