The importance of regularly backing up your website
- 2 min reading time
Are you among the wise 80% of computer users who regularly back up their computers? The importance of back-ups often becomes truly clear once data gets lost due to a virus or computer malfunction. But have you also considered backing up your website?
Why do you need to backup your website?
Just like computers, websites can also be affected by server crashes or viruses, which could lead to the loss of important data. Regular back-ups are crucial to ensure that your website continues working properly.
How do you create a back-up?
Backing up all of your data, including the database, at least once a day is recommended. Most hosting services offer the option of setting up back-ups through the customer dashboard. Monthly, weekly or daily settings are popular, but this can vary.
Back-ups via a CMS: Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress or Magento, often use modules or plugins for back-ups. These tools offer flexibility, allowing you to choose which files you want to include. This means you can reduce the file size by excluding any unnecessary files.
Plugins for WordPress
Several plugins such as UpdraftPlus, VaultPress, BackupBuddy and BlogVault, add backup functionality to WordPress. UpdraftPlus, for example, offers a user-friendly interface with advanced options, including the ability to store back-ups in remote locations.
Built-in module in Magento 2
Magento 2 has a built-in back-up module that you can activate and customise according to your needs. Some technical knowledge is required for this.
Restoring a back-up
It may be necessary to restore a back-up in case of any issues. If you restore through a hosting provider,this often restores everything as it was at that specific point in time, so do be careful if your emails are included. With CMS recovery, you can specifically select what should be replaced.
Importance for e-commerce: For online shops, it is essential to remember that restoring an earlier version could lead to data loss. Orders, customer information and operations that occurred after the moment the back-up was created will be lost. Be sure to export this data before restoring to avoid any problems.
