WordPress Backup Guide: How to Protect Your Website

WordPress Backup Guide: How to Protect Your Website

30,000 websites get hacked every day (source: Sucuri). Hosting servers crash. Updates go wrong. Plugins create conflicts.

Without backup, you can lose all your work in seconds.

This guide shows you exactly how to secure your WordPress site with reliable backups.

Table of Contents

1. Why is backup important?
2. What should you back up?
3. Backup strategies
4. The best backup plugins
5. Manual backup
6. Where to store backups?
7. Automatic vs manual backup
8. How to restore from backup
9. Backup checklist
10. FAQ

Why is backup important?

Typical scenarios where backup saves you

1. Hacking and malware Your site gets infected with malicious code. Without backup, you have to rebuild everything from scratch.

2. Hosting failures Servers fail. Disks crash. Data centers burn down. It happens more often than you think.

3. Human errors You delete something by mistake. An employee updates incorrectly. It happens to all of us.

4. Failed updates A plugin or theme update crashes your site. With backup, you just roll back.

5. Malicious attacks Ransomware, DDoS, or a disgruntled former employee. Backup is your last line of defense.

Statistics that should scare you

• 60% of small businesses close within 6 months after major data loss
• 30,000+ WordPress sites get hacked daily (source: Sucuri)
• 1 in 10 computers gets infected with malware each month

What should you back up?

A complete WordPress backup consists of two parts:

1. Files

• WordPress core – All WordPress files
• wp-content/themes – Your theme and child theme
• wp-content/plugins – All plugins
• wp-content/uploads – All images and media files
• wp-config.php – Database credentials and configuration
• .htaccess – Server configuration

2. Database

Your MySQL database contains:

• All posts and pages
• Comments
• User accounts
• Plugin and theme settings
• All your content!

Backup strategies

The 3-2-1 rule

The golden standard for backup:

• 3 copies of your data
• 2 different storage media
• 1 copy offsite (not on your server)

Example of a good backup strategy

How often should you back up?

It depends on how often your content changes:

• Daily – Webshops, news sites, active blogs
• Weekly – Regular business sites with frequent updates
• Monthly – Static sites that rarely change

Rule of thumb: Ask yourself: "How much work can I afford to lose?" If the answer is "one day's work", take daily backups.

The best backup plugins

1. WPvivid (Recommended)

Price: Free / Pro from $49/year

Pros:

• Free migration and backup in one plugin
• Automatic backup to cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, and more)
• Scheduled backups with flexible intervals
• Built-in staging environment for safely testing updates
• Easy one-click restore

Cons:

• Pro required for advanced features like incremental backup
• Less well-known than UpdraftPlus

Best for: Most WordPress users — especially if you also need migration

2. UpdraftPlus

Price: Free / Premium from $70/year

Pros:

• Most popular backup plugin (3+ million installations)
• Automatic backup to cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3)
• Easy one-click restore
• Incremental backups in premium

Cons:

• Premium required for advanced features
• Interface can be confusing

Best for: Those who prefer the most widely used plugin with a large community

3. BlogVault

Price: From $89/year

Pros:

• Offsite backup (your server isn't affected)
• Incremental daily backups
• Built-in staging
• Malware scanning included

Cons:

• More expensive than alternatives
• Requires payment

Best for: Professional sites and agencies

4. BackWPup

Price: Free / Pro from €69/year

Pros:

• Free cloud backup (Dropbox, S3)
• XML export option
• Job scheduling
• Database optimization

Cons:

• Restore requires manual work in free version
• Older interface

Best for: Technically savvy users on a budget

5. Jetpack Backup (VaultPress)

Price: From $10/month

Pros:

• Real-time backup
• Automatic malware scanning
• Activity log
• One-click restore

Cons:

• Requires Jetpack (heavy plugin)
• Ongoing monthly payment

Best for: Those already using Jetpack

6. Duplicator

Price: Free / Pro from $49/year

Pros:

• Excellent for migration
• Creates installable packages
• Cloud backup in Pro

Cons:

• Primarily designed for migration
• Not ideal for automatic backups

Best for: Migration between servers

Manual backup

Although plugins are easiest, you should know how to take manual backups.

Backup files (FTP/SFTP)

1. Connect to your server with FileZilla or similar
2. Download the entire public_html or www folder
3. Save locally and/or upload to cloud

Backup database (phpMyAdmin)

1. Log into your hosting control panel
2. Open phpMyAdmin
3. Select your WordPress database
4. Click "Export"
5. Choose "Quick" and format "SQL"
6. Click "Go" and save the .sql file

Backup via WP-CLI

For the technically inclined:

# Backup database
wp db export backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
 
# Or complete backup
wp db export - | gzip > backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

Where to store backups?

❌ Wrong: On the same server

If the server crashes, you lose both site AND backup. Never acceptable.

✅ Right: Offsite storage

Recommended options:

Automatic vs manual backup

Automatic backup (recommended)

Pros:

• You never forget
• Consistent and reliable
• Runs in the background

Cons:

• Requires setup
• Uses server resources

Manual backup

Pros:

• Full control
• No extra plugins

Cons:

• You will forget (guaranteed)
• Time-consuming

When to take manual backup?

Besides automatic backups, always take manual backup:

• ☐ Before WordPress core updates
• ☐ Before major plugin updates
• ☐ Before theme changes
• ☐ Before installing new plugins
• ☐ Before making database changes

How to restore from backup

With WPvivid

1. Go to WPvivid Backup → Backups
2. Find the desired backup in the list
3. Click "Restore"
4. Choose what to restore (files, database, or both)
5. Confirm and wait for the restore to complete

Manual restore

1. Files:

   • Upload backup files via FTP
   • Overwrite existing files

2. Database:

   • Open phpMyAdmin
   • Select your database
   • Click "Import"
   • Choose your .sql backup file
   • Click "Go"

Test your backup!

Backup checklist

Initial setup

• ☐ Install backup plugin (WPvivid recommended)
• ☐ Set up cloud storage (Google Drive/S3/Dropbox)
• ☐ Configure automatic schedule
• ☐ Take first full backup
• ☐ Test restore on staging

Weekly

• ☐ Verify automatic backups are running
• ☐ Check that backup files exist in cloud

Monthly

• ☐ Review backup logs for errors
• ☐ Clean up old backups
• ☐ Consider if backup frequency is appropriate

Yearly

• ☐ Test full restore on staging
• ☐ Evaluate backup solution
• ☐ Update backup strategy if needed

FAQ

How much space does a backup require?

It depends on your site size. Typically:

• Small blog: 50-200 MB
• Business site: 200 MB - 1 GB
• Webshop: 1-5 GB

Do backups affect my site speed?

During the backup process, there may be a slight impact. Therefore:

• Run backups at night
• Use offsite processing (BlogVault) if possible
• Use incremental backups

Can I trust my host's backup?

Most hosts offer backup, but:

• Often only one daily backup
• Restore may cost extra
• You have less control

Recommendation: Always use your own backup solution in addition to your host's.

How long should I keep backups?

• Latest backup: Always available
• Daily backups: 7-14 days
• Weekly backups: 4 weeks
• Monthly backups: 3-6 months

Conclusion

Backup isn't sexy. It's not fun. But it's absolutely necessary.

Spend 15 minutes today setting up WPvivid with automatic cloud backup. It can save you countless hours of work and thousands of dollars.

Your action today:

1. Install WPvivid
2. Connect to Google Drive or Dropbox
3. Set up automatic daily backup
4. Take your first backup NOW

Related articles

• WordPress security guide
• Best security plugins
• WordPress hacked – what to do?
• WordPress maintenance guide