Protect Your Business: Essential Website Security Checklist for 2025
In today’s increasingly connected world, your website is not just a digital asset—it’s the face of your business. Cyberattacks are on the rise, with hackers targeting vulnerabilities to steal data, disrupt services, and damage reputations. Securing your website and your data should be a priority.
If you’re unsure about how your website is hosted, or you have any questions around data protection and website backup or security, just pick up the phone and give us a call any time. We’d be happy to talk this through with you. Reach us on +61 7 3257 2027.
Here’s our checklist of three key strategies to ensure your website stays safe and operational in 2025.
1. Secure Your Domain with Cloudflare
Your domain is the cornerstone of your online presence and protecting it should be a top priority. Cloudflare is a leading web infrastructure and security company who offers robust solutions to safeguard your domain, and in turn, your website!
Benefits of Using Cloudflare:
DDoS Protection: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks can overwhelm your server, making your website inaccessible. Cloudflare mitigates these attacks, ensuring your site remains operational.
Faster Load Times: In some situations, Cloudflare can reduce latency and load content closer to the user. This can result in significant reductions in load times.
DNS Security: Cloudflare’s DNS services are fast and secure, helping prevent domain hijacking and other DNS-related threats.
Minimise Website Downtime: Cloudflare cache’s website data so users can access the site even if the host server is down.
Cloudflare has great free features out of the box, but we utilise a 12 Step Custom Security Configuration that we roll out to clients on our Enhanced Security Plan. Typically, a standard Cloudflare configuration will only offer around 35% of the benefits which are actually available to businesses.
2. Have a Solid Backup Plan
No matter how secure your website is, there’s always a risk of something going wrong—whether it’s a cyberattack, a server failure, or even human error. That’s why having a robust website backup plan should be a non-negotiable.
Most business owners wouldn’t even know how their website is backed up! Do you know how yours is backed up, or even if it is? We urge you to get on the phone to your hosting provider and ask them this very question. You might be surprised by their answers.
Key Components of a Good Backup Plan:
Regular Backups: Schedule automatic backups daily or weekly, depending on your website’s activity level.
Off-Site Storage: Store backups in a secure, off-site location to protect against physical damage or localised cyber threats.
Easy Restoration: Ensure your backup system allows for quick and straightforward restoration to minimise your websites downtime.
A reliable website backup can mean the difference between a minor inconvenience and a catastrophic loss.
3. Keep Your Website Up to Date
Outdated software is one of the most common entry points for hackers. Whether it’s your content management system (CMS), plugins, or server software, keeping everything updated is essential.
Why Updates Matter:
Security Patches: Developers regularly release updates to fix vulnerabilities. Ignoring these updates leaves your site exposed.
Compatibility: Updates ensure your website remains compatible with new technologies and devices.
Performance Enhancements: New versions often come with performance improvements that enhance your user’s experience.
The typical advice here is to set up automatic updates wherever possible, and schedule regular maintenance checks to ensure all components are running the latest versions. But what business owner actually does this? I bet you don’t, or am I wrong?
Make sure you get your website hosting company to do this for you, it is super important these days.Website security these days is not optional—it’s a fundamental part of making sure you have a successful online presence. By securing your domain with Cloudflare, implementing a robust backup strategy, and keeping your website up to date, you protect your brand, and you can save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run.
I’ve seen it time and time again, business owners wait until the worst happens, and then they decide to take action. Get yourself some peace of mind by spending a little time understanding how your website is hosted and making sure it’s protected.
