WordPress is an awesome tool and powers 34% of internet web sites. Being drop dead simple, anybody can do it: set up a site and start blogging or launch a store. BUT the question is just because anybody can do it, does that mean you should?
Herein lies the problem: many site owners never take advantage of the power of WordPress. They’re just hosting a landing pages or a simple 5-10 page website. They never blog, they rarely update their content, they never thought of running a store or a membership site. But yet they pay the price of exposure of using WordPress.
The Danger
You might think “What price of exposure?” All that popularity has made WordPress one big target for hackers. Whether they hack in because you used a weak password (DON’T DO THAT!), a bad plugin or an out of date WordPress installation, theme or plugin–your site and online presence is at risk just by using WordPress. Site hackers can access your site through WordPress itself, your theme, or your plugins.
The Statistics
- 8% of ALL WordPress sites get hacked because of weak passwords — DON’T BE THAT GUY/GAL (I think I said that already, stay tuned for a new post about passwords)
- 60% of WordPress sites hacks are on sites that haven’t been updated
- “in 2017 over 4,000 websites were infected with a malware coming from a fake SEO plugin”
The Solution
- One, if you’re not using some awesome feature of WordPress or some spectacular plugin, get out of the cross hairs and use a plain old website or landing page. If you just have a landing page or a couple of pages and that serves you and your business or organization, get off of WordPress and stand up a plain old site. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and your customer’s will have enough information to see you’re real without the headache of regular updates, backups, and all that is WordPress.
- Two, DON’T BE THE GUY/GAL THAT USES A WEAK PASSWORD. Did I already mention that? Yeah, well I guess I did but it is such a huge problem and people don’t listen. I hope you get the point and are in there changing your password right now. Also, please don’t use the same password anywhere. Some hacker dude that gets your password can follow your scent around and start logging into everything you love and care about and raise havoc.
- If you’re still here, you didn’t opt for a plain old site so…Three, Update everything WordPress as often as possible and there are three areas to be concerned about:
- WordPress itself
- Your WordPress Theme
- Your WordPress Plugins
- Finally, no matter what you do, you still might get hacked so have a strategy plan with at least daily backups so you can get back up an running in case of the worst.
The Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong. WordPress isn’t a bad thing. In fact it is wonderful! It is a glorious tool that is always getting better. It provides ways to manage information and make having a website something simple that anyone can manage. So, if you create content or are launching a store or want a fast forward on a design, by all means use WordPress but be smart about it and realize that it is ever changing in response to all the “bad guys” out there. Next we’ll talk about installing and launching WordPress
And if you want to be the creator and leave the site maintenance to me and my team of WordPress Ninja’s please sign up for our $97/mo (normally $127) Freedom WordPress service found here: https://whitegloveninja.com
