Building a Secure, High-Performance Platform for Long-Term Growth: ESCR

WordPressSecurityInfrastructureSEO
Building a Secure, High-Performance Platform for Long-Term Growth: ESCR

The client

ESCR-Net is a nonprofit organization that, since 2003, has worked to strengthen human rights, with a focus on economic, social, and cultural rights, and has developed strategies to advance its mission.

The challenge

ESCR-Net operates and manages its institutional website on WordPress, with requirements for continuity, secure access, and stable production operations.

  • Centralization and traceability of security aspects (to avoid fragmentation and loss of control).
  • Security across critical environments and services (WordPress, hosting, databases, backups, CDN, and domains).
  • Access to technical support at the server level, but with restricted permissions (without full control over the hosting environment).

The solution

We transformed ESCR-Net's website into a controlled, secure, and scalable digital platform, addressing four key areas: infrastructure, security and data management, and SEO.

We established a reliable operational foundation with dedicated environments (development and staging), automated backups, and version control, enabling safer deployments and continuous evolution.

To protect the platform, we implemented a multi-layer security architecture (Cloudflare, WP Engine, and WordPress), reducing malicious traffic, blocking attacks, and strengthening access control through measures such as two-factor authentication (2FA).

We resolved critical technical SEO barriers by fixing more than 11,000 broken URLs, implementing canonical structures, and eliminating redirect issues—ensuring proper indexation and improved search visibility.

At the same time, we optimized the platform's core by cleaning the database and auditing over 80,000 files, removing inefficiencies and improving performance. Together, these actions transformed the site from a fragile setup into a centralized digital operation, ready for continuous maintenance, improved performance, and scalable growth.

Tech We Used

WordPress 6.8.2

PHP 8.2.29

Cloudflare

Tools

  • WordPress 6.8.2
  • WP Engine (managed WordPress hosting)
  • PHP 8.2.29
  • Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (server environment)
  • LastPass (credential storage and sharing)
  • phpMyAdmin (WP Engine) (database access)
  • WP Engine domains/CDN management
  • WP Engine backups (restore points)
  • WP Engine performance/analytics
  • SSH via DeployCloud (restricted server-level access)