Over the last few years, e-commerce began to grow strongly and continues to ascent without any hiccups. Whether you have a WordPress e-commerce site or any other one, you surely would have noticed a tremendous difference. Statistics claim that this specific industry has already powered 45.4% of the entire internet. Keeping this in mind, the obscurity clears out on its own.
With the advent of online purchase, a majority of customers prefer this convenient and comfortable mode of shopping. So much so that today, the e-commerce industry is making worldwide sales of approximately $1.92 trillion. That’s one whopping amount, right?
So, there’s no doubt that e-commerce is becoming the future of the business. However, one thing that keeps almost every other new business owner berserk is the safety of the internet. Although there are quite a few platforms that can help you develop a navigational e-commerce store; however, WordPress is topping the charts.
Despite the fact that WordPress isn’t integrally built for e-commerce and that you’d have to use a series of tools, plugins, and themes to keep the functionality intact, still, it’s the good and the smart choice when it comes to building an online store.
Having said that, there are specific concerns as well that arise when business owners ponder upon choosing this platform. Some of them include:
- How many products can be uploaded?
- Is the platform secure?
- What about the restrictions of features and functionality?
If capacity is the issue, there are countless plugins that can help you out of the chaos. However, if you’re concerned over the security issues, this post will help put your mind at ease. Have a read.
Is WordPress Safe for e-commerce?
Unsurprisingly, the question regarding the feasibility of WordPress as a safe platform for e-commerce keeps arising from time to time. Of course, running and handling an online business is pretty scary. Out of all the mind-numbing aspects, you’d want to make sure that your customers can make payments without any hassles.
And then, you receiving those payments seamlessly becomes another grave concern and that too, when you’re trying to prevent hackers dig into your site through nooks and corners. For most of the part, this highly recommended platform has covered the security issues with a variety of aspects, such as:
- Security plugins.
- SSL certificate integration.
- Well-designed themes.
- Secure payment gateway incorporation.
- Strict login and password requirements.
However, most of these are additional tools that you’d have to install in your WordPress to make the store safe enough. So, what does the team behind the platform does to reassure e-commerce websites about security issues?
Basically, they take care of two primary responsibilities:
- Rolling out minor updates to fix security issues discovered on WordPress.
- Careful examination of every plugin and theme submitted to the WordPress repository.
Reasons Why WordPress Is Good for Ecommerce Store
Here are specific, solid reasons that will help you find reasons for the question – Is WordPress good for eCommerce website or not?
WordPress Is Free & Open-Source
Being open-source, this platform can be accessed by everyone and anyone. As much as it might make you feel a bit vulnerable, the truth is that you’re going to step into a humongous community of bloggers and users who’re resolute in improving the platform.
Thus, if you come across any sort of problem, the resolution can be found at the fingertips. There are even several forums and blogs that can guide you throughout your journey and provide a better user experience.
Easy-to-Use & Flexible
Considering that it’s one of the most popular content management systems available on the internet, WordPress has a knack or organizing content. Thus, using this platform is going to be a smooth ride for you.
It comprises intuitive and easy options in the back end from where you can manage your entire store seamlessly. Moreover, its extending functionality of WooCommerce makes establishing and handling an e-commerce website a hassle-free task.
eCommerce WordPress Themes & Plugins
One of the best things about WordPress is that it’s backed by an extensive number of plugins that you can use to run your online store effortlessly. Not just that, but you can also get your hands on premium as well as free themes, designed to enhance the layout and overall appearance of your store.
How to Tighten the Security of WordPress E-commerce Websites?
Undoubtedly, WordPress is going to do everything in its power to strengthen the core and third-party integrations that you’d use for your store.
However, if you’re developing an e-commerce website, here are certain things that you can do to keep your store away from unnecessary troubles.
1. Begin with a Reputable Host
One of the significant mistakes that several newcomers commit is putting their online store just anywhere. Choosing a wrong hosting company cannot only put your brand at risk but your customers under threat as well.
Hence, make sure that you’re going after a reliable host that knows how to keep the security of your store as their priority. Preferably, there are some specific features that you must be concentrating upon while choosing a company, such as:
- Updated server software.
- Attack monitoring and deterrence.
- Upbeat reviews.
- Competence to prevent viruses.
Irrespective of the company you’re going to select, they should have a separate page displaying all the security measurements that they’ve been taking for their customers. To dig deeper, you can even send them an email and have a one-on-one conversation to clear out doubts and questions. You should make sure that you are getting the best hosting service to help grow your business.
2. SSL Certificate for WordPress E-commerce Website
Integrating an SSL certificate to the WooCommerce store is very much essential, specifically on the account login and checkout pages. Considering that your consumers are going to exchange sensitive information with your website, it’s essential to make those details travel over encrypted channels.
WP Force SSL is a pivotal tool in ensuring your website data’s safety. In the digital world, data transmitted over an unsecured HTTP connection can easily be intercepted by malicious actors. WP Force SSL helps mitigate this risk by automatically redirecting all your website traffic to a secure HTTPS connection, which uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to protect data in transit. Implementing WP Force SSL on your site not only improves your website’s security but also enhances user trust by showing that you take data protection seriously.
WP Login Lockdown is a crucial security plugin designed to protect your WordPress website from brute force attacks. These attacks, which involve hackers making repeated login attempts to guess your password, can be significantly deterred with the use of this tool.
Moreover, since Google has started red-marking those sites that don’t have an SSL certificate, you’d have to be even more cautious now. You can ensure this certificate directly from your hosting provider.
Once it’s installed, visit WooCommerce >> Settings and enable Force Secure Checkout.
3. Use Strong Passwords
Easily predictable and weak passwords can be significant faults in your security plan. If you’re using short and straightforward credentials just because you can remember them easily, know that you’re putting your customers’ data under unwanted risk.
With hackers acquiring advanced knowledge, using brute force attacks to guess the password isn’t an arduous task for them. With specialized software, they can make repeated attempts at varied combinations until they finally discover yours.
Obviously, strong passwords are long, complicated and comprise alphanumeric characters. But, this might also cause you difficulty in remembering them. Hence, you can consider getting a password management tool that will help keep all your security precautions intact.
4. Make Use of Premium WordPress Plugins
Although WordPress is considered one of the safest platforms to develop e-commerce websites, owing to all the reasons mentioned above, it’s good to take the initiative on your own. Therefore, in this context, WordPress plugins can help you polish your game.
In the WordPress inventory, you can easily find innumerable plugins, both free and premium, that can help you maintain the security level. Right from the one helping you against hackers to a plugin to take backups, you’ll surely find an array of options.
5. Updates are Important
Updates are extremely important. Right from the core of your WordPress to your security software, everything should be up-to-date. Most of the updates come up with security enhancements or bug fixes. And, with them, your e-store can be more vulnerable.
However, before you install an update, make sure that there aren’t any malicious impersonators. Or else, they might end up transferring harmful viruses to your site.
Wrapping Up
Surely, your WooCommerce store is going to be as safe and sound as you’d make it. While the team behind WordPress is continuously on the toes to detect issues and fix them, when it comes to other measurements, you’ll have to take the step on your own.
And, for the question – Is WordPress secure for eCommerce websites? The answer is Yes. So, make sure you’re doing everything in your power to enhance the security and reassure trustworthiness to your customers.
