So what have I learned from all of this? First of all, here are three steps to keeping your website from getting hacked:

1. Use Google Webmaster Tools - if I had been using them they may have helped me diagnose the problem much earlier.
2. Change your password often and make it a good one! I HATE keeping track of passwords as much as the next person. But guess what I hate even more - Getting my blog hacked.
3. If you are running a self-hosted wordpress blog, you have to be diligent about updating to the latest version. Updates aren’t just about the latest bells and whistles  - they are about security.

If you know what you’re doing updating to the latest version shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. If you don’t know what you’re doing, take a minute to read the instructions on wordpress.org. It’s not that hard and if you do it once, it will be in your brain.

I never thought hackers would bother with my site in the first place.

I have a simple little wordpress blog with a modest audience. Why would someone want to hack into it? Because there are millions of “simple little wordpress blogs” out there. The hackers figure out how to break into one, and then they can break in to all of them.

Do I have second thoughts about using Wordpress?

I did at first, but then I realized that no matter what platform you use, there will be vulnerabilities. Wordpress is obviously going to be vulnerable because so many people use it. On the other hand, so many people use it because it rocks! It’s so easy to install. It’s built for blogging and yet it can also be used as a simple content management system. It’s also easy to customize for a “casual” web designer like myself, and there is a great community of theme builders behind it. I will continue to use Wordpress.

Bottom line - if you are hosting a site on your own domain, then it’s up to you to be a responsible webmaster. Use the three steps that I outlined above.

Last week I was tearing my hair out and suffering from a blogger existential crisis, this week I am triumphant. I found a problem, diagnosed it, and fixed it all by myself, and now I am that much more tech savvy. It’s a good feeling.

One thing I have had second thoughts on is whether or not I want to encourage other bloggers to host their own domain, particularly those of you who are strictly blogging for the sake of blogging, and have no use for the technical end of it. If that describes you, then I would recommend sticking with wordpress.com, or blogspot.

On the other hand, if you find all of this technical stuff kind of interesting, then I heartily recommend moving forward and using your own domain with a host. There is something so cool about having your own little place on the web that is not part of some larger system. To me it’s like the difference between owning a house on a little piece of land, and renting an apartment in a multi-level building.