{"id":6712,"date":"2019-02-10T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/?p=6712"},"modified":"2024-01-23T14:44:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T19:44:42","slug":"how-often-should-you-backup-your-wordpress-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/how-often-should-you-backup-your-wordpress-site\/","title":{"rendered":"How Often Should You Do a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website-1024x538.png\" alt=\"How Often Should You Do a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site - Hero Image\" class=\"wp-image-71201 skip_lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website-1024x538.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As a business owner, you never want to be in a situation where you lose data because you haven\u2019t run a backup, or you didn\u2019t run a backup at the right time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, it happens fairly often. Many people assume that because they run regular backups their site will always be safe \u2013 but what if you&#8217;re not running them often enough? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or you ran a big update, but didn&#8217;t backup afterward? Don\u2019t be one of those website owners that regrets not doing a complete backup of WordPress site content!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"alert alert-info\">If you&#8217;re looking for a faster, better WordPress experience, check out the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/wordpress-hosting?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=blog\">WordPress Hosting<\/a> plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opinions vary on exactly how often you should update your full website, but we\u2019ve found that a few rules always hold true. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should always make a full backup of your WordPress site based on the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How often you upload, update, or change themes and plugins<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How often you add new content<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How much visitor interaction your site receives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let\u2019s figure out exactly how often you should update based on each:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Frequently Do You Update Your Website? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you update your WordPress website in any way \u2013 including changes to WordPress version, theme updates, plugin updates, or developmental changes \u2013 you should run a backup immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many hosting companies enable automated WordPress core, theme, or plugin updates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, there are dozens of plugins, like <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/install\/personal\/get\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jetpack<\/a>, that do the same. Even though you\u2019re not running these yourself, it\u2019s important to be aware of the update schedule so you can create backups to go along with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>At a minimum, you should <strong>backup your WordPress site at least once a week<\/strong>, and save the backup off-site and locally on your computer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Often Does Your Site\u2019s Content Change? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a very active website, it\u2019s likely that you frequently add new content. But what exactly counts as content? Anything that you create and publish online, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Blogs and articles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Photos and videos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Infographics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Audio files and podcasts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The frequency of your content updates should be a serious consideration when determining how often to backup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If, for instance, you only update once a week, you can backup once a week. But if you\u2019re adding new content on a daily basis \u2013 especially if you\u2019re adding multiple items every day \u2013 you should backup daily (or more).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just think about how time-consuming it would be to repost (or worse, rewrite and <em>then<\/em> repost) dozens of blogs or articles because you didn\u2019t back up your site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only way to protect all your hard work is to create a complete backup of WordPress site process so that this important step isn\u2019t overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Much Interaction Does Your Site Receive? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Does your site receive comments, contact forms, or purchases on the daily? Whenever a visitor interacts with your site in any way, those interactions are recorded in your WordPress database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your activity is very high \u2013 for example, you run a high-volume eCommerce store \u2013 the best bet is to run a real-time backup service that creates new restore points every time a change is detected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing A WordPress Backup Plugin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you have to run frequent backups, choosing a plugin that will do it for you is the safest option. Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because it leaves human error out of the mix. Rather than remembering to run a manual backup once a day (or more), it will get done automatically, without ever have to think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some of our favorites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/boldgrid-backup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Total Upkeep<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Total Upkeep is more than just a backup plugin. It is a full 360 solution that keeps your data safe and protects your website from catastrophic data loss. Total Upkeep offers automatic and manual backups, off-site backup storage, backup restoration, and website migration tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Total Upkeep also offers a Premium version that can install updates for WordPress itself, themes, or plugins for you, as well as provide a history of every file changed on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/support\/backup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jetpack<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Jetpack offers an all-in-one-solution for\u2026well, almost anything you might want to do on your WordPress site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From site analytics to site customization, it\u2019s all there. Perhaps most importantly, it offers a quick and easy backup solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jetpack backs up your content, settings, uploads, themes, and plugins automatically, once per day, with a paid subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"rank-math-link\" href=\"https:\/\/backwpup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BackWPup Pro<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BackWPup is another great option \u2013 especially if you\u2019re running multiple websites. It\u2019s known for being super-fast and offers offsite backup as an option. On the downside, it doesn\u2019t include a restore feature and can be a little difficult to figure out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/updraftplus\/\" target=\"_blank\">Updraft Plus Premium<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Updraft is always popular with WordPress users, and for good reason. It\u2019s highly accurate, fast, and the backup quality is excellent. It backs up everything from plugins and themes to custom files, and it\u2019s cheap to boot. Even better? It will allow you to create a new site in your network from a backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>How often to run a complete backup of WordPress site content depends on your site and how frequently it changes \u2013 but as a good general rule of thumb, <strong>the more often, the better<\/strong>. You\u2019ll never get upset with yourself for having <em>too much<\/em> backup data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a business owner, you never want to be in a situation where you lose data because you haven\u2019t run a backup, or you didn\u2019t run a backup at the right time. Yet, it happens fairly often. Many people assume that because they run regular backups their site will always be safe \u2013 but what<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/how-often-should-you-backup-your-wordpress-site\/\"> Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,211],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-backups","category-wordpress"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Often Should You Do a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Click to learn more about how to do a complete backup of your WordPress website. Backups help protect your data, and to ensure you don&#039;t lose information!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/how-often-should-you-backup-your-wordpress-site\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Often Should You Do a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click to learn more about how to do a complete backup of your WordPress website. Backups help protect your data, and to ensure you don&#039;t lose information!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/how-often-should-you-backup-your-wordpress-site\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"InMotion Hosting Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-10T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T19:44:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Backing-Up-Your-WordPress-Website-1024x538.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Often Should You Do a Complete Backup of Your WordPress Site","description":"Click to learn more about how to do a complete backup of your WordPress website. 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