It’s easy to get lazy about doing WordPress backups.

WordPress backups are important. Fail to backup your site, and you will regret it. To quote Casablanca, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”  Ok – maybe slightly dramatic, but still true. Backing up your website is easy to do, easy to “set and forget” even…and SO important.  

[clickToTweet tweet=”Fail to backup and you will regret it. ‘Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon & for the rest of your life.’ ” quote=”Fail to backup your site, and you will regret it. To quote Casablanca, ‘Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.’ “]

Recently I had a local business reach out to me after their site had been hacked. Instead of ending up on their website, the domain was being redirected to a casino website. (At least it wasn’t ending up on an adults-only, XXX site.)

After I logged in, the first thing I looked for was a backup plugin. There wasn’t one. Oh boy…what now? So I contacted their site host. They had made one backup almost 30 days prior. So I thought we were in the clear. I had them restore that backup.

It didn’t work. Apparently the hack had a trojan horse…and had been installed prior to the 30 days, even though it had only now reared it’s ugly hacker head. So then began the process of cleaning up files. Cleaning up code. Deleting files that didn’t belong. Replacing the .htaccess, etc.

How could this have been avoided?

Simply put, by running (and keeping copies of) WordPress backups this problem could have been fixed in just a few minutes, by re-deploying an older backup of the site. Had we had older versions of the backup, we would have been able to quickly upload a prior version, thus restoring site functionality.

How do you backup a site, anyway?

There are many ways to backup your WordPress website. Plugins, server, FTP, and more. My favorite (and in my opinion, the easiest) way, is through a plugin designed just for this purpose. I have used several backup plugins with success.

BackupBuddy. This is a premium plugin used to run backups of your site as well as cloning/migrating your site to another server, or copying your site for replication. BackupBuddy is a product of ithemes. Purchase options range from blogger to lifetime developer. BackupBuddy can be run manually, or scheduled to run on any schedule you set up. Backups can be stored locally, downloaded manually to a computer, or sent to remote locations including Google Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud storage options.

 

Duplicator. Duplicator has a free version that will allow you to run manual backups. You can use Duplicator to backup your site, migrate it, or replicate it. Duplicator has a premium version for different levels of needs. Duplicator is sold by Snap Creek.

 

UpdraftPlus. This plugin has both free and premium versions, like Duplicator. Like BackupBuddy it is able to be scheduled and sent to remote storage locations. 

 

Choosing a backup option depends on what your needs are, and in many ways is a personal decision. You may like the feel of one more than another. The important thing is to find a method you like, that works for what you need, and keeps you covered in case of emergency.

Find the one you need and it may even be “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Questions?

Email me or use the form in the sidebar to submit your ideas and questions, and they may show up in a future post.

Overextended, overcommitted, entrepreneur, volunteer, and social butterfly. Avid Scrabble player. Tea snob. Mom. School board member. Marketing fanatic. 11th hour expert. WordPress Meetup Coordinator. WordCamp speaker. WordCamp organizer. Frequent WordCamp attendee.

I am the owner and marketing diva at Marketed by Michelle.

Follow me on Twitter @michelleames.