A Beginner’s Guide to Website Backups and Disaster Recovery

If you’ve ever had that gut-wrenching feeling when your website goes down you’re not alone. It’s one of the most terrifying moments for any business owner. Years of content, customer data, and reputation can vanish in an instant due to a hack, server failure, accidental deletion, or even simple human error.

That’s why having a solid website backup and disaster recovery plan is absolutely critical. It’s your safety net, ensuring that even if the worst happens, your business can get back online quickly and with minimal damage.

Let’s dive into what website backups are, why they matter, and how to build a disaster recovery plan that protects your business.

What Is a Website Backup?

A website backup is an exact copy of your website’s data and files. Think of it like insurance for your digital property. If something goes wrong, you can restore your website to a previous working state.

Your website generally has two major parts:

Files: These include images, theme files, scripts, plugins, and all the code that makes your site look and function the way it does.
Database: This stores your content, posts, user accounts, product listings, and other dynamic data.

A complete backup must capture both parts.

Why Website Backups Are Non-Negotiable

A shocking number of small businesses still operate without a backup plan. Here’s why that’s so dangerous:

1. Cyberattacks Happen to Everyone

It’s tempting to think hackers only target big corporations. Not true. Automated bots scan millions of websites daily, looking for vulnerabilities. If your site is hacked, restoring from a clean backup is often the fastest way to recover.

2. Human Errors Are Inevitable

Deleting a file by mistake, overwriting important code, or accidentally removing a critical plugin—it happens more often than you’d think. Backups give you a rewind button.

“No matter how careful you are, human error is unavoidable. Having reliable backups is the only way to turn a disaster into a minor inconvenience.” — Tom Rutledge, Web Infrastructure Consultant

3. Server or Hosting Failures

Even the best hosting companies occasionally experience outages or data loss. If your host suffers a catastrophic failure and has no recent backup, your site could be gone forever.

4. Updates Sometimes Break Things

Updating plugins, themes, or CMS versions is essential for security. But sometimes updates cause conflicts or crashes. A recent backup lets you roll back quickly.

Types of Website Backups

Not all backups are created equal. Here are the main types you’ll encounter:

Manual Backups

This is when you manually download your website’s files and database from your hosting account. It’s better than nothing but time-consuming and prone to human error.

Automated Backups

These are scheduled to run automatically, often daily or weekly. They’re reliable and reduce the risk of forgetting.

Full Backups

A full backup saves everything on your website each time it runs. It’s the most thorough but can require significant storage space.

Incremental Backups

These only save changes since the last backup. They’re faster and save storage but can complicate restoration if not managed carefully.

Offsite Backups

Your backups should never live on the same server as your website. Why? Because if your server fails, your backups go down too. Offsite backups store copies:

In the cloud (e.g. Amazon S3, Google Drive)
On a separate physical server
With a dedicated backup service

How Often Should You Back Up Your Website?

There’s no single right answer—it depends on how often your website changes.

Static brochure sites: Weekly or monthly might be sufficient.
Blogs with frequent posts: Daily backups are safer.
E-commerce stores: Daily or even hourly backups ensure transaction data is protected.
High-traffic sites: Consider near real-time backups.

A good rule of thumb:

“Back up your website as often as you’re willing to redo the work you’d lose.”

If you’d be devastated to lose even one day’s updates, back up daily.

What Should a Backup Include?

At minimum, your backup should cover:

Website files:
- Theme files
- Plugins or extensions
- Media uploads (images, videos)
- Custom scripts or code
Database:
- Pages and posts
- User accounts
- Comments
- E-commerce data (orders, products)
Configuration files:
- .htaccess
- wp-config.php (for WordPress)
- Other critical server files

How to Create Website Backups

Let’s look at how to actually create backups, depending on your platform.

1. cPanel or Hosting Control Panel

Most web hosts offer backup tools directly in your control panel. For example:

cPanel: Has built-in “Backup” or “Backup Wizard” options.
Plesk: Provides backup and restore tools.

This lets you download full backups or partial backups of files and databases.

2. WordPress Backup Plugins

For WordPress users, plugins make backups easy. Popular choices include:

UpdraftPlus: Schedule backups, store offsite (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.), and restore with one click. Visit UpdraftPlus
BackupBuddy: Another solid premium option with offsite storage. Visit BackupBuddy
Jetpack Backup: Managed backups for WordPress users. Visit Jetpack

3. Managed Hosting Services

Some hosts, especially managed WordPress providers, offer automatic daily backups as part of their plans. Examples:

Kinsta
WP Engine
SiteGround

Be sure to confirm:

How long backups are retained
How easy it is to restore
Whether there’s an extra cost

4. Manual Backup via FTP & phpMyAdmin

If you’re comfortable with tech, you can:

Use FTP or SFTP to download your website’s files.
Export your database through phpMyAdmin.

This is more time-consuming but gives you full control.

Don’t Forget to Test Your Backups

Many businesses think they’re safe because they have backups—until they try to restore and discover:

Corrupt files
Incomplete backups
Missing databases
Compatibility problems

Schedule regular tests:

Restore backups to a staging environment
Check that your website functions normally
Verify media, links, and logins work

A backup is only useful if it can actually restore your website.

Disaster Recovery: Planning for the Worst

A backup strategy is only half the battle. You also need a plan for how you’ll respond when disaster strikes. That’s your disaster recovery plan.

Here’s how to build one.

1. Document Your Recovery Steps

When you’re in crisis mode, it’s easy to panic. A written plan helps you stay calm and act quickly. Your plan should include:

Where backups are stored
How to access them
Login credentials for hosting and services
The order of steps to restore your website
Who on your team is responsible for what

2. Establish Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)

RTO is how quickly you need to get your site back online. For example:

Brochure site: 24-48 hours might be acceptable.
E-commerce store: Hours or minutes could mean thousands in lost revenue.

Understanding your acceptable downtime determines how robust your plan needs to be.

3. Test Your Disaster Recovery Plan

A plan that lives in a drawer is worthless. Test it at least annually. Practice:

Restoring your website on a staging server
Verifying everything works as expected
Timing how long the recovery process takes

4. Communicate With Customers

If your site goes down, keep your customers informed:

Post updates on social media
Send email notifications if possible
Be honest about the timeline

Transparency preserves trust during downtime.

Common Backup Mistakes to Avoid

Even businesses that “do backups” sometimes make costly mistakes:

Storing backups only on your web server. If the server crashes, you lose everything—including your backups.
Failing to test backups. You don’t know if they work until you try restoring.
Not backing up frequently enough. One monthly backup won’t save you if you lose a week of new content.
Ignoring plugin or extension data. Some plugins store critical data outside the main database.
Not encrypting sensitive backups. Backups may contain customer data or sensitive info. Encrypt them for security.

The Cost of Not Having Backups

Consider the potential costs if your website disappears:

Lost revenue: No online sales while your site is down
Brand damage: Customers see a broken or missing site
SEO impact: Google may drop pages from search results
Legal risks: Missing customer data could violate privacy laws

In short, backups are not optional—they’re business-critical.

Choosing a Backup Solution: Questions to Ask

When evaluating a backup service or plugin, ask:

How often can I schedule backups?
Where are backups stored?
How long are backups retained?
How easy is it to restore?
Is support available if I need help?
Are backups encrypted for security?
Does it cover both files and databases?
Does it handle large websites without errors?

Don’t choose purely on price. Cheap solutions often cut corners that leave you vulnerable.

See this guide to choosing WordPress backup plugins

Conclusion

Website backups and disaster recovery might not be the most glamorous topics in digital business—but they’re among the most important.

Your website is your business’s digital home. Protecting it isn’t optional. Backups keep you safe from hackers, human errors, software bugs, and hosting failures. A clear disaster recovery plan ensures that even in the worst-case scenario, you’ll be back online quickly, with your data and reputation intact.

Don’t wait until disaster strikes. Review your backup plan today and make sure your business is protected. A few proactive steps now can save you countless hours—and potentially thousands of dollars—in the future.

Further Reading:

WP Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Backups
CISA: Stop Ransomware Resource Center
BackupBuddy Product Page

#Website Maintenance