How to Tell If Your Website Is Secure (5-Minute Check)

You probably do not think about your website's security very often. It is up, it looks fine, customers can find it — what is there to worry about?

Unfortunately, a lot. Thousands of small business websites are compromised every day — learn more about why small businesses are targets, and most owners do not find out until the damage is done — their site is blacklisted by Google, their customers' data is stolen, or their pages are redirecting to spam.

Here is a quick check you can do right now, in about 5 minutes, to see where you stand.

Check 1: Is Your Site Using HTTPS?

Time: 10 seconds

Visit your website and look at the address bar. Do you see a padlock icon and https:// at the beginning of the URL?

• Padlock visible: Good — you have an SSL certificate
• No padlock or "Not Secure" warning: Your site is transmitting data in plain text. Fix this immediately

If your site still uses http://, every form submission — including contact forms — is sent unencrypted. Google also penalizes non-HTTPS sites in search rankings.

Check 2: Is Your Software Up to Date?

Time: 1 minute

Log into your website's admin panel (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, etc.).

• WordPress: Check Dashboard > Updates. Are there pending updates for WordPress core, themes, or plugins?
• Other platforms: Check if your theme or any integrations have available updates

Outdated software is the number one way hackers get into websites. Every update you skip is a known vulnerability you are leaving open.

Check 3: Google Your Site

Time: 30 seconds

Go to Google and search: site:yourdomain.com

This shows every page Google has indexed for your domain. Look for:

• Pages you did not create — spam pages, pharmaceutical ads, casino links
• Weird titles or descriptions that do not match your content
• Significantly more pages than you expect

If you see anything suspicious, your site may already be compromised.

Check 4: Test Your Page Speed

Time: 1 minute

Visit Google PageSpeed Insights and enter your URL. While speed is not directly a security metric, extremely slow sites often indicate:

• Outdated or bloated plugins
• Injected malicious scripts running in the background
• Poor hosting that likely lacks security features

If your mobile score is below 50, something needs attention.

Check 5: Look at Your Forms

Time: 1 minute

Go to your contact form and check:

• Is there spam protection? CAPTCHA, honeypot fields, or rate limiting
• Are you getting spam submissions? If your inbox is full of junk form entries, your forms are not protected
• Does the form submit over HTTPS? (Covered by Check 1, but worth verifying)

Unprotected forms are an easy entry point for bots and attackers.

Check 6: Review Your Admin Access

Time: 1 minute

Think about who has access to your website admin panel:

• Are there old accounts for former employees or past contractors?
• Is everyone using strong, unique passwords?
• Is two-factor authentication enabled?
• When did you last change your admin password?

Remove any accounts that should not have access. Change default usernames (if your admin login is "admin," change it today).

Scoring

How did you do?

• 6/6: You are in good shape. Keep it up with regular checks
• 4-5: A few gaps to close, but nothing critical. Address them this week
• 2-3: Your site has meaningful vulnerabilities. Prioritize fixing these
• 0-1: Your site is at serious risk. Get help immediately

What to Do Next

If you found issues, here is the priority order for fixing them:

1. Install SSL if missing (many hosts offer free Let's Encrypt certificates)
2. Update all software — CMS, plugins, themes
3. Remove unused accounts and enable 2FA
4. Add spam protection to your forms
5. Set up automated backups if you do not have them — our monthly maintenance checklist covers this in detail

If this feels overwhelming, that is normal. Website security is not your job — it is ours. At Wakonda Digital, every site we build includes SSL, security headers, form protection, rate limiting, and ongoing maintenance. If you want a security audit of your current site, reach out for a free consultation.