A WordPress backup of a website is a useful, indispensable tool.
It allows you to easily and quickly solve small and large problems, up to disaster recovery.
When you reach out to a support service, probably one of the first questions you should hear is, “Do you have an automatic backup of the site?”
If the answer is no, or I don’t know, that might be a problem.
Why should you worry about having a full WordPress backup?
Because a website backup is often the only reliable solution, when handled properly, that will secure your website from so many possible disasters, and get back up and running quickly.
Here are some of the most common reasons why a backup is absolutely essential:
- Human errors: Did you accidentally delete something important? Did you edit a file and the site went down? A backup allows you to go back in time.
- Failed updates: WordPress, themes and plugins are updated regularly. Sometimes, an update can create compatibility problems or break your site.
- Hackers and malware attacks: Web sites are targets for attacks. If your site is compromised, a clean backup is the only way to restore it without the malicious code.
- Hosting problems: Even the best hosting providers can have technical problems, or you might accidentally violate their terms of service.
- Server malfunctions: Hardware or software failures on the server that hosts your site can cause data loss.
In summary, a backup is your insurance against data loss. It gives you peace of mind and the ability to recover quickly from any disaster.
Web hosting backup according to Factory Communication
Let us look at two different case histories.
1. Sites managed directly by us, on our hosting
For sites managed directly by Factory Communication, we rely on one of the best hosting services on the market, including on the security front.
Our hosting allows us to have for each site a daily backup, stored for 30 days.
It allows us to make backups manually, as needed, and also to download them.
Daily backups save all present files and the database, like a history of a website’s life, and with a few clicks we can restore any of the saved backups.
2. Sites hosted on customer-managed hosting
When we follow up on the maintenance of a site hosted on a different hosting from our own, we first make sure that a backup solution is available at the hosting level similar to ours, but we also often activate one via plugin.
This is already a good starting point, allowing for sound sleep.
Worst case scenario: not being able to restore a backup!
In 99% of cases a backup hosting saves you. It allows you to fix even a serious mistake, and restore a damaged site in a short time.
There are cases, however, that a WP back up system may not be sufficient:
- WP Backup damaged, or backup system compromised, and when it happens it is hard to notice in time.
- Serious problems with the operation of the hosting service.
Perhaps someone remembers the blackout of nearly two million Italian sites in 2011, due to a fire in the web farm of a well-known Italian provider.
What was worse was that for most of the sites involved, DNS management was in the same control panel as the Web site, and e-mail.
Even having backup copies downloaded, it was not possible to manage DNS pointing of websites. It is to avoid cases like this that we keep DNS and Hosting management separate.
It took several weeks for all services to become available again.
Of course, we hope nothing like this ever happens, but we want to be prepared to do damage control, even in extreme cases like this.
Better than one WordPress backup service? Two automatic WordPress backups!
In case even more security is desired, the solution is to flank the local backup with a second backup in an external platform, so that the website can be restored even in the worst case scenario, a prolonged malfunction of the hosting service.
Technically it is a second, stand-alone backup to a platform outside of web hosting, a cloud service such as Google Drive, Amazon or Dropbox, for example.
This ensures that a backup copy of the site is always available, even in the worst situations, so that it can be restored in an emergency,
At Factory Communication we think this is an important solution and are available to you for more information.
To date, we are setting up the service for Companies that have decided to give our Agency the maintenance and ecological support of their Web sites and eCommerce made in WordPress.
WordPress Backup: FAQ
Backing up your WordPress site regularly is critical to ensure the security of your business data. In the event of hacker attacks, update errors, plugin malfunctions or accidental deletions, backing up allows you to quickly restore your site and minimize downtime. This protects your company’s online reputation and ensures continuity of digital activities.
The ideal frequency depends on the dynamism of the site and the amount of updates made. For a corporate site that regularly publishes new content or handles sensitive data (such as e-commerce or blogs with comments), it is advisable to schedule daily backups. For less up-to-date sites, weekly backups may be sufficient. It is also good practice to perform a backup before every major update.
Backups can be stored on a variety of media: remote servers, cloud storage (such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3) or external physical devices. It is essential that backups are stored in secure locations, protected from unauthorized access and, preferably, encrypted. A professional backup service always involves duplication on multiple media and periodic verification of the integrity of saved files.
Yes, the professional backup service provides fast and secure recovery procedures. In the event of a problem, the site can be restored to its last working state through just a few steps, minimizing downtime. Reliable service also provides technical assistance to ensure that restoration occurs without loss of data and without compromising site functionality.
