Backing up your website is vital, whether you are running an Anime fan blog for you and your friends or a business site connecting you to thousands of customers.

Years of experience with crashed hard drives, lost cell phones, and broken flash drives has taught us that backups are important.  Unfortunately many websites are not regularly backed up, leaving them vulnerable to data loss.  Imagine pulling up your site to find all of your posts, photos, comments, settings, and themes have been lost for good.  Recovery from that kind of crash is going to take some serious time.

There are a number of things that could cause you to lose all of your site’s data.  One of your staff accidentally deleting the database, a malicious attack by hackers, or even a mistake made by your hosting company could leave you with your head in your hands mourning the loss of your beautiful website.

Luckily WordPress users have a number of options to help them avoid this fate.

Manual Backups

The basic WordPress setup offers everything you need to back up your website.  If you go with this route, be sure to back up your site’s files,as well as the database.  For information on backing up your site manually, see the following links to the WordPress Codex.

Back up WordPress files

Back up WordPress database

While manual backups are possible, they do come with a few drawbacks.  First, they are not exactly easy.  The process requires some careful reading; if the instructions are not followed exactly, this could lead to a flawed back up.  Secondly, manual backups take time.  If you backup your website frequently, as you should, you will be spending a significant amount of time on that task.

Automatic Backup Plugins

WordPress plugins help you do nearly everything on your site, so it should come as no surprise that a number of plugins have been developed to automate backups.  These plugins help you schedule regular backups, making the process much easier to manage.

This method, while easier than doing a manual backup, still requires regular attention to be effective.  Plugins must be kept current with regular updates.  If you make major changes to your site, you may find your backup solution no longer works, leaving you to find a new process.  You will need to regularly check your plugin to ensure it is functioning as advertised.

Managed Backup Solutions

If you update your website daily, rely on it for business, or don’t have time to complete regular backups yourself, a managed WordPress backup service, like that offered by Wurdey, is the way to go.  These services work with you to set up a regular backup schedule that fits your needs, and take care of the rest behind the scenes.  The key advantage here is the completely hands off nature of a managed back up service.

By putting your backups in the hands of professionals, you are guaranteeing a speedy recovery in the event of a corruption or loss of your website’s data.  While there are certainly costs involved in hiring a service to regularly back up your WordPress website, the peace of mind offered by these services is well worth the cost to many website owners.