When you spend the time, energy, and money to create a website, you don’t want anything to happen to it, so it makes sense to use a tool like WordPress full backup plugin. Unfortunately, computer errors, human mistakes, and malicious hackers can all conspire to destroy your hard work and bring down your website. That’s why it is so important to make sure that you keep it secure.
Why use a Website Backup Plugin?
One of the best ways to protect your investment is by performing regular backups so you can restore your website if you run into a problem.
A WordPress backup plugin is one backup option for your website, but there are other techniques and methods that you can use to make sure that your data stays safe:
- Export—The database for your website contains all of your content. If you should lose this, you would simply have an empty shell with nothing filling it. One way to backup these files is to run an export. Go to the Tools menu of your Dashboard. Then click on Export. Once you do this, you will have the option to export all of the content or just your database files. Make sure that when you select this that you realize that you will not be able to do a full restoration of your website from this type of export. However, it does allow you to have a quick backup of content files that you can manually restore later on if you have to.
- cPanel—Another way to run a backup is by going to your cPanel and selecting Files. Once you have done this, choose Backups and decide if you want a full backup or a partial backup of selected files. This is generally used if you are migrating your website to another hosting provider.
- Plugin—The other common option for completing a backup is to use a plugin. Free plugins are available, but remember that you get what you pay for. Most of these are not able to do all of the things that you will want them to and restorations are not as easy as they are with premium plugins.
Using Your Backup Plugin
When you install a plugin, such as Updraft Plus or VaultPress, you need to configure it first. This configuration will include selecting if you want a full backup or a custom one where you specify what files you want to be saved. Additionally, you will need to decide how often you want to schedule a backup.
This is when using a plugin has an advantage, since you can set the scheduler and not worry about it. With manual options, you have to remember to run the backup yourself. Some plugins will even send you an email letting you know when the backup has been completed.
Another part that you will need to configure is how many backups you want to be saved and where to save them. Usually, about three backups will suffice to provide the security you need.
You also shouldn’t fill up your hard-drive with these backups as it will slow down your computer. Instead, choose an off-site, cloud storage option such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox. Any of these provide the proper storage you need.
Backing up Your Website
This may seem like a lot, but once you make the settings, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. The plugin will do all of the work for you. What’s even better, restoration simply requires you to click a button to fix your site.
Almost any website hosted on WordPress can use a WordPress backup plugin. In order to truly get all of the files that you need properly backed up, it is the preferred method for thousands of website owners.
Correction: InMotion Hosting no longer offers free backups. However, the backup manager service is available at a rate of $2/month. It is highly reliable and easy to use.