Running a website in 2021 is easy, but there are many things to remember. For one, ensure that all bills are paid automatically. It is very embarrassing when your SSL certificate expires and everyone can see your incompetence. Paying these bills on time is important. Having fast web hosting and a good design is important, but having the small things taken care of is one thing that frees you to create content and not worrying about fixing the SSL cert and the Cloudflare installation. Properly setting up Cloudflare is also very important. I hate it when sites check your browser before letting you on the site. If Cloudflare is properly configured, it does not require this, it will automatically detect a use with malware and warn them. You do not need the check screen before letting a user on your website. Another thing to consider is using .htaccess files to protect folders such as wp_content/uploads and wp_content/plugins. This is very important, lest all of your uploads get downloaded en-masse by a user with wget. That can be embarrassing. Hide the WordPress readme.html from visitors. This can be blocked with .htaccess and even if it is in the webroot, it cannot be accessed.
Ensure all website plugins you are using for Joomla or WordPress are regularly updated, this is important. This is easy to do in the WordPress dashboard. As well as updating the WordPress core itself, that is the most important part of running a WordPress website. Tools such as Nikto and wpscan can be used ethically to scan your own website and find any issues you need to fix. Anti-Spam is another very important part of securing your website in terms of the first impression a user will get when visiting your site. Having a website full of spam is off-putting to potential clients. Akismet Anti-Spam is a very powerful tool for stopping spam messages before they get onto your website. Coupled with Titan Anti-spam & Security, this should keep the majority of spam away from your comment sections. This will maintain a clean website and a good impression for web visitors that land on your website. Requiring approval for comments can also totally prevent spam on your site from being visible to visitors. As it may not be WorkSafe and it is best totally blocked.
A website needs a legal document stating what is done with user data when the website takes this as part of the daily operation of the website, a business may seek legal advice when preparing a document like this.
Website requirements in the US.
- Privacy Policies. In general, your website should post a privacy policy if you gather any personal data from your users.
- eCommerce Considerations.
- Collection of Personal Information. …
- Copyrighted Content.
- Content Attribution.
- The Can-Spam Act.
- Accessibility.
This should be more than enough to satisfy any requirements for a website hosted in the United States. Some websites allow users to opt-out of cookies and this is fine. A text notice stating what is done with cookies and what they contain should be adequate. This will put a user at ease.