How to backup a WordPress website
Data loss can become your worst nightmare. There is no sure way of avoiding hacks, hardware failure, and human error. After investing a lot of time and resources to develop your website, make sure to protect your investments and that your website has a backup.
Relying on your web host’s backups alone is a great risk no matter how efficient your hosting provider is. While we at Jolt are proud of our infrastructure; however, we strongly advise that customers take an extra step and install additional lines of defense.
Prerequisites
Before using backup tools and strategies, see to it the following points are checked in your list:
Reliable web hosting
Employ a reliable web hosting for your WordPress website. This does not mean you will have data loss of 0% but it will definitely minimise losses.
Stay up to date
Use the latest version of WordPress, plugins, and themes along with the latest software versions on your PC (browser, FTP client, and operating system updates).
Do not forget antivirus software. Get one right away if you do not have any and consult this article by Jolt Experts.
Backups
You may set up backups for your website in several ways. Plugins can do this. Yet, we believe this is a server-side job particularly if you have a large website.
cPanel backup
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You can create a backup for the whole site, or a partial version, and restore from the backup previously saved directly from your hosting account.
You can consult the official cPanel documentation for Backup Wizard.
The cPanel backups are not automated and cannot be scheduled. You only get a backup by performing the procedure manually. You cannot store backups generated by cPanel Backup Wizard in your hosting account. We recommend you download them to your PC.
The cPanel Backup Wizard is available in all WordPress Hosting plans.
CodeGuard
CodeGuard is a new website backup service working as a time machine for your website.
It takes periodical snapshots of the website and informs the owner regarding any changes detected. It also provides the capability to undo any changes made between snapshots.
This novel feature of tracking changes on a website will always notify the owner about malicious activities. If there are no changes, CodeGuard will not take a backup, skillfully utilizing the backup space. As a result, each backup in your account represents the unique status of your website.
CodeGuard does not require installation of plugins on your WordPress backend. It understands that backups is not a WordPress function. It has an effective WordPress Backup Walkthrough.
If none of the above options work for you, Jolt has solutions!