You’ve been hacked.

This might be the worst thing you can see when you boot up your website/blog for the first time in the morning.

It happens hundreds of times every day. You cannot log in to your site, or worse yet, you can log in, but all your files have been wiped out. Your WordPress site is your most important online asset, but it is an easy target for hackers. They understand that many of us have not taken the extra steps to lock down and protect our hard work.

Here are two tools that every WordPress website or blog should install immediately:

WP ShieldMate: this simple and inexpensive plugin prevents someone that gains access to your ID and Password from logging in to your site as the Admin. By creating a series of questions and private answers that only you would know, the bad guys are kept out. Notice the familiar standard login screen on the left, and the same screen after you load WP ShieldMate with the added security question. Simple, effective and inexpensive. You select the questions and provide the answers. In a nutshell, with this plugin no one will be able to login to your account even if they know your password!

On the left is the standard WordPress login screen. On the right is the new login screen wth WP ShieldMate installed.

Backup Creator: When disaster strikes, and it will, this  will ensure you have a current copy of your entire website in another secure location or two. There are other backup plugins on the market and I own many of them (Backup Buddy as an example) but prefer Backup Creator hands down. It is very easy to install and configure, gives you a variety of options for where you want to store your backup (including your Dropbox acount) and my favorite-can make a complete “clone” of your entire site. Everything. So when disaster hits your site, you simply re-install a fresh copy of WordPress and copy your “clone” copy onto the new installation. It is EXACTLY the same. There are two versions and prices offered. Just go with Ultimate to get the benefits of Dropbox, automatic backups and more.

Click one button to backup your site and ship it to the secure destination of your choice — download it to your hard drive, email it to yourself, or even drop it in your Dropbox account. Easier yet, set up your backup schedule one time and then let Backup Creator do the rest of the work for you.  Just select your schedule and your done. One of the services we provide to our consulting clients at Fill the Funnel includes advising and managing clients WordPress sites. A condition of engagement with any client requires that these two tools are installed. They are that important. Grab these two plugins installed and lower the possibility of loosing years of work and data you have stored on your WordPress site. If you have questions, or need some help with either of these send me a note at support@fillthefunnel.com.