WordPress Backups: The Unsung Hero

Making regular WordPress Backups is an absolute must. Business owners spend thousands of dollars creating their websites, so why not have a copy of your hard work stored somewhere safe in case something goes wrong? Let’s explore backups, how they can save the day and how you can start protecting your website today.

Why should I backup my website?

So why is it so important to backup your WordPress website? Similar to Windows restore points, backups create a snapshot of your website. This means your WordPress files and database (website content) will be preserved in case you need to restore the website in the future.

Having a backup to restore your website from can save you from emergency development fees in the same way Windows restore points can save you from a trip to the computer repair shop.

Why would I need to restore my website?

Imagine trying to log in to your WordPress dashboard and being met with a “white screen of death”. You might be able to find a quick solution online, but there’s a good chance you’d have to spend a fair bit of time – and potentially money – to get the website fixed. This is especially concerning for eCommerce or other content rich websites as the issue can become time sensitive.

Emergency development rates are extremely costly and hard to come by, so having recent WordPress backups to restore from can really save your bacon.

Dave’s Flowers: A real-life case study

Let’s look at a real-life scenario. One of our clients (who’s company name has been changed for privacy) had a broken eCommerce website. After updating the basic WooCommerce plugin, all of their custom eCommerce pages were completely destroyed. The website was unable to make any sales and Dave’s Flowers came to a grinding halt.

Luckily, Dave took his developer’s recommendation for a good hosting provider and went with WP Engine. This means Dave’s Flowers is backed up automatically, every day. Dave even ran a backup right before he updated WooCommerce, so he was easily able to restore the website to full functionality within an hour. Business was back up and running!

Dave’s back up!

Dave still needed us to help resolve the issue with the WooCommerce update, but without any additional downtime. We were able to use his WP Engine staging environment to fix the issues and seamlessly update the WordPress files a few days later. Dave’s Flowers would have lost four full days of business without a backup system in place.

How do I backup my WordPress website?

Ok, so not everyone has the luxury of using their host’s super-duper automatic backup feature. What can everyone else do? You can set up a pretty simple backup system free of charge with the UpdraftPlus WordPress plugin. We’ll write a “how to” article down the road, but here’s a quick primer:

1. After installing the UpdraftPlus plugin, backup everything… right now. We’ll wait.
2. Download your backup files and store them somewhere offline. Especially your database. Keep it secret, keep it safe.
3. Setup a backup schedule that stores your files off-site. Always keep your back up files secure and off-site. Hackers can find backups located on the server, resulting in a potential world of hurt.

How often should I backup my website?

Your backup schedule will depend on the type of website you own and how often you update your content. This can range from one backup per week to several backups per day. Here’s what we recommend based on website styles and publishing frequency:

• Brochure/Business – Occasional monthly content updates – One backup/week
• Blog/Gallery – Several content updates per week – One backup/day
• eCommerce/Membership – Sales data/Several posts per day – 4x backups/day

In our experience, eCommerce blogs require the most frequent backup schedule in order to keep an accurate record of all sales data. For most other types of websites, daily or weekly updates will do just fine.

Wrapping Up

Whether you have a host like WP Engine, a maintenance plan or a DIY WordPress backup solution you’ll be able to sleep comfortably knowing you have some form of safety net in place. You’ve put a lot of money and effort into your website. It’s your business vehicle and a key symbol of your brand. It’s only logical to take a few simple steps to protect it.

Are you making regular WordPress backups? What does your solution look like?