Quick Tip Friday: How To Backup Your WordPress Blog
When was the last time that you backed up your blog? If you don’t know the answer, it’s time to do it again, and, while you’re at it, put together a process to keep it backed up moving forward.
You might be thinking that you can always get a copy from your host’s backup, but take our word for it, that is not always the case. Sometimes the backup is very old. Sometimes it just doesn’t exist it all. Sometimes it can be a copy of your site after something outside of your control has happened like a hack or a server issue.
There are a few options for ways to back up. Find out what your host does offer. Some hosts sell separate services for backups. Some managed wordpress hosts also create daily restore points. These are files that you could then download to your own hard drive or cloud storage for safe keeping.
You can also do a manual back up of your WordPress site using FTP and CPanel. It’s a process that should be fairly easy if you’re comfortable playing with the behind the scenes of your site. If not, it might be a daunting task.
Another easier option is to find a plugin to do the backup work for you. Research a plugin that will do the job and also not create too much havoc on the back end of the site (Daily backups by some plugins might be too much activity. Ask your web host for a heads up on any plugins that are on their block list.) Some plugins to look into are BackUpBuddy and Updraft Plus.
Take action on this tip and get at least a current download of your blog as of now. You don’t want to get in a predicament where it’s too late to rescue the work that you’ve put into your blog for weeks, months, or years.
Check out previous tips to help improve your blog!