How to Make your WordPress Login URL Secure

If you are running a blog or business website, chances are, your site is powered by WordPress. From enhancing user experience with new technologies to growing a close-knit community, WordPress has established itself as one of the industry giants—powering over 42% of all websites on the web. 

But with such an elevated status comes a downside: WordPress is one of the most popular targets for cybercriminals. For the millions of users, this begs the question: how then do you make your WordPress login URL secure?

In this guide, we bring you expert-recommended tips to help you not only harden your WordPress security but also stay one step ahead of hackers. These are simple security measures that require very little effort to execute—or even double-check.

But before we dive in, let’s take a look at why you should make sure your website remains hack-proof.

Why Is Website Security So Important?

As e-crime continues to rise, reputational and monetary risks are some of the consequences that you can suffer if your website is compromised.  

However, besides stealing sensitive information, hackers can also infect your website with malicious code (malware). The effects of malware are both immediate and damaging—and can be harmful to your site in many ways such as:

• Disrupting availability
• Hijacking your website completely
• Redirecting your visitors to spammy pages
• Distributing malware to your site’s visitors

In addition, with Google scanning and blocking infected websites, your site could easily be withdrawn from search results in the event it is flagged unsafe.

With the above information in mind, here are some of the ways you can make your WordPress login URL secure.

WordPress Security Guide: 5 Ways to Make Your WordPress Login URL Secure

#1. Use a strong password

You’ve probably heard this a thousand times by now. But creating a secure password is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your site from determined hackers. Standard words are easy to type and memorize, yet they are a favorite for hackers to crack. 

If you want your WordPress to be safe from brute-force attacks, then it’s imperative you adhere to password policy best practices. These are: 

• Create a password that contains at least 8 characters (12 and above is better)
• Use random words with letters, numbers, and symbols
• Avoid very common phrases or words that can be found in the dictionary 

You can also use systems like LastPass or Dashlane to help you generate strong passwords as well as store them safely.

#2. Change your WordPress username and limit login attempts

While it might seem like public knowledge, it’s quite common to see the default “admin,” “administrator,” or “root” as usernames on websites. With the use of automated brute-force tools, default usernames make it effortless for hackers to break into a website.

However, you don’t have to succumb to malicious acts. You can control this by using unknown credentials that are hard to guess by anyone. 

Furthermore, to tighten your WordPress security, ensure that you limit the number of login attempts—the fewer the better. By doing so, you limit the number of combinations brute force attack can try as it attempts to crack your login credentials.

#3. Set up two-factor authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication or, 2FA adds an extra step to the normal authentication process of logging into an account or website. Without 2FA enabled, a user can easily access your website with just the username and password. 

When 2FA is enabled for WordPress, a verification code is sent to your cell phone, which a user has to enter before they log into a site. This way, even if someone has access to your username and password, they cannot access your account without getting through your phone. 

#4. Always keep your WordPress updated

WordPress has a constant stream of updates, with new features and bug fixes. Not only do these new plugins keep your WordPress installation up to date, but they also fix many security issues and vulnerabilities. As such, it’s critical to stay ahead of the hackers by always making sure your WordPress is using the latest plugin versions.

If you don’t want to do this manually, there are several extensions for WordPress that can be used for this purpose. These include: 

• WP Auto Updater
• Easy Updates Manager
• Companion Auto Update

These extensions work very similarly and automatically install updates for you. Moreover, the plugins will help you to stay current with the latest WordPress security updates.

#5. Change your WordPress login URL

Last but not least; add another layer of protection to your login URL. 

For starters, the default WordPress login URLs usually looks something like this:

• Login: /login/ or /wp-login.php
• Admin: /wp-admin/ or /wp-admin.php

To access the login/admin panel of any WordPress site, all you have to do is add one of the above default URLs at the end of a WordPress domain name. For instance, if you want the location of mywebsite.com’s login page, add /wp-login.php to www.mywebsite.com and browse using the new URL, i.e. www.mywebsite.com/wp-login.php. 

As a result, this makes your login and admin pages quite easy to locate, leaving them prone to malicious threats.

Luckily, there is a solution for this. You can use tools like WPS Hide Login that simply help change the location of your login URL. Consequently, hiding your WordPress login page makes it hard for non-connected people to locate it.

Final Thoughts

WordPress security is a continuous process, not a destination. And while WordPress makes effort to provide users with the necessary security tools, it’s always upon you to make sure you remain proactive against hackers to eliminate any risks. After all, the last thing you want is for hackers to ruin years of your hard work.