Does my small business website need a backup?

Yes. Every website needs a backup, and one copy on your host’s server is not enough. Keep a second copy somewhere you control. If the site breaks, gets hacked, or the host account closes, that second copy is how you get the site back.

What a backup holds

A backup is a saved copy of your website. It has up to two parts.

Files. The pages, photos, theme, and plugins that make the site look and work the way it does.

Database. On WordPress and similar systems, the database holds the text of your pages and posts, form entries, settings, and user accounts. A site built from plain files has no database. For that site, a copy of the files is the whole backup.

Find out which kind you have. Choosing a content management system (CMS) explains the difference.

Why your host’s backup is not enough

Most hosts run backups. That is good. It still leaves four gaps.

It sits in the same account. If the host suspends your account, locks you out, or shuts down, the backups go with it.

It may not reach back far enough. Some hosts keep a few days of copies. Say malware sits on your site for two weeks before anyone notices. Every copy the host kept now contains it. I do not know your host’s schedule, so ask. The questions are below.

Restoring may be all or nothing. Some hosts restore the whole account to an earlier date. That erases every change you made since. Some charge a fee for a restore.

It may not be yours to download. If you leave on bad terms, you may not get a copy at all. Who owns your website? covers what you are entitled to ask for.

What takes a site down

Five causes come up most:

1. A hack.
2. A plugin or theme update that breaks the layout.
3. An edit that deletes a page or overwrites good text.
4. A host failure.
5. A missed hosting payment. What is website hosting, and why do I pay for it every year? explains why that one matters.

A backup fixes all five. If the site is down right now, start with My website is down: what do I check first?.

How often to back up

Match the schedule to how often the site changes.

A brochure site that changes twice a year needs a new backup after each change. A site that takes bookings, orders, or form entries into a database needs a daily backup. Those entries are new data every day, and a week-old copy loses them.

Make a manual backup before any big change. That means a plugin update, a theme change, or a redesign. If the change goes wrong, you roll back to the copy you made ten minutes earlier.

Where to keep the second copy

Keep one copy at your host and one copy somewhere else. Two choices work well. One is a cloud storage account in your business’s name. The other is an external drive at your office.

Do not store the copy on the same host. Do not store it in an employee’s personal account. If that person leaves, so does your backup. Put the date in the file or folder name so you can tell copies apart.

Test the restore

A backup you have never restored is a guess. Once a year, ask your host or web designer to restore the backup to a test copy of the site. Then click through it. Check that the pages load, the photos show, and the contact form works. Add this to your annual DIY website check-up.

Five questions for your host

Send these to your host’s support, and save the answers.

1. How often do backups run?
2. How long do you keep them?
3. Are they stored on the same server as my site?
4. Can I download a copy myself?
5. Does a restore cost anything, and how long does it take?

If the answer to the fourth question is no, set up your own backup. Many hosting panels and WordPress backup plugins can send a copy to cloud storage on a schedule. Check what your host allows before you install one.

What a site backup does not cover

Your website backup does not hold your domain registration, your DNS records, or your business email. Those live with other companies.

Write down who your registrar is, who runs your DNS, and what records are set. How do I find out who my domain registrar is? shows how to look that up. Your email sits with your email provider, so check how that provider backs it up.

Ask for help with a backup plan

If you are not sure what your host saves or where your copy should go, book a consult. Send me your domain name. I will tell you what I find and what is missing.