You think hackers only target big companies. Banks, retailers, government sites. Not your small business website.
Wrong.
Small business websites are actually easier targets. Less security, less monitoring, and often the same valuable data: customer emails, payment info, login credentials. Hackers love low-hanging fruit.
Let's fix that.
Why Your Site Is a Target
Here's the uncomfortable truth: automated bots scan millions of websites every day looking for vulnerabilities. They don't know or care that you're a small bakery or a local plumber. They just see an opportunity.
What Hackers Want From You
Customer data - Emails, names, addresses. Worth money on the dark web.
Payment information - If you process payments, you're a goldmine.
Your server - They can use it to send spam, host illegal content, or attack other sites.
SEO hijacking - Inject hidden links to boost their shady sites using your domain authority.
Ransomware - Lock your site and demand payment to restore it.
A hacked site doesn't just hurt you. It hurts your customers and destroys their trust in your business.
The Basics You Need to Get Right
Good news: most attacks exploit basic vulnerabilities. Fix these, and you're ahead of 90% of websites.
1. Keep Everything Updated
This is the #1 cause of hacked websites. Outdated software has known vulnerabilities. Hackers know them. They have automated tools to find and exploit them.
What to update:
- Your CMS (WordPress, Drupal, whatever you use)
- All plugins and extensions
- Your theme or template
- PHP version (if applicable)
- Server software
How often: Check weekly. Enable auto-updates where possible. At minimum, update within 48 hours when security patches are released.
That WordPress plugin you haven't updated in two years? It's probably how you'll get hacked.
2. Use Strong, Unique Passwords
"Password123" isn't a password. Neither is your dog's name, your birthday, or "admin."
Good passwords are:
- At least 16 characters
- Random (use a password manager to generate them)
- Unique for every account
- Never shared or reused
Use a password manager like 1Password, Bitwarden, or LastPass. You only need to remember one master password, and it handles the rest.
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) everywhere you can. Even if someone gets your password, they can't log in without your phone.
3. Get an SSL Certificate
If your URL starts with "http://" instead of "https://", you have a problem.
SSL encrypts data between your site and your visitors. Without it:
- Hackers can intercept login credentials
- Google ranks you lower
- Browsers show scary "Not Secure" warnings
- Customers don't trust you
SSL certificates are free through Let's Encrypt. There's no excuse not to have one. Most hosts set this up automatically now.
4. Back Up Everything
When (not if) something goes wrong, backups are your safety net.
Backup rules:
- Daily backups minimum
- Store backups off-site (not on the same server)
- Test your backups regularly (a backup that doesn't restore is worthless)
- Keep multiple versions (so you can go back further if needed)
What to backup:
- All website files
- Database
- Configuration files
- Email (if hosted with your site)
Your host probably offers backups. Use them. But also have your own backup solution. Don't rely on just one.
5. Limit Login Attempts
Hackers use "brute force" attacks, trying thousands of password combinations until one works.
Stop them by:
- Limiting login attempts (lock out after 5 failed tries)
- Adding CAPTCHA to login forms
- Using 2FA (mentioned above, but worth repeating)
- Hiding or moving the login page (for WordPress, change /wp-admin to something else)
- Blocking known bad IP addresses
6. Use Security Plugins/Tools
Don't reinvent the wheel. Use established security tools.
For WordPress:
- Wordfence (firewall and malware scanner)
- Sucuri (same deal, different approach)
- iThemes Security (hardens various settings)
For any site:
- Cloudflare (free tier includes basic DDoS protection and firewall)
- Regular malware scanning
- File integrity monitoring
These tools catch threats before they become problems.
Intermediate Security Measures
Got the basics down? Here's what to do next.
Secure Your Hosting
Cheap shared hosting means you're sharing server space with hundreds of other sites. If one gets hacked, you could be affected.
Look for hosts that offer:
- Server-level firewalls
- Malware scanning
- Automatic updates
- DDoS protection
- Regular security patches
- Good reputation (research before you buy)
Spending an extra $20/month on quality hosting is cheaper than recovering from a hack.
Principle of Least Privilege
Only give people the access they need. Nothing more.
- Your content writer doesn't need admin access
- Your old developer's account should be deleted
- Remove inactive user accounts
- Use role-based permissions
Every account with admin access is a potential entry point.
Secure Your Forms
Contact forms, login forms, signup forms. All potential attack vectors.
Protect them with:
- CAPTCHA or honeypot fields (stops bots)
- Input validation (reject suspicious data)
- Rate limiting (prevent spam floods)
- Sanitization (clean data before storing it)
Monitor Your Site
You can't fix what you don't know about.
Set up:
- Uptime monitoring (know when your site goes down)
- Security scanning (know when malware appears)
- Login notifications (know when someone accesses your admin)
- Google Search Console alerts (know if Google finds problems)
The sooner you catch a problem, the less damage it does.
What to Do If You Get Hacked
It happens. Even to careful people. Here's the response plan:
- Don't panic - Acting rashly makes things worse
- Take the site offline - Prevent further damage
- Change all passwords - Immediately, from a clean device
- Restore from backup - Go back to a known clean version
- Find the vulnerability - How did they get in? Fix it.
- Scan everything - Make sure the malware is actually gone
- Update everything - Patches, plugins, all of it
- Monitor closely - Hackers often leave backdoors
If you're not technical, hire a professional. Incomplete cleanup leads to reinfection.
The Bottom Line
Website security isn't optional. It's not just for big companies. And it's not as hard as it sounds.
Start with:
- Keep everything updated
- Use strong, unique passwords with 2FA
- Get SSL
- Back up daily
- Limit login attempts
- Use security tools
These basics stop most attacks. Seriously. Most hackers go for easy targets. Don't be an easy target.
Need help securing your site? Not sure if you're vulnerable? Let's talk. We'll assess your situation and help you lock things down properly.