I have had trouble with my website for several weeks now. Here is a hack that I have never experienced before.
The Problem
The indexing of my site on google and how google renders it when I try to create a google ads account is shown in the Japanese language. However, my site is in English.
When I click the Japanese search index, it goes to the right website (in English).
But when I test the live URL on Google search console, what I see is a Japanese site.
Solutions I have tried:
According to a support article by Google here, https://support.google.com/webmasters/thread/73911788/why-my-site-showing-in-japanese-on-google?hl=en#:~:text=Your%20website%20has%20probably%20been,to%20see%20anything%20amiss%20there.
It shows that the.htaccess file has been hacked to redirect when one enters through google. I tried deleting the .htaccess file so WordPress can recreate a fresh one, then trying to live test again on the search console, Still showed in Japanese.
I have tried replacing all core WordPress files on cpanel and updating all plugins. The problem persisted.
I have tried testing the site appearance from a different device by using gtmetrix.com, the site screenshot came out right.
Please help me troubleshoot and find where the hack is and assist with suggestions on how to secure it in the future.
2
Answers
I tried this and it worked. I deleted the entire website files excluding wp-Content folder and wp-config file. Downloaded new wordpress files from wordpress.com Extracted the new files in my home directory, uploaded back the wp-content folder and replaced it, Uploaded back the wp-config file.
Last time i did not delete the existing files, rather i replaced them with the wordpress core files.
Install this plugin: https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/
then do a scan of the entire site, it will check for malicious code.