Your website is the backbone of your business—whether it’s a blog, an e-commerce store, or a portfolio.
Every page, post, product listing, and customer interaction is built with effort and dedication. But what if all of that was suddenly gone?
Website issues, from accidental deletions to cyberattacks, can occur without warning, leaving you scrambling to recover. That’s where website backups come in. The backups work as your safety net, ensuring that you can bounce back quickly without losing everything you’ve worked for if something goes wrong.
Surprisingly, many website owners still don’t regularly back up their data. In fact, a study found that 22% of people skip this step, putting their entire business at risk.
This guide will show you why backups are crucial, what options are available, and how to set up a reliable system that keeps your data safe and secure. Let’s dive in!
What Are Website Backups?
Website backup lets you store a copy of your site and database securely in the cloud using FTP, SFTP, FTPS, or SSH.
Once you set it up, backups happen automatically. You can customize how often they run and when, so they won’t impact your server performance.
Your backups are kept for 90 days, allowing you to restore your site to any point within that time frame. You can also download backups to your local storage for emergencies or site migration.
When it’s time to restore, you can either bring back specific files or the whole site.
Different Types of Backups
There are several types of backups to suit different needs, such as full, incremental, differential, and cloud backups:
Backup Type |
Description |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Use Cases |
1. Full Backup |
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2. Incremental Backup |
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3. Differential Backup |
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4. Cloud Backup |
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Why Backing Up Your Website Matters
Did you know that the data backup and recovery market is expected to grow to around $25.23 billion by 2028? The increasing demand for data protection indicates that website backups are the backbone for always-live sites.
If your website goes down, so does your revenue, reputation, and customer trust. Without a backup, even a small issue can snowball into a big problem that costs you time and money.
5 Key Reasons to Back Up Your Website
- Prevent Data Loss: As of 2024, 45% of people are most worried about data loss or damage. About 35% are concerned about data breaches and the need for strong security. Privacy issues are a concern for 15%, with fears that cloud providers may access their data. Other concerns include reliance on third-party providers (3%) and government compliance or legal issues (2%).
- Fix Human Mistakes: A recent report suggests 64% of downtime events are related to human errors (read: device mismanagement, misconfiguration, etc). Other times, files may get deleted. A wrong button may get clicked. Regular backups save you from wasting hours trying to fix what went wrong.
- Avoid Problems with Updates: Site updates don’t always go smoothly. A bad plugin or an interrupted update can break your site. Backing up before updates ensures you can roll back to a working version.
- Simplify Migrations: Migrating to a new host or domain can get messy. A reliable backup keeps your data intact, so you’re not left piecing things together if something goes wrong during the move.
- Recover After Hacks: Malware and hackers target small sites just as much as big ones. If your site gets hit, having a clean backup lets you restore everything quickly without losing trust.
How to Back Up Your Website? Top Backup Strategies
Backing up your website ensures you don’t lose your hard work in case something goes wrong. There are several backup options available, each with its pros and cons:
1. Backup Plugins
Using a backup plugin is the easiest and most automated way to keep your site secure. These tools take care of the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting a backup. They also ensure that your data is consistently backed up without human error.
Why it’s great: The process is automatic, easy to set up, and hands-off once configured. Most plugins let you create full or incremental backups with a click of a button.
The catch: You rely on third-party tools, so you need to make sure the plugin is reputable and regularly updated.
Pro Tips:
- Automate Your Backups: Set your plugin to back up your website regularly. This takes the guesswork out of backups and ensures you’re always covered.
- Store Backups Off-Site: Some plugins let you store backups remotely (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox). This adds an extra layer of security.
- Test Restore Features: Always test your backups by restoring a sample. This ensures your backup process is working smoothly when you need it most.
- Monitor Backup Health: Set up notifications or check your backup plugin’s dashboard regularly to ensure that backups are being created without issues.
- Limit Backup Size: For large websites, it’s smart to break your backup into smaller chunks. This speeds up the process and reduces the chances of errors.
Questions to Ask:
- How frequently do I need to run backups for my website based on my content updates (daily, weekly, or as needed)?
- What happens if my plugin fails or stops working? Do I have a secondary backup strategy in place?
- Can I set my plugin to create multiple versions of backups (weekly, monthly) to ensure I have different restore points?
2. Web Host Backups
Many hosting services offer automatic backups as part of their package. Cloud hosting platforms, for example, make it easy to back up your website with just a few clicks. While this is convenient, it’s not the most foolproof strategy.
Why it’s great: You don’t need extra tools to get started, and the process is often quite simple.
The catch: Host backups tend to be limited, and if your hosting server fails, you could lose your backups with it. Plus, some hosts charge extra fees for backup services or retrieval.
Pro Tips:
- Check Backup Frequency: Ensure your host offers frequent backups or set up your own additional backup strategy.
- Use Staging for Testing: Some hosts offer a staging environment. Test your backup and restoration process here to ensure everything works seamlessly before restoring your live site.
- Don’t Rely on Just One Backup: Web host backups are convenient, but they can be lost if the server fails. Always keep an off-site backup for added security.
- Check for Backup Size Limits: Some hosting plans may limit the size of backups or the amount of storage available. Keep an eye on these limitations.
- Enable Snapshot Backups: Some hosts allow you to take a “snapshot” of your site, which captures everything—files, databases, and settings—all at once. Use this feature for quicker restores.
Questions to Ask:
- Is the backup feature provided by my host free, or is there an additional cost?
- What’s the recovery time like with my hosting provider? Can I restore my site in minutes, or does it take longer?
- Can I perform a backup and restore without interrupting my site’s live performance?
3. Manual Backups
Taking backups yourself by manually downloading your site’s files and database gives you total control over the process. You can back up exactly what you need and store it wherever you want.
Why it’s great: Full control means you choose exactly when and what to back up.
The catch: This method is time-consuming, error-prone, and requires technical skills. If you forget a step, you could end up with incomplete backups.
Pro Tips:
- Use FTP for File Backups: For file backups, an FTP client (like FileZilla or Cyberduck) makes it easy to download all site files. Ensure you grab everything, from the root directory to the wp-content folder.
- Database Backups with phpMyAdmin: Access your database through phpMyAdmin and export it regularly to avoid corruption. Use the “Quick” export option for faster downloads.
- Create Zip Files for Organisation: After downloading files and databases, zip them together into one file. This keeps everything neat and easier to restore.
- Store Backups in Multiple Locations: Don’t keep backups only on your local computer. Store them on external drives or cloud storage for extra protection.
- Schedule Backups: If you manually back up, create a schedule and stick to it. This ensures your backup stays up-to-date and reduces risk.
Questions to Ask:
- How often do I need to manually back up my site, and what’s the risk if I miss a backup?
- What would happen if I accidentally missed an important file during the backup process? How can I ensure nothing gets left behind?
- If I need to restore my site manually, how much downtime should I expect, and how can I minimize it?
What to Include in Your Site Backup?
The true strength of your website backup depends on what it includes. You need more than just a copy of your homepage; a proper backup covers everything that makes your site run smoothly—files, databases, configurations, and even user data. If something goes wrong, having all the right pieces ensures you’re prepared to restore everything quickly.
So, what should you always include in your backups? Let’s break it down.
Asset to Protect |
Tips to Remember |
| Core Website Files | Focus on files like index.php, wp-config.php, and .htaccess for WordPress. These hold your site structure. Avoid skipping custom themes or child themes. |
| CMS Databases | Regularly export your database (e.g., via phpMyAdmin for WordPress). Use plugins like UpdraftPlus to automate it. Test restoring backups on a staging server. |
| Media Library | Back up images, PDFs, and videos stored in /wp-content/uploads. Compress large files to save storage space and maintain faster backup speeds. |
| Plugin and Theme Settings | Save settings from plugins like WooCommerce or SEO tools (like Yoast). A plugin misconfiguration can break functionality. Backup specific plugin data regularly. |
| Transaction Data | For e-commerce, ensure every transaction, customer profile, and order record is backed up in real-time. Use tools like Jetpack Backup for syncing critical data. |
| Security Configurations | Retain firewall and SSL certificate settings. Use automated tools to capture real-time security updates and avoid reconfiguring everything during a restore. |
| User Activity Logs | Store logs of admin changes, logins, and failed attempts. These logs are crucial during recovery after a hack or for auditing errors. |
| Custom Scripts | If you’ve coded custom PHP or JavaScript for unique functionality, back them up separately. Document dependencies for easy troubleshooting |
How Often Should You Back Up Your Website?
The frequency of your backups depends on how often your site changes:
- If you’re running a busy site with new posts, products, or customer activity every day, you’ll need backups just as often to avoid losing valuable data.
- For sites that don’t change much, like portfolios or static pages, less frequent backups can work.
- If you’re adding content weekly, set up weekly backups to match.
- Websites with a lot of traffic or regular user actions—like comments, sign-ups, or sales—need more attention. High-volume ecommerce stores, for example, should use real-time backups to protect every order and customer detail.
The good news? Automated backups make this simple. You can set them to run in the background while you focus on running your business. A backup only takes a few minutes, but recovering from a disaster without one could take weeks.
Here’s a quick guide:
- Static sites: Weekly backups should do the trick.
- High-traffic sites: Multiple backups daily keep you covered.
- Ecommerce sites: Real-time backups are your best bet.
Pro tip: Your backup plan should fit your website’s activity. The more updates or interactions your site has, the more often you should back it up.
6 Tips for Managing Backups
Backups aren’t just about clicking a button and forgetting about them. As a website owner, you know your site’s integrity is everything. A backup strategy needs to be smart, efficient, and something you don’t have to babysit.
Here are a few practical tips you can make your own:
1. Know Your Site’s Needs– Tailor Your Backup Plan
Not all websites are created equal. The way you back up a blog site is different from an e-commerce store. For a store, daily backups are almost mandatory, but for a static portfolio site, weekly backups might be enough.
Understanding how often your site changes is crucial. If you’re pushing out new products or content daily, your backup frequency should reflect that. Tailor your approach based on your site’s dynamic activity to avoid overdoing or underdoing backups.
2. Use Incremental Backups for Efficiency
Full backups are important but they’re time-consuming and use up storage space. Instead of doing a full backup every time, consider incremental backups.
This method saves only the changes made since the last backup, drastically reducing time and resources. You’re essentially getting the best of both worlds: keeping data safe while saving on storage and bandwidth.
3. Backup Multiple Locations – Redundancy is Key
It’s tempting to store backups only on your server, but what if your server crashes? Or worse, your host goes down? Store backups in at least two places: one local (like an external hard drive or a cloud solution) and one off-site, ideally using cloud storage services like Google Drive, Amazon S3, or dedicated backup solutions.
A solid 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies of data, 2 different media, 1 off-site) will give you the best kind of website security. To put it another way, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
4. Set Backup Automation, But Double-Check Your Settings
Automating backups saves you from constantly remembering to hit that backup button. But here’s the kicker: automated doesn’t mean “set it and forget it.” Test and verify your backup process regularly.
Make sure it’s actually backing up the right files and running on the schedule you’ve set. It’s better to realize there’s an issue now than during a full-blown disaster.
5. Ensure Fast Restore Capabilities
A backup is only useful if you can restore quickly. A slow or complicated restoration process defeats the purpose.
Make sure your backup solution allows for easy, quick restores, whether it’s restoring files or rolling back your entire site. Testing your restore process periodically will help you know exactly what to expect if disaster strikes.
Look for solutions that allow for one-click restores or have easy-to-navigate control panels. Make sure you also have a website disaster recovery plan to ensure that you can quickly restore your site in case of a major failure. This includes having reliable backups, a clear process for recovery, and tools that enable you to get your site up and running with minimal downtime.
6. Version Control– Have Multiple Backup Copies
Backups can get messy, especially when issues aren’t noticed right away. Keep multiple versions of your backups, at least a few days apart, to give yourself some wiggle room.
For instance, if something breaks and you don’t realize it until a few days later, you’ll have backup versions to choose from that can help avoid the headache of restoring data that was corrupted earlier.
Trust BigRock to Simplify Website Backups
Website backups are an ongoing strategy that need to evolve with your site’s growth and activity. As a thumb rule, use a mix of automation and hands-on verification, optimize your backup frequency based on your site’s needs, and always ensure you can restore quickly when it matters most.
The goal is not just to have a backup but to make it a fail-safe, ready-to-use lifeline that’ll get your site back online fast. This is where a partner like BigRock steps in. Whether it’s daily or real-time backups, we ensure your website data is safe and recoverable when needed.
Our easy-to-use platform means that restoring your site can be done in minutes, not hours. Visit our site for more info!
FAQs
Why should I back up my website?
Website backups protect you from data loss due to issues like hacking, accidental errors, or failed updates. If something goes wrong, having a backup means you don’t lose everything and have to rebuild your site from scratch. It’s essential for business continuity and protecting your reputation.
How often should I back up my website?
The backup frequency depends on how often your site changes. If you add new content or make frequent updates, like on a blog or e-commerce site, daily backups are a good idea.
For less active sites, weekly backups may be enough. In any case, the more often you update, the more frequently you should back up to avoid losing important data.
How long does it take to restore a website from a backup?
The time it takes to restore your site depends on its size and the backup method used. With hosting tools like hPanel or cPanel, restoration is usually fast, often just a few minutes.
However, manual methods (such as FTP or phpMyAdmin) might take longer, especially for larger sites. Always ensure your backups are tested to avoid issues during restoration.
What should I do before performing a website backup?
Before performing a backup:
- Check your website’s health to ensure there are no ongoing issues
- Ensure you have enough storage space for your backup, especially if your site has large files
- Verify that your backup tools (such as plugins or software) are properly configured
- Confirm the backup destination is working
