The best time to think about backups is before you need one. A solid backup routine turns a disaster — a hack, a failed update, a fat-fingered deletion — into a ten-minute inconvenience. Here’s how to do it properly.
What a complete backup includes
A WordPress site is two things: files (WordPress core, your theme, plugins and uploads) and the database (posts, pages, settings, users). A real backup captures both. Miss the database and you lose all your content; miss the files and you lose your theme and images.
Method 1: cPanel backup
The simplest complete backup lives right in cPanel.
- Open Backup (or Backup Wizard) under Files.
- Choose Download a Full Account Backup for everything, or download the home directory and MySQL database separately.
- Save the resulting file somewhere safe — ideally off the server entirely.
Method 2: a backup plugin
For scheduled, automated backups, a dedicated plugin is convenient. Configure it to back up files and database on a schedule and, crucially, to send copies to remote storage like Google Drive or Dropbox. A backup sitting on the same server it’s meant to protect isn’t much use if the server itself fails.
The rule that matters most: keep copies off-site
Whatever method you choose, at least one recent backup should live somewhere other than your hosting account. If a backup only exists on the same server as your site, a single server-level failure takes both. Cloud storage or your own computer both work.
Test your restore
This is the step everyone skips. A backup you’ve never restored is a hope, not a plan. At least once, restore a backup to a staging site and confirm it actually comes back clean. You want to discover a broken backup during a drill, not during a real emergency.
How often?
Match backup frequency to how often your site changes. A brochure site that rarely updates is fine weekly. An active shop or blog should back up daily. Before any major change — updates, migrations, theme swaps — always take a fresh one first.
Prefer not to think about it at all? Ask us about automated off-site backups as part of your hosting.
