I've had two WordPress blogs hacked into formerly. That was in a time when I was doing virtually no online marketing, and until I found time to handle the situation (weeks later), these sites were penalized in the major search engines. They weren't eliminated, however the evaluations were reduced.
The secure your wordpress site Codex has an outline of what permissions are okay. Directory and file permissions can be changed through an FTP client or within the page from the web host.
Backup plug-ins is also important. You need to backup all the database and files you can bring back your own blog like nothing happened.
For me it's a WordPress plugin. They're drop dead simple to install, have all the functions you need for a task like this, and are relatively cheap, especially when compared to having to employ someone to get this done for you.
Safety plug-ins that were all-Rounder can be considered as a full security checker. They provide you with information about the weaknesses of the website and scan and check the website.
But realize that online security is something that you must start thinking this about. Don't just check that be the type, consider action to start protecting yourself. Don't let Joe the Hacker make your life miserable and turn all in creating come crashing down in a matter of seconds that you've worked hard.