Tips for securing your e-commerce site
Managing your online business comprises of important sections. Among the sections is ensuring your e-commerce site is secure. Besides this, security determines the probability of your customers doing business with your often. This might be minimal if you do not guarantee their data is safe. In fact, this should be when transacting and after transacting.
However, security technology is always changing. Thus, keeping up with the changes becomes difficult for business owners.
If you are using WooCommerce, protecting your customers and site does not need you to be an expert. The process of making your site secure involves many steps. Nonetheless, we have simplified the steps.
These are our simple steps to help you secure your Woo Commerce site.
1. Using a host that prioritizes your security
Did you know the work of most people working at hosting companies is about security? Ask yourself what would happen if someone who knows the ins and outs of security is jobless? Thus, choosing a company that prioritizes your security is key. In fact, it is the most basic and easiest means of ensuring your e-commerce site get protected.
Factors to be considered while choosing the host of your site
- Offers restoration services: A hosting company should offer both backup and recovery services. As a result, it helps you in restoring your online presence whenever something goes wrong.
- Daily backups: The host company should offer regular backups. Thus, in case of any attack, you will get back online within a short time.
- Automatic updates: A hosting company with automatic updates is essential. It helps you in identifying security holes. Hence, security holes get detected immediately, to protect your data.
2. Avoid forced attacks
Although forced attacks method is simple. Here, your security keys or password combinations get guessed. Hence, one gets the right characters guessing the password. Also, this method is still an ordinary means of breaking into sites. Just like the process is simple, the ways of preventing the method are much easier, and they include:
- Limiting your login attempts: The forced attack method works. This happens when hackers or their PCs are capable of trying to log in sites many times, or for over a million times. However, you can use the various WP plugins that work by limiting the attempts. Among the best WooCommerce plugins are Login Lockdown and WP Limit login attempts.
- Using a password manager: The use of password managers is the best way of generating passwords. It generates passwords that are difficult for sophisticated hackers to crack. Also, LastPass is among most effective password managers. It helps you create strong passwords. Besides this, it automatically enters the right password on the matching site. Thus, with the primary password of your LastPass account everything is under control.
3. Using a 2-factor authentication
One of the smartest ways of keeping your site secure is the use of a 2-factor authentication. Attackers might manage to guess your password and username. But, if you are using the 2-factor authentication, it is impossible to hack.
This is because, to cross the second phase of protection, they must enter the second password. Unfortunately, the second password get sent to your cell phone. MiniOrange’s 2-factor plugin is one of the best 2-factor authentication plugins to use on the site.
If your e-commerce site accepts credit cards, ensure you buy an SSL certificate. With an SSL certificate, the data of your customer gets encrypted. Moreover, their credit card details are sent via the internet.
5. Backing up your files
You should choose a host that offers daily backups. However, there is no guarantee that daily backup will get provided to you. Thus, the only guarantee of keeping backups of your files is yourself.
You should ensure you should backup all files using WordPress plugins. Here are the WordPress plugins to use in your site because they are not only reliable but also convenient.
Most of the workers in WordPress are well-informed about site security. Thus, every time they discover a security hole, they come up with new WordPress versions. The version solves the problem.
Therefore, ensure you update your WooCommerce site regularly, whenever an update notification appears. However, you should not worry about version updates if your host updates automatically.
7. Informing your customers their data is safe
It is your role to ensure your clients get protected. Besides this, it is your role to tell your customers that their data is safe. The primary reason on why informing your clients is necessary is to grow your business.
Whenever the customers are safe, they will buy from your site. Moreover, they will recommend your site to their relatives and friends.
McAfee plugin offers the best safety. It makes the visitors of your site feel secured by taking them through an external security scan. Also, the McAfee plugin is an easier means of enhancing the credibility of your site.
Furthermore, you can subscribe to a premium membership and enjoy various services. Among them are highlighting searches, sitemaps, and protection of shopper ID alongside the services to enjoy are site reviews, and diagnostics among others.