If Your Server Fails Tonight and Your Last Backup Is from Last Month, You Just Lost Everything.
Automated backups to cloud storage mean your WordPress site is backed up daily, every backup is stored safely off your server, and you can restore with one click — even if your entire hosting account has been wiped. Here is how to set up a backup system you never have to think about.
“A manual backup taken whenever someone remembers is not a backup strategy. It is a hope. Automate it or lose your data.”
The Setup
1. Install UpdraftPlus. Free version includes scheduled backups and cloud storage to Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3. 2. Configure schedule. Daily database backups. Weekly full file backups — or daily if your site content changes frequently. 3. Choose cloud storage. Google Drive (free 15GB), Dropbox, or Amazon S3 (pennies per GB). Never store backups only on your web server — a server failure destroys your backups alongside your site. 4. Set retention. Keep 30 daily database backups. Keep 4 weekly full backups. Storage space is cheap — losing content is expensive. 5. Test restoration. Once per quarter, restore your latest backup to a staging site. Verify the site loads, all content is present, and all functionality works. A backup you cannot restore is not a backup. For professional backup configuration and monitoring, see our WordPress Services page.
“Automated cloud backups are the cheapest insurance you will ever buy for your business website. Set it up once. Sleep better every night.”
