WordPress Tips

7 Common Signs Your WordPress Website Has Been Hacked

Insecure themes and plugins, weak passwords, domain or hosting breaches, even outdated WordPress cores can increase the vulnerability of your typically very secure WordPress website. How do you know if your WordPress website has been hacked? NOYO Web Development recommends you look for any of these 7 common signs.

You Can’t Login to WP-Admin

If you can’t login to the WordPress dashboard, you may have a problem with the admin account. If they succeed, hackers can delete your account preventing your access. They will gain total control over your website. Once your account has been deleted, you cannot reset your password.

A Sudden Decline in Website Visitors

Trojans and malware can commandeer your website traffic and redirect it to spam websites. If you begin to notice a quick, unusual, and sudden decline in traffic, this may be a sign your WordPress website has been hacked.

Email Problems

Sending out spam emails is one way that hackers use WordPress websites. If you are experiencing problems sending or received WordPress emails, the mail server may have sustained an attack, or Google may have blacklisted you. This problem needs a quick resolution to prevent permanent damage.

Changes in your Website’s Appearance

This is the most obvious indication that intruders have attacked your website. If your website has visual changes, it is probable that hackers have dropped bad, invisible code into the theme files. The invisible code is visible by crawlers and it will slow your website down, negatively impacting your search engine optimization. Footer sections may have undesirable links that attract attraction you don’t want, and explicit or other unwanted content may be visible to website visitors.

Wrong Meta in Search Results

If you do your own search for your website, and the Meta descriptions are wrong, have been changed, or are simply not visible, you can assume that your website has been hacked. You can’t find the malicious code through the dashboard because it has been injected through the backend of your website.

New User Accounts

For websites that allow users to register, spammy accounts can be a common occurrence. You delete them and go on with your work. However, if your WordPress website does not allow registration, and you notice new accounts, this is a clear indication of hacking.

Website Scanner Alerts

If you use a website scanner or a security plugin like Wordfence, you will receive notification of suspicious activity on your website. One common issue involves unknown scripts or files on the server. When hackers infect your website’s files and scripts with unknown or corrupt additions, they can do unpleasant things like redirecting all your website’s visitors to any website of their choice. The objective is to increase their own website’s search engine ranking due to the increase in traffic. Unfortunately, your website incurs a sudden drop in traffic and your user experience becomes terrible because your website visitors can’t connect with the content. You can delete these unknown files and scripts through your WordPress website via an FTP client. Delete the suspicious links and code on the website, then re-upload clean versions of what you deleted due to the infection.

NOYO Web Development has been creating stunning, user-friendly, and secure WordPress websites since 2009. We offer a free consultation without any obligation to discuss your website needs. Contact us today, we are ready to help.