Why You Need to Back Up Your WordPress Site

Posted on September 6, 2019

Before the amazing days of auto-save, did you ever spend hours working on a project or a paper only for the power to go out, computer to crash, or something equally catastrophic to happen? What happened if you hadn’t been saving your work regularly? Poof, gone, just like that.

Now think about what could happen if you don’t have your WordPress website backed up and every bit of data and work was lost?

Your Website Is the Hub of Your Operations

As a business owner, even if you don’t sell products online, you know much of your traffic comes from your website, whether it’s someone checking what services you offer, your hours of operation, or comparing prices. If you have an ecommerce business, everything goes through your website, from transactions to inventory information. You may even have customer information in your website.

If that information is lost, there’s a possibility you’ll never get that back. Not only is that time lost – writing web pages, blogging, adding photos and product information, but inventory, sales, and customer data is essential to the livelihood of your business. Losing that means losing money. 

How Can Data Loss Take Place on a WordPress Website?

WordPress has some wonderful security features – that’s one of the reason it powers more than “34 percent of the top 10 million websites on the internet,” according to WordPress.org. However, that doesn’t mean it’s foolproof, and if you’re running an out-of-date version of WordPress or a third-party plug-in, you may be vulnerable to hacks and malware. If you don’t have your site backed up, you have no way to access your data.

Also, a surprising amount of data loss happens simply by making a mistake. Imagine moving around some inventory information or customer details and inadvertently deleting a bunch of files. Cue the cold sweat panic attack. But having a backup of your site means you can easily recover your information safely and securely.

Benefits of Backing Up Your WordPress Website

While I’m mostly talking about worst-case scenarios, there are a variety of benefits to keeping your site up to date:

Syncing Across Devices

What makes WordPress so convenient is you can access your website from anywhere – work from home, your office, your tablet – it doesn’t matter. Keeping your website backed up also keeps it in sync, so your files are always there and up-to-date.

Fast Recovery

If you do lose any data, such as if your server crashes or you do delete files, going without your website takes up time and money. Having an automated backup of your website means you can get everything from the last backup point in just a few minutes.

Improved Security

If you ever get hacked or download malware, having a copy of your website offsite, such as in the cloud,  means your files are safe. The backed up files are can be restored and are free of any file corruption, allowing you to get back to work without compromising or losing data.

Choosing a Hosting Company to Back Up Your WordPress Website

So, how can you keep your website backed up? You can manually do it with a plug in and remind yourself to backup your website every single day and hope you don’t forget. You can also go through a third-party software for automated website backup, but that can be expensive and as a small business owner, the last thing you need is one more bill or payment.

The best option is often choosing a hosting company who offers backup services included. But not all hosting companies are equal – some update your information once a week, some only do it on weekdays, others don’t do a total backup of your site.

Website Hosting You Can Rely On

At WP.digital, all of our clients’ websites are backed up at 5:00 a.m. EST everyday (even weekends!), so you’ll always have access to up-to-date files. When you’re having issues with your site, you delete something, or you’ve had a data breach, fill out our Support form, and we’ll be right there to restore the previous night’s copy of your website! Crisis averted!

We’ve Got Your WordPress Website Covered!

At WP.digital, we are your one-stop center for all your online needs for your website! From professional web design and ongoing marketing services to reliable website hosting, we’re here to keep your business website successful and secure! Fill out our contact form to learn more about our business-class WordPress website solutions.