Here are a few of the solutions you can try and implement for improving the security and performance of the WordPress site:

1- Choose a secure web hosting

The first and most important step if you have still not chosen web hosting yet is to choose a hosting environment that is absolutely secure. Choosing the right host will save a lot of time for you and also pick the right packages that work for your website.

Bluehost Recommended by WordPress

WordPress recommends several hosting providers to host your WordPress website.

One of these hosting providers that recommended by WordPress and we recommended too is Bluehost

Bluehost is very secure with good support through phone or chat.

And you can easily install WordPress to it and here is How to Create a WordPress Website with Bluehost, from choosing a WordPress package to picking a theme.

Important! at this article we provide some methods that require editing the source code of a WordPress which could break your website if not done correctly. If you are not comfortable with any of these methods requiring coding, please check with a developer first.

2- Change the WordPress default URL of the admin login

The default WordPress URL to login to the dashboard is (/wp-admin) or (/wp-login.php).

We suggest changing these default WordPress URLs for admin login by using this plugin WPS Hide Login.

When you define a new custom login URL to your website then the (wp-admin) directory and the (wp-login.php) page become inaccessible, so you must remember and save the new login URL that you defined.

Suggested Plugin: WPS Hide Login

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wps-hide-login/

After active it plugin go to Setting > General > WPS Hide Login: define new Login URL & Redirection URL.

Don’t forget if you’re using any caching plugin you should add the slug of the new login URL to the list of pages not to cache.

Important Note: If you are using another security plugin that may include the option (change the default admin login URL), so don’t use this plugin in this case to avoid any conflicts issues.

In general, don’t use different plugins that did the same job, especially those plugins for security or performance.

3- Disable XML-RPC

Simply without talking deeply technically, XMLRPC.php is a feature that allows for connection to WordPress remotely like to connect to a WordPress via a Smart Phone.

The big problem with XML-RPC function is that it has become a backdoor in WordPress for hackers, scripts, Brute Force Attacks, DDoS attacks or bots.

• Brute Force Attacks – Where an attacker can use xml-rpc to test hundreds of username and password combinations until they are eventually able to gain access to your site. This occurs because xml-rpc does not have the same login attempt limit that exists when you log into WordPress normally.
• DDoS Attack – Where an attacker can use xml-rpc to pingback thousands of IPs. This allows them to send a flood of data and traffic which can cause overages and even have networks paralyzed and shutdown.

To disable XML-RPC on your WordPress there are many plugins that do this for you and some of the general security plugins have an option to do that

Suggested plugin: Disable XML-RPC

https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-xml-rpc/

Just activate this plugin and it will automatically disable XML-RPC.

or on .htaccess file.

 # Block WordPress xmlrpc.php requests
 <Files xmlrpc.php>
 order deny,allow
 deny from all
 allow from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
 </Files>

Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with an IP address you want to give access to xmlrpc.php or remove access completely by simply removing this line.

3- Disable WP-Cron (wp-cron.php) for Faster Performance

WP-Cron on WordPress is used to schedule a post to publish, check for updates, send email notifications, and more.

WP-Cron on WordPress It is similar to CRON jobs on the host cPanel which is used to schedule tasks at periodic fixed times, dates, or intervals.

It might be a good feature if you need to publish posts at specific dates later on, but the problem with this feature is it slows down the server and impact the performance especially if you run more than WordPress website on the same server or you have a huge web content with a list of tasks that need to be checked by WP-Cron whenever a page is visited which high the load on the server.

For me, I prefer to disable this feature to improve website performance even I have never used the schedule feature, and it is up to you to choose to keep it or disable it according to your needs.

To disable WP-Cron:

1- Go to (wp-config.php) file

2- Add:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

Before “That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging.”

Now wp-cron.php will not run automatically each time someone visits your website.

If you still need a scheduling feature after disabling wp-corn via the above way, you could use plugins like WP Crontrol, Advanced Cron Manager – Debug & Control, or just make your own search for the best choice from many plugins.

4- Avoid using a nulled WordPress theme

Nulled theme means a cracked version of a premium theme.

These nulled themes sometimes include malware or backdoors which provide a subsequent access point to your website for hackers.

You should also use any plugins for malware scanners to detect possible malicious code in nulled/free WordPress Themes before using it, malware scanner like:

Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall

https://wordpress.org/plugins/gotmls/

if you are familiar with setup WordPress on localhost, it will be better to use this plugin to scan nulled/free themes locally before uploading it online and using it.

5-Disable Emojis in WordPress

Disabling WP Emojis is one of a lot of WordPress performance optimizations and tweaks you can do to improve your website loading time. Find here How to disable WP Emojis

6- Delete Unused Autoloaded Data in wp_options Table

Honestly, from all tips for improving WordPress performance on the internet that is the one that made a difference to me.

wp_options table stores some data that are no longer used that were left behind by deleted themes, and plugins.
Before deleting entries from the wp_options table, ensure to take a backup of your entire database. This step is critical as we are making mass deletions that can potentially break things on your site.

How to do it?

Go to phpMyAdmin > Select database (left side column) > click on SQL tap (at top) > Inside the text area, enter what wanted from the below queries > click Go

You can then select unwanted rows and click on “Delete.”

1. Check autoloaded data size

SELECT SUM(LENGTH(option_value)) as autoload_size FROM wp_options WHERE autoload='yes';

Anything above 1 MB is most likely slowing down your site.

2- Check Top 100 Autoloaded Items

SELECT option_name, length(option_value) AS option_value_length FROM wp_options WHERE autoload='yes' ORDER BY option_value_length DESC LIMIT 100;

Delete the ones you know aren’t being used anymore. 

3-Find Specific Autoloaded Data

SELECT *
FROM wp_options
WHERE autoload = 'yes'
AND option_name LIKE '%avada%'

This command is useful for targeting specific plugins or themes that you KNOW for certain you aren’t using any longer. In this example I have used the Avada theme before I deleted it, now I want to clean up remnants left from the old theme. Simply replace the string “avada” with anything else you like.

Other essential tips for WordPress security

here is a quick list to keep in mind to secure your WordPress:

– Strong Password

That’s very essential, make sure the password checker gives you high evaluation = Very Strong

– Keep WordPress installation up to date

Make sure you update WordPress continuously, they always solve bugs and security issues every update.

– Download plugins from known resources.

– Use SSL certificate

Read more about why you should move your website to HTTPS / SSL

– Backup WordPress Website

– Remove the inactive user’s accounts in WordPress

before we get started with tools and tips to find the best domain name, here is some general information to know about the domain name:

What’s a domain name?

A domain name is the website name (ex our domain name: saedx.com) or in other meaning an address where Internet users can access the website.

Recommended Hosting

For hosting, we recommend Inmotion Hosting … Click here for WordPress Hosting packages or VPS Hosting

Why is the domain name is important for businesses?

For businesses, having a website with a special domain name that will use for email addresses will give the business a more professional look, protect trademarks, build creditability, help get verified on social media networks and increase brand awareness.

What is ICANN?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a non-profit organization that was established in the US in 1998, that coordinates domain names and IP addresses for the internet.
When you register a domain name through a domain name registrar like (name.com, GoDaddy..etc), they pay a small fee to ICANN to register your domain as part of the domain registration process.

What is TLD (Top-level Domain)?

TLD refers to the last part of the domain name that follows immediately after the “dot” symbol.
Examples of some of the popular TLDs and their explanations:
.com – Commercial businesses
.org – Organizations (generally charitable)
.net – Network organizations

What is a nTLD?

In 2012, ICANN revealed its plans to create a program that would launch hundreds of new TLDs (nTLDs).
Today there are hundreds of new TLDs are available and there are good chances to find the perfect domain name.
Here are examples of new TLD which can reflect your personality, your profession, or anything else that describe you:
.marketing, .design, .news, .club, .space and more..

Click here to see all TLDs Prices

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Tools for Picking the Perfect Domain Name

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Name.com

The best one for me

Bulk domain search

Name.com has a good tool called Bulk domain search that allows you to enter multiple domain names separated by spaces or newlines then choose from their huge list of TLDs the chosen TLD that you want to check your keywords + TLDs if it’s available.

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Namecheap

Low Prices, Easy Setup, Best Support. Choose Namecheap, and Get up to 98% Off! Get Access to Free Tools Designed Specially for You. Bring Your Idea to Life and Save Big. 24/7 Live Tech Support. Trusted With 15m+ Domains. 21+ Years Serving You.

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BustAName

Word Combiner

http://www.bustaname.com/

BustAName is an online tool for word combine that checks available domains with several options like saving domains for review, creating groups of words to craft domain names and switch the word order to create new domains.
BustAName tool check a results for domain with only these extentions or TLDs: .com,.net, .org , .info & .biz

Domainr

Fast Search

https://domainr.com/

Domainr is one of the useful and fastest search way for available domains that allows you to explore available domain names without the need to click the search button to see results.
Domainr check results for domains with over 1,000 TLDs.

Lean Domain Search

Prefixes and Suffixes

https://leandomainsearch.com/

Lean Domain Search is a search engine for finding available domain names by a special feature of generating 5000 available prefixes and suffixes for the term of the domain you looking for that you typing in a search field. With an option of sorting and filtering search results to find a suitable domain name.

Domain Typer

Generates a Suggestions

https://domaintyper.com/

Domain Typer is a useful, fast and easy-to-use domain availability checking tool. It not only shows if a domain keyword entered is available but also generates a suggestions domain name combined with your keyword. Plus they have a good tool that searches on social networks if the username of your keyword is available on the popular social media platforms.

Name Mesh

Generates a Suggestions

https://www.namemesh.com/

Name Mesh using almost 10 generators with a lot of suggestions in separated types like short, mix, premium and SEO. With more the 200 suggestions they give you a long list to find a good domain that uses your keyword combined with others words.

Namechk 

Check Popular TLDs + Social Media Username

https://namechk.com/

Help your brand to find a username that is still available on the plurality social media platforms.

• user type wrong URL.
• web admin change page Permalink.
• web admin removes a page.
• no redirect from old page URL to the new one.

Why it’s important to have a 404 error page on your website?

How to create a 404 error page?

• The page design should be consistent with the rest of the website.
• Write a clear message acknowledging the problem, indicating the possible cause and provide a solution.
• Avoid technical terminologies as many web users may not understand what it means.
• Keep the website navigation menu shown.
• Create a link to go back to the previous page as an optional.
• Include a link to the sitemap for all of the main sections or pages of the website.
• Include contact form as an option to report a broken link for web admin.

When you take the decision to start your online business website by hiring a professional web design company like Saedx for Web Design Company you will have to prepare for us the materials we need to get started with website design and development.

To help you out, we’ve put together a checklist with pointers so you can hit the ground running and get your website live in a timely manner. Through our years of web development experience, we’ve learned that good prep is everything.

Getting Your Website Content Ready

Regardless of whom you have hired to design and develop your website, you will need to compile content.

– Website Images

first, we will need your company logo, preferably saved as a vector file. That means it has a .eps, .pdf, or ai extension or high-resolution png file.
your business images help website visitors visualize your place is very helpful. In addition to business images, a team photo is a nice asset to have.
you will want some images of what you are selling it may products or projects image.

– Website Content

Each web page will require headlines, secondary lines and general paragraphs. if you don’t have your content ready we recommend hiring a professional copywriter to put the final content together. Copywriters understand how to craft engaging content for the web, and they can be very valuable in helping your website sound as professional as it looks.

In Saedx for web design company we have a professional copywriter, so we can provide a copywriting service beside web design and development service when the client needs or you can look for a freelancer. The cost of copywriting service is often worth much less than the time you will spend trying to write content for your website. It’s harder than it looks.

However, there is basic information we require to be ready from client side even copywriter need it:
– contact information
emails, phones, social account URL, location on google map …etc

– Website SiteMap
A sitemap is most important part of collecting content. We need list out the pages and sub-pages you think you will need for your website, here an example of pages and sub-pages:

Home
About Us
Our Services
-Web Design Service
– Online Marketing Services
Contact

you can check SAEDX sitemap structure to see a real example.

Outline Content
after having a list of pages, begin outlining the web content that goes on each page. The best way to do this is to create an MS Word document for each page, then write the information. For example, the (about us) page could include the company history, mission and values.

Outlining content at the outset is critical because it helps web designer begin creating layouts for your website. If you don’t have any content to share with, we will put a dummy content call Lorem Ipsum to complete a web design and pages layout until web content being ready then we will replace it with a real content later.

Website Speed is a critical element of running a successful website. A website with fast loading also has a direct impact on the overall performance of the website.  Faster loading web page benefits from better user engagement, higher SEO rankings and much more.
To check your website speed is slow or fast, you can use one of the many free online tools out there designed to check website speed and give you a report of the website speed. I have narrowed it down these our recommended online tools to check the web speed:

Pingdom

Very useful for all skill levels. Reviews website performance, grades it, and tracks performance history so you can see how your website speed has changed. The Page Analysis tab gets into HTTP server response codes, and that’s helpful to understand how many HTTP requests a web page on your website makes.

GTmetrix

One of the most popular online tools on the internet. GTmetrix analyzes how well your website loads, checking both PageSpeed and YSlow scores. And what’s really great on GTmetrix website that is it provide suggestions on how to improve the load time.

WebPagetest

WebPagetest provides awesome features of allowing users to specify locations and browsers for the test. This feature allows for global websites as they target many different geographical regions, and also users in different parts of the world prefer different browsers.

YSlow

Grades web pages on how they meet established high-performance guidelines. Yslow also summarizes the different components of the website and allows you to view the analysis, provide advice on how to improve your website speed. YSlow offers a Chrome extension to test the speed of websites.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google’s very own tool. Google PageSpeed Insights also provide mobile web version and desktop web version recommendations.In my opinion, Google PageSpeed Insights is the best online tool because it is very easy and simple to use and the results are presented clearly. There is also a Chrome extension available, which allows assessment of any web page from the Developers Page Speed tab.
Understand that results may vary from online tool to online tool. This four online tool is completely normal since they have differing metrics and are using different places in the world to test the website speed.