How Often To Backup A Site

In today’s digital age, safeguarding your data is more crucial than ever. There is also an abundance of advice on when to take website backups and how often to take them. 

You’re probably wondering which advice is legitimate. What is overkill? What is the best way to manage backups? When do you really need a backup? The questions are numerous and the answers are endless. Understanding how to maintain backups is an essential part of website maintenance.

This is where our guide comes in. We’ve rescued thousands of sites from crashes and human error. We’ve also spent over a decade trying to solve your backup problems. We’ve distilled all the information we’ve learnt over the years and put it into this article. 

TL;DR: Backups can be a hassle to do manually. The best solution is to take a backup with a  plugin like BlogVault. BlogVault automatically takes reliable backups, at least once a day. They are also stored on an offsite server. Thus, covering all your bases: storage, frequency and reliability.

When to take a website backup?

If you want to maintain a reliable backup, you should implement a backup plugin. This is because it takes the headache of managing a backup schedule, out of your hands. But, you still need to know how often to take a backup. But, there is no single answer that fits all sites. So, let’s break it down into two types of backups:

1. Scheduled backups
2. On demand backups

Scheduled backupsho3 o

If you choose a backup plugins or tools, they will help you schedule your backup.

Your backup schedule depends on the kind of site you have and how often things change on your site. The more changes, the more often you have to take a backup. This is to make sure that all data is always backed up. 

Here are some examples of what that looks like for different types of sites:

1. Static sites

Let’s say you have a portfolio site or brochure site. Content isn’t being modified multiple times in a day. They are the kind of site you create and let it operate on its own. In such cases, we recommend you do the following:

• Daily backups: These are important to capture minor updates or security patches. Essentially, they backup any small changes that may occur through the day. 
• Weekly full backups: A complete backup once a week can help you quickly recover from issues you hadn’t caught immediately.
• Monthly archives: These archives can be invaluable for compliance purposes or long-term data retention. They help with website recovery, for example, if you delete your site and change your mind.

2. High activity websites 

Let’s say you have a news website or a job portal website. You are probably seeing a lot of traffic. New things are being posted constantly. In that case, use the following information to create a backup schedule:

• Hourly backups: Hourly backups are essential for capturing real-time updates. This minimizes data loss and ensures that all alterations are preserved. 
• End-of-day full backup: This consolidated backup simplifies the process of restoring your site in the event of a significant issue. 
• High-traffic periods: During peak traffic times, such as breaking news, the frequency of backups should be increased. This is vital to safeguard the influx of new data and changes. 

3. Ecommerce websites

E-commerce sites deal with constant updates. Product data is changing. Orders are being processed. Inventory is being updated. This is why we recommend real-time backups. Real time backups ensure that if there is a security breach, or data corruption, no order data is lost. 

On-demand backups

On-demand backups are initiated when needed, rather than on a predefined schedule. These backups are useful before actions that could affect the website’s stability. Here are some examples of when you’d need an ad-hoc backup:

• Updating software: We’re talking about updating a plugin, theme, or the core software of your website. They come with the risk of compatibility issues or bugs that can cause functionality issues. This is why we always recommend you take a backup before updating anything.
• Modifying site files or database tables: If you’re making changes to the site files or database tables, you risk human error. A small syntax error can crash your site. So, backup your site in advance.
• Changing your site design: Significant alterations to your site’s design can affect the site’s performance. Maybe the new page builder plugin is slowing you down. Maybe your CSS files are too heavy. Whatever the reason, you may want to revert to your old site design. A backup is the easiest way to do so. 

Some of the above advice might seem like overkill. But, we are only recommending it because we have seen what happens when a crashed site has no backup to restore. Backups are like digital safety nets. They’re frustrating to implement but you will be glad when things fail. 

Why are backups so important?

:Sometimes, simple maintenance tasks can cause your site to crash. You may need to troubleshoot plugins updates and other major changes. In such cases, backups are your hail mary.

No matter what type of site you have, the integrity and availability of your site are paramount. But, your data is at risk of a myriad of potential issues that could compromise your site. This could disrupt operations, or result in significant data loss. Here are some examples of situations where backups come to the rescue:

• Avoid accidental or malicious data loss: Mistakes happen. Sites can be deleted. Pages can be trashed. Data can be lost. For example, if you forget to renew hosting, they will delete it. In that case, good backup can be quickly restored to recover to your site. 
• Recover from hacked sites: Cybersecurity threats are ever-present. It’s not a question of if you will get hacked but when. Then, you run the risk of the hacker deleting or modifying your content. For example, website defacement involves changes to your page content. A backup of a pristine version of your site can help you recover your website.
• Minimize downtime: Sometimes, failed plugin updates can cause downtime. We’ve had an Elementor update crash a site before. It also takes a lot of troubleshooting to recover it. Thankfully we had a reliable update that we could quickly restore.  
• Compliance with data protection regulations: Many industries require adherence to strict data protection regulations. This includes having robust data backup plans. 
• Recover from hardware failures: Hardware failures like server crashes, or those caused by natural disasters can strike without warning. This can lead to significant data loss. Backups are your lifeline in such scenarios. 

What to keep in mind when taking a backup?

We’ve established the importance of backups. But, a backup is only good if it is reliable. So, what makes a backup good? Can you manually backup your site and is it enough? Do you need a backup plugin? Here are some things to keep in mind:

Full vs. Incremental Backup

It’s essential to understand the differences between full and incremental backups. 

A full backup involves copying all your website data at one point in time. This method ensures a comprehensive restore but can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. This is because it takes a lot of server resources to copy all your site files and database tables. You will see a dip in server performance when you’re taking one. The resources multiply as your site increases in size. 

In contrast, incremental backups are a type of backup that saves only the data that has changed since the last backup. They are faster and require less storage space than full backups. It takes up less server resources too. But your entire site is still backed up.

There is a third type of backup – differential backups. These backups collectively backup all changes made since the last full backup. If you compare differential and incremental backups, the former takes up more storage and isn’t very efficient. 

Location of storage

A good backup strategy is the 321 backups. This refers to keeping three backups, two different storage devices and at least one of them has to be in a different physical location. This is because you don’t want all your eggs in one basket. 

You don’t want all your backups stored in one physical location. Off-site backup adds a layer of protection, in case of server hacks or natural disasters. It can be a cloud service, a backup plugin’s servers or your friend’s house.

Automated backups

Some backup plugins and tools will automatically take backups on a schedule that you set up. This reduces the need for any human intervention. You can just set it up and forget. But, a backup will always be there for you to restore in case of an emergency. 

Easy restores

The value of a backup is measured by the ease and speed of restoring your data. Easy restores are crucial for minimizing downtime and quickly recovering from issues. They also have to be reliable. If a restore fails, some parts of the site, like certain pages or images might be recovered while others remain broken or missing. This can cause downtime, making the website work poorly or be completely inaccessible to users. The incomplete restoration can also lead to issues like broken links, missing content, or errors in interactive features, making it hard for visitors to navigate or use the site.

Length of storage 

It’s important to consider the retention period for your backups. Storing backups for at least one month provides a sufficient window. You can detect and recover from issues that may not have been noticed immediately. This longer retention period allows you to go back to a point in time before the problem occurred.

Best way to take a backup: BlogVault

We’ve reviewed all the top backup plugins. We’ve put them through the ringer. We’ve looked at all the factors we talked about in the previous section. After immense testing, we’ve come to the conclusion that BlogVault is the best and here is why:

Full and incremental backup

BlogVault offers both full and incremental backup options. Initially, it performs a complete backup of your entire site, ensuring that all data is securely captured. After the first full backup, BlogVault switches to incremental backups. This means it only backs up changes made since the last backup.

You can also take on-demand full backups before making major changes like an update to a page builder plugin.

Stored on their own servers

With BlogVault, your backups are stored off-site in a secure, encrypted environment. This means that your website servers are untouched and unaffected. This also means that if your server gets hacked, you have a backup you can restore. 

BlogVault also has multiple servers across the world. So, even if one physical location is unavailable, other servers jump right now. 

Automatic, scheduled backups

BlogVault specializes in automated backups, eliminating the need for manual intervention. You can set the frequency of backups according to your specific requirements. Depending on the plan, you get daily backups or multiple backups in a day.

Easy restores

Restoring your website with BlogVault is incredibly straightforward. In fact, it takes only one click. It also has an emergency connector. So, if your website crashes, the emergency connector is able to help you restore the site. 

Final Thoughts

Your backup schedule should be tailored to the specific needs of your website. Consider how frequently you update your site and the type of data it handles. If your site sees frequent updates, more regular backups are essential to ensure that nothing is lost.

A good rule of thumb is to perform a backup before making any changes to your site. This practice is simple for static sites where updates are infrequent. But, for sites with high activity, like news sites, constant backups can be cumbersome to manage.

To simplify this process, consider using a backup plugin like BlogVault. This tool automates the backup process, removing the need for manual intervention. The lowest plan provides daily backups, and frequency increases with higher plans. These backups are taken in increments and stored offsite. So, they don’t impact your server and are more secure. There is also a one-click restore that makes it easy to recover a site. It’s truly a one-stop shop for all your backup needs.

FAQs

How frequently should backups be taken?
The frequency of backups depends on the nature of your website. For sites with minimal changes, such as portfolio sites, a daily backup might suffice. However, for dynamic websites like e-commerce platforms, multiple daily backups are recommended. This is to ensure all data and changes are consistently saved.

Should I backup my website?
Absolutely! You should always backup your website. In fact, we recommend you backup your site at least once a day. This is to protect against data loss, cyber attacks, and unexpected failures. They serve as a safety net, helping you to quickly restore your site and resume normal operations.

How often should you do a full backup vs an incremental?
A common practice is to perform a full backup periodically, such as weekly or monthly. In between, use incremental backups to record changes made since the last backup. This approach reduces server load and storage space. But it still provides comprehensive data protection.

What is the recommended backup schedule?
The recommended backup schedule should align with your website’s activity level. A good starting point could be:

• Static sites: Full backup once a week, incremental backups daily.
• Moderately active sites: Full backup once a week, incremental backups multiple times a day.
• Highly dynamic sites (e-commerce, news): Full backup weekly, hourly incremental backups.

We recommend using backup tools like BlogVault to streamline this process. It offers regular, automatic and reliable backups that are easy to restore.