Blog security is often overlooked by many bloggers, but is a very important precaution to take. There are many things you can and need to do to protect your blog, and Melvin will go over a handful of some important security tips.

One thing that almost all bloggers are not paying attention to when starting their own blogs is its security. Most would just go with setting one up, then brainstorming ideas on each blog posts, thinking of a good design and so on. Blog security is something that is oftentimes overlooked.

A lot of bloggers run their blog through WordPress and that’s why most hackers and geeks are also busy finding flaws in it. Today I am going to make a short list of ways to make your WordPress blog more secure. Read on:

1. Get a Strong Password – Believe me or not, 70% of people don’t get this done (including me). There are tons of password-breaking scripts that can easily break you’re pass if it’s not that strong and easy to guess. Getting a strong password doesn’t just protect your blog, it gets the job done 50%! You might want to check out an older article here, on how to make a really strong password.
2. Protect your WordPress Directories – I recently made an article on my blog on how anyone can sneak into your wordpress folders without you knowing it. Surprisingly a lot of bloggers don’t seem to mind it. You can easily protect your folders by including the line Options - Indexes in your .htaccess file
3. Keep your database user name and password secure – You can do so by adding <FilesMatch ^wp-config.php$>deny from all</FilesMatch> into your .htaccess file. What it does is simply protect your account in case of a server error.
4. Update your plugins! – A lot of people are too lazy upgrading their own plugins. Remember, plugins are updated mostly for security purposes and if you have yours not updated, then expect it to cause security problems to your blog.
5. Backup your Database – Making regular database backups for a blog is a must. For me I do it everyday and it’s really helpful just in case everything goes wrong. WP-database plugin is one tool I would really recommend.
6. Protecting the WP-Admin Folder – Having everything listed above is not enough. Protecting your admin folder should also be a big concern as well. Most hackers use brute force attack to guess the correct login details for the blog. You can prevent it by installing a plugin called “Ask Apache Password Protect“. The plugin just simply adds a 2nd layer of protection by requiring a username and password to access any in the admin folder. It uses an advanced technique of encrypting your password in .htpasswd file and rewrite the .htaccess without messing it up. The tool is a must-have for everyone.
7. WordPress Should be Up-to Date – Having your wordpress version up-to date is a no brainer. Like updating plugins, updating wordpress itself is crucial because it eliminates security flaws from the previous versions. WordPress Automatic Update plugin probably will get the job done right for you.

Having a blog with nice content, lovely design and active community is great. Securing a blog is another story though. So make sure everything is secure with your blog so don’t need to worry about getting it hacked. Remember a blog cannot be profitable if it has a lot of security flaws.

Photo by Rafael López Diez

Related posts:

1. 7 WP-Plugins No-One Wants To Tell You About!

2. 10 Tips to Prevent Hackers

3. Mapping out a new blog: Choosing a great theme and some killer plugins