Websites get hacked every day, which means being secure online is vital to protect your website and the data it holds.

Here are some important facts about Website Security:

Hacked Websites Target Your Customers

Malicious software is used to infect websites, gather data, and trick your visitors into clicking the wrong link and giving up their personal information. It means that if your site is not protected, hackers can use your site to infect your site visitors with malware.

There are thousands of different types of malware and thousands of different ways to infect your website, which is mostly all done by automated hacking tools.

What they all have in common is that the hacked websites are mostly used to retarget your potential customers.

Your Business Reputation is on the Line

Search engine optimization is more important than ever. Google and other search engines warn your customers and restrict them from entering your website if you don't have SSL installed. If you have a hacked website, your customers lose their trust in you. For an e-commerce site that can often mean an end to the business.

Website clean-up is more expensive than protection

As a website owner discovering that your website has been hacked, the first thing to do is to search "How to clean up a hacked site". You will find a lot of blog posts and articles about it, but they will all eventually recommend you the same thing - have a professional to do it for you.

Performing a WordPress malware removal in a way that you can be sure that it's clean is not an easy task. That's why a service like this can cost over $200 per site.

Malware is often hidden from the original files and the database and attackers put a lot of effort into making sure you won't be able to remove their backdoors so easily.

The expense isn't just the malware clean-up service itself, but the lost revenue and reputational damage are what can eat up a lot of time and money to recover from.

Security plugins, regular updates, SSL encryption, and a good host will help keep your site safe and secure.