Properly Backing Up Your Website

Like any complicated tool, websites are capable of failing. Whether by direct hack, malware, severe server malfunction, or poor coding, it’s possible for a website to go down due to factors outside your control, and it’s a troubling thought. 

Your online business presence could evaporate with a single mistake by your web host. This is why you must think through how your website is backed up.

According to Help Net Security, 21% of the SMBs don’t have a data backup solution deployed.

You can effectively nullify long term losses by maintaining a proper backup of your website. A backup ensures protection against hackers, malware, and accidental server outages.

Ways to backup your site and minimize the risk:

• Manual Backups
  
  We call these “dumb backups”. This one is the easiest of all, where you simply copy all the files from your website using a WordPress integration. This is actually a great option when paired with an automated option, especially when you are making changes to the site and want to backup quickly before you do. This can’t be your only option, you are one backup away from forgetting and having a major issue that you don’t have coverage for.

• Cloud Backup
  
  Cloud storage is the perfect backup solution if your website is huge. A great cloud solution is Amazon S3. Amazon offers a wide range of choices for small businesses. You need to install a server software such as Backup Server Edition to perform backups. And if you’re a WordPress user, then there are a plethora of plugins (free and paid) available that support S3.

•  Automated Backup
  
  If you’re a fan of automation, then this is for you. Backup Machine is a rich, cloud-based backup solution offering website and database backups. For WordPress our choice is All-in-One WP Migration. With some premium upgrades, you have lots of options to store your site.

It’s important to choose the right backup solution for your website’s complexity and traffic, and a combination of options is the best way to keep your site safe. Explore your options and implement a plan to bring you peace of mind today.