A one-hour-long downtime on the Amazon website can spawn up to $100 million in losses, according to an article on the Business Insider. Depending on the size of your business, having to deal with a website downtime will lead to some significant losses. Backing up your website files is a critical part of ensuring continuity as you try to work out any problem.
Once you restore the website’s backed up version, your users can continue to enjoy a flawless user experience with no hiccups at all. However, the success of your back up strategies relies on the method you use to backup your data. While most web hosts offer backup services, the decision to use such services should revolve around a couple of factors.
Here are a few insightful to help you decide whether it will be effective to use WordPress website backup services from your web host:
What Should be Backed Up?
What you back up will determine the efficiency at which you can have your website running after an issue, as pointed out on the Wp Site Plan website: https://wpsiteplan.com/. A WordPress website contains files and databases which help it run smoothly, all of which need to be safely backed up. While it seems like a no-brainer to back up both aspects, some hosts might not cater for both.
Before choosing to work with your web host, ask about their back up procedures up front. This will help you be prepared for manual backups in case they fail to cater for everything. Alternatively, you can work with other businesses that offer the services.
Frequency of Backups
There is no golden rule about the frequency of the backups. As a general rule, how often it happens should directly depend on the changes you make on your website. For a site that has multiple changes within the day, then daily backup sessions are advisable. In addition to confirming about how frequent backups will be made, find out how many versions of the sites will be retained at a single time.
In some web host companies, the most recent backup version overwrites the previous ones. This could be quite detrimental if whatever caused your site to crash happened a few versions ago. Accessing the unaffected versions will be tough.
Where Are Backups Stored?
For your peace of mind, ensure that the backups are stored in a secure location. Otherwise, when it comes to needing them, your web hosts might not have them. In some cases, the backups might also be corrupted.
This is where the security history of your WordPress website host comes into play. A host that has experienced multiple security breaches might not be ideal for storing your site’s backup. Conduct some research on the security features your host offers before choosing whether to use their services or not, according to KnowTechie.com.
Have Multiple Backup Solutions
Backing up your website data on the same server that your host uses can be a little bit unwise. In case the server gets hacked, both your website and the backups will be affected. This means that if you only relied on that single location for backup, then your business will take the greatest hit while you lose customers.
Since the last thing you need is to lose access to your WordPress website data, why not back up the site in a different location? If you must use the services provided by your host, ensure that they are not the only one you are relying on. In case the same zero-day attack affects two of your back up locations simultaneously, having a third storage location will be a lifesaver.
Conclusion
Deciding whether or not to use your website host for backups boils down to the services they offer. For superior services, it will come at a price. Be sure to use multiple backup locations to protect your brand and offer a flawless user experience.
