What a nightmare it is to one day check your website and find it looking different than usual or a nasty message from a hacker is flashing right before your eyes and worst you can’t even find a way to log into your WordPress dashboard. Read on to know how you can maximize your WordPress security.

This post will not discuss how to recover a hacked WP website although I’ll discuss that in the future. As an old adage goes “prevention is better than cure” and so I have listed here a few practices to keep your WP website safe from hackers.

1. Keep your WordPress site updated to the latest WordPress version

What makes WordPress an awesome CMS is that its developers are always have their sleeves rolled to remove any glitches from their older versions. Keeping your site up-to-date will help optimize its security in every way. To do this check the “update” feature on your WP dashboard.

2. Use a more complex passwords and user ID’s.

Don’t use “admin” as username or “word123” for password this will make your website vulnerable from hackers. Use a variety of characters, numbers, small and capitalized letters for password.

3. Backup regularly.

Backing up your WordPress website and keeping the backup files somewhere safe is a good practice to avoid your site from being hacked and for you to easily restore it. Do it on a regular basis, as often as you update your website so that you always have its latest setting. You can do it manually or through the use of a plugin.

4. Use the following Plugins for security.

Bullet Proof Security – http://wordpress.org/plugins/bulletproof-security/
Better WP Security – http://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/
Secure WordPress – http://wordpress.org/plugins/secure-wordpress/

These are free plugins but will definitely keep your website safe from hackers

The tips mentioned above can greatly maximize your WordPress security. Apply this simple practices to keep your WordPress website safe from hackers and go on with your business with peace of mind.