Step By Step: How To Backup Your WordPress Website
Today, we’re going to be talking about backing up your website, which may seem boring, but it is crucial to do. There are two different elements to it. I’ll share the second element – How to update WordPress Plugins here.
Just a note, before we go on – for this blog, I’m specifically talking about WordPress websites.
Why Should You Backup Your Website?
It’s something that many people don’t think about when their website has been built, either by them or someone they have contracted.
Your website is your shopfront, so just as you would secure a physical store, the same applies here.
WordPress is one of the world’s biggest website platforms; they have the most significant market share. And it’s a really, really great platform; it’s very easy to use, in my opinion.
The downside of being the biggest is that it is also more vulnerable to hackers. As with most things in life, you may think it won’t happen to you, but I have seen it first hand. I’ve had clients that have logged in or gone to their website, and it has been taken down, and something else is in its place – sometimes not so nice things.
Imagine putting in all that time and effort, sometimes even money, and it is all gone in the blink of an eye.
It’s for this very reason that you have to have a physical backup of your website so that if this happens, you’re able to go in and replace it with your website again.
How to Back Up Your Website
It isn’t as complicated as it may seem!
Step 1: Installing the Plugin
Log in to the back-end of your WordPress website. Go down to plugins and click “Add New.”
And we’re running a search for one that’s called Updraft. It should come up as Updraft WordPress Backup Plugin. It is one of the most popular ones and has over 3 million active installations, with great reviews. Once you have found the plugin, click on Install Now.
Give it a moment to install. And then you’re going to activate it.
Step 2: Running Your First Backup
They will tell you exactly where you need to start. There will be a button that says, “Press here to start,” which will take you through the setup wizard.
You can see the scheduled backups now, but because it’s new, we have nothing done. The same will apply to files. Before we go any further, you should run a full backup right now. It will mean that the complete database and all your files are backed up should anything happen to your website. If you need to use it, you will upload the file. You can leave it to run in the background.
Step 3: Setting up Your Backup Schedule
You should set up the plugin to automatically and regularly run, so you don’t need to think about it. Once you’ve set it up, it will do it either weekly monthly, whichever way you would like to have it done. I suggest doing it weekly, especially if you’re working on it, so you don’t have a very, very old backup with old files.
By now, the one running in the background should be done. It should say, “Congratulations, your first backup is running. But to avoid suicide threats, backup regularly to remote cloud storage in settings”.
We’re going to follow the exact steps. You’re going to go to Settings, decide whether it’s going to be manual or automatic. Like I say, I would like to do it automatically every week. It will also ask you how many backups of your website you would like to store simultaneously; two is the standard. Once it has reached the third, the first will be deleted, and so on.
Step 4: Storing Your Backups
Next, it will prompt you to decide where you’re going to store the backup. Of course, this is a free version. So if you want to store it with Updraft Plus vaults, you’ll need to subscribe. I don’t think it is necessary, but you can do that if you like.
It also gives you other options. With the free version, you will only be able to choose one location. It offers Google Drive as an option, so I picked that. You’ll just need to create your folder, authenticate and authorize it, and then save it. Click Save Changes.
Step 5: Embracing Peace of Mind
Now we have backed up your website, and we have set up an automatic backup every week. The files are going to be stored in Google Drive or whichever place you chose to save it. You can see where the next scheduled backup is and what is being backed up. If you want to back up manually again, you can just click on backup now. So there you go, you have added a much-needed layer of security to your website!
As you can see – this whole process will take less than 10 minutes, but it will save you hours of work should anything happen to your website! I have seen too many people who do not have this facility run into trouble, and then the whole website is gone. It’s a really, really sad scenario.
If you feel like it would be easier for you to follow a video, you can click here. As always, if you have any questions, you can message me right in the comments or send me an email.
In the next blog, I will explain why it is essential to update your plugins and show you how to do it.
I look forward to connecting with you, helping you run your business online, getting more clients and making sure that your systems are set up and ready so that you can grow and be successful in your business (and, of course, life.)
