Many people new to WordPress have yet to grasp just how important it is for your WordPress security that you create backups of your site regularly. This can and often does help WordPress site owners avoid the mind-numbing pain of having your site disappear, with no viable copy or backup. Let’s look at some ways to avoid this doomsday scenario!
So why, again, do I need to create WordPress backups?
Should your site’s server go down, everything you’ve worked for will go with it. You’ll make no sales, get no visitors or signups to your site, and in short, you’re out of business until you get the site back up again.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking that this rarely happens. It has happened to me more than once, and I can tell you, it’s panic time.
If there are no reliable backups to get your site back up quickly, you’re back at square one. Not a pleasant thought.
Doesn’t WordPress do this automatically?
Not necessarily. There are ways to accomplish this that require a fair degree of technical expertise. If that’s not you, read on.
Also, don’t make the mistake of thinking that your web host will have your back as far as WordPress backups go. Not always. While they say they do, it’s been my experience that the hosting company may or may not be doing proper backups. Why take that kind of chance?
So what is the best solution you should choose? Out of all the possible choices you can make, which one should you choose and which one is right for you specifically right now?
In my opinion, the best way to ensure your WordPress security is through the use of a WordPress backup plugin. This is a relatively inexpensive, elegant and easy to use way to make sure your site is available to you in the event of a disaster.
The plugin should be regularly updated to stay current with the latest WordPress release, play nice with all your other plugins and have WordPress cloning and restore capabilities. The ability to clone your site (in addition to regular backups) can be useful if you ever want to do an offline site redesign, among other things.
Strive to make regular backups of your site, at least once per month, and have them sent to your email or an offline storage of your choice. (Many people use Amazon S3.)