What Makes A Website Secure?

With ecommerce rapidly increasing its global footprint, not having a responsive website compares to losing out on business. However, having a website alone is not enough.

Just like you need to secure your physical premises, you also need to invest in website security to ward off threats.

Cybercriminals are coming up with new ways to target sensitive information. Businesses need proactive website security solutions to keep their software safe from malware and prevent it from spreading from computer to computer on their system.

Why Do I Need To Secure My Website?

Most people do not give enough time or importance to their website security assessments. They might think they don’t need to protect their website because it’s a small blog or e-commerce site on WordPress.

Fun fact: Did you know the FBI has noticed a 300% increase in cybercrimes since the COVID-19 outbreak?

The truth is, all websites are susceptible to attacks. Cybercriminals do not have particular websites in mind when planning a breach. They use programs that automatically detect vulnerable websites, which is why you must regularly conduct a site security audit.

Most sites do not adopt adequate security measures. A recent study by Symantec found that up to 75% of scanned sites did not have proper website security checks. Small businesses are even more susceptible to attack due to a lack of resources and a dedicated security department.

When partnering with a digital marketing agency, it is essential to check if they can equip your business with adequate security. Reputed agencies, such as Epitome Digital Marketing, ensure that they have cybersecurity experts on board to allow for a safer, more secure website.

Let’s look at some reasons why a website security check is imperative these days:

Your Website Can Get Blacklisted

Google blacklists websites it deems suspicious. You will recognize these sites if you get a prompt “this site may harm your computer” in the search results. This is Google’s way of prompting users to avoid this site.

When your website is blacklisted, it is removed from the search engine indexes. In these cases, websites can lose 95% of their organic traffic, which essentially compares to as good as not existing online.

Small site owners are more susceptible to malware and security breaches. Larger websites employ adequate security measures, so cyber criminals avoid them and target smaller websites. Therefore, it is crucial to secure your WordPress website more than a big brand website.

You Lose Revenue And Trust

Websites that are not marked safe present a threat to user security, adversely impact the user experience. That inevitably leads Google to lower your SERP ranking.

While Google claims that 80% of hacked sites have been detected and removed from the results – new ones keep adding to the list. Cybercriminals and threat actors worldwide are meticulously vying for opportunities to break into your system and retrieve sensitive data.

An unsafe site loses credibility from users. A hacked site can mean a permanent loss of customers and a drastic hit to your brand reputation.

More than 50,000 websites are hacked every day. Website security experts state that WordPress powered 90% of hacked CMS sites. Most of these sites are small businesses that cannot take the hit to their revenue.

WordPress website security is crucial for small website owners. While having a dedicated cybersecurity expert might be too expensive, you can always rely on reliable partners to strengthen your website security.

How To Secure Your Website?

84% of websites are shown to have vulnerabilities, making them prone to security breaches by malware.

If you’re a small website owner thinking: “How much will it cost to secure my WordPress website,” a service like this can cost you anywhere around $150. It’s always advisable to choose website security packages that do manual clean-ups.

Let’s look at some of the measures you can adopt to secure your website

Use A Secure Web Hosting Service

You must inspect your web host’s security platform before making a choice. Responsible web hosting services employ adequate security measures. The best hosting platforms include a backup option to prevent any loss of information.

Use Software Updates

These days operating systems and software update their systems regularly. Most users ignore these updates, but it’s a mistake that can cost them dearly. These software updates have new security patches and are necessary to ensure your system’s security. Your web hosting service will typically let you know about any updates on their platform.

Install An SSL Certificate

SSL certificates are crucial if you want to enjoy secure website services. They authenticate the website’s identity and encrypt the data from HTTP to HTTPS. Google marks websites that do not have SSL certificates as unsecured and prompt users about them.

While this may sound too complex for your average business owner, a trustworthy partner, like Epitome Digital Marketing, can make sure your website ticks all boxes on your security checklist.

Run Regular Website Security Checks

Running regular security checks on your website can help pinpoint any security lapses on your website quickly. The recommended interval for this should be at least once a week. Most website security monitoring services are automated and run these checks themselves.

Install Security Plugins

WordPress employs specific security plugins for additional protection. These plugins offer you secure website services by preventing any hacker infiltration and scanning for any malware. You must keep your WordPress site updated to ward off any threats. Check plugins that are compromised or are not working correctly.

Use MultiFactor Authentication

Whenever there is an option to enable multifactor authentication (MFA) – go for it!

Skip easy passwords and add a double layer of security to keep threat actors at bay. Even if they do manage to make their way past one of the layers, they will not be able to authenticate themselves.

This secures your website and offers an additional security check as you will get a prompt whenever there is an attempt to access your website.

Website Security Services From Epitome Digital Marketing

Small businesses are faced with almost half (43%) of all hacking attempts that take place. Without a stable security plan in place, the cost is relatively higher for smaller organizations.

This blog outlines some key ways that can allow you to bolster your website’s security. As our websites continue to grow in importance, they will form more lucrative targets for cybercriminals worldwide. It is vital to abide by website security best practices to keep your business safe and secure.

At Epitome Digital Marketing, we have spent years helping clients build secure and robust digital platforms to scale their business. As website security experts, we understand what it takes to allow your consumers a seamless user experience that keeps them coming in for more.

Are you interested in knowing more? Give us a call at (980) 404-9250!