Why do you need backups of your Website?
Websites are one of the most important aspects of modern businesses, providing a platform for customers to find out about your company and services, as well as purchase directly from your online store. Because websites are so critical to business success, backing them up is an essential component of any comprehensive website security strategy. This ensures that if something ever does go wrong, the website (and all the information, data and services hosted on it) can be quickly and easily recovered.
Website backups provide protection from a variety of unexpected dangers. Common threats include cyber attacks and malicious code, as well as hardware and software failures. If any of these were to occur without a backup, the results could be catastrophically damaging and potentially crippling to a business. A reliable backup solution provides the security of knowing that whatever the problem, the website can be quickly and easily restored, often within just a few hours.
Not only is it important to back up the website itself, but it is also essential to back up any underlying databases. Not only would this include e-commerce sites, which need databases to store customer details, order information and payment data, but it would also include content management systems and other websites that store blog posts, images, videos and other content.
How often should website backups be taken?
Well, this depends on the nature of the website. For example, an e-commerce site or website with a large blog and changing content should be backed up at least once a day. For simpler websites, weekly or monthly backups might suffice. The backups should be kept in multiple places, and there should regularly be a full backup that includes all of the databases.
Of course, backing up your website is only the first step. It is also essential to ensure that the backups can be restored. Just because the data is backed up doesn’t mean that the website can be brought back online. This is why it is important to take regular ‘dry runs’ to test the backups.
Backing up your website is an important, yet often overlooked, part of any website security strategy. Regular backups not only provide peace of mind but also give you the confidence that you can restore your website quickly and easily, no matter what the problem. With reliable and effective website backups in place, you can be sure that your business won’t suffer any lasting disruption, no matter what may come its way. 
How to take a website backup?
The traditional approach to backing up your website files is to connect to them via FTP and manually download all of the files in your web directory. This provides you with quick access to any files you may have misplaced, and they are ready to be uploaded whenever you need them. Database backups are usually done through the control panel of your hosting provider.
However, there are more convenient options available, such as using a backup service or plugin. Some great options include WP Vivid and Updraft.
We provide maintenance contracts as well as hosting accounts that include multiple backups.
If you would like details of our maintenance or hosting accounts, you can give us a call or email using the details at the bottom of this page.
