You’ve probably heard many times before how important it is to have hard drive backups in case something goes wrong with your computer, because losing your precious personal files can be extremely painful.

The same goes for websites. Unfortunately, threats to websites are quite serious. That's why we read news about a new giant website going down every day. Website backups keep you protected against these threats.

6 Reasons to Make Backups

It should be known that websites need to be backed up. Backups should be made not only against attacks but also as a precaution against errors. So why is a backup needed? This question can be answered with 6 items. 6 reasons to back up a website can be listed as follows:

1. Hackers

Hackers are rampant on the web. While some of these hackers’ common goals include stealing sensitive personal data like credit card numbers, many others have the same goal of justifying themselves or causing chaos.

Hackers are widespread around the world. Your site may be the target of a hacker attack at any time.  

2. Computer Crashes

It may be a good idea to keep a copy of your files, but if your PC crashes, your files will be lost. Backing up your files remotely is a good way to avoid these problems. Your computer may suddenly crash, which can cause your site files to be destroyed. Backing up files can be very helpful in such cases.

3. Wrong Updates

While regular updates usually mean new features and increased security, the results are not always the same. WordPress You need to make a backup before updating. There are many components on websites such as plugins, themes, software. An incorrect update on any of these can have negative consequences on a website.

Sites are updated regularly. This is important to experience the new features of these plugins and to make the site more effective. Although security measures are generally increased every day, this cannot be seen as a guarantee. Therefore, it is recommended to back up your site before a possible software, plugin or theme update.

4. Malware and Viruses

Even if your website seems safe under normal conditions, it can be infected with viruses, trojans or other malware from some 3rd party software. A carelessly downloaded plugin or theme can cause this. In such cases, a backup file can be a lifesaver.

No matter how secure your site may seem to you, it may actually be vulnerable to malware and viruses. You may encounter this problem even when you download a file from an unknown source due to a momentary distraction. This may be a new plugin or a new theme. You should back up your site in case of similar situations.

5. Employees' Mistakes

Let's face it, none of us are perfect, we can make mistakes. It is possible for an employee or you to click somewhere you shouldn't in a moment of absent-mindedness and accidentally delete some important files. Thanks to the backups you have taken, you can minimize the damage of such human errors. A momentary error can cause damage to the site. It could be you or your colleague. A point that should not be clicked can be clicked as a result of a small distraction. A necessary file can be deleted unconsciously. All of these are possible situations. Backups should be made as a precaution against these situations. 

6. Minimize Damage

One day, when you visit your website, instead of your usual landing page, you may encounter an unfamiliar error page. In such a case, it is not difficult to understand that something is wrong. The important thing is how to deal with this situation; either you panic and try to figure out what to do, or you stay calm and restore the backup you made before and minimize your damage.

Your website may be damaged for any reason. However, the important thing in this case is not to lose control. In case the site data is damaged or even infected with a virus, you can restore the backups you made instead of panicking. 

How to Backup a Website?

If you're convinced that website backups are something you need to do, there are a few different steps you can take.

• Your hosting provider As offered by NettaCompany Make sure they offer a backup service and leave the backup work to them.
• Reach out to the person who designed your website and ask them to back up your website for you. They probably know how to do it.
• Purchase an additional backup service. It can be costly but useful.
• Install a backup plugin. Some plugins, like Dropbox, allow you to schedule your backups and send your files to a cloud service like Dropbox.
• If you have a smaller website, you can try compressing your files into a ZIP folder and emailing them to yourself. This is a great way to do it for small websites. If your files are larger than your email providers allow, or if you think your site will grow larger over time, you may want to take other steps.
• Keep a copy of your files on your computer. But do this in addition to one of the other options. After all, having 2 different copies of your files never hurt anyone.

Steps on how to backup a site:

• First of all, you can make an agreement with a hosting company that offers website backup service. This way, your site will be backed up without you having to bother.
• If you had someone else create the site, you can reach out to them. They probably know how to back up the site. 
• You can purchase additional backup services. This step may seem costly to you, but when you consider the damage that will occur later, you will change your mind. 
• You can install a backup plugin on your site. You can back up your site with popular plugins like Dropbox. These applications allow you to back up the files on your site in a cloud system.
• You can convert your files to ZIP format and send them to your own address via e-mail. This option can be effective for small sites. However, for sites that are larger or will reach larger file sizes in the future, other methods may be a better option.
• You can keep copies of the files on your computer. However, this option may not provide complete security protection on its own. This step is more of an additional precaution in addition to the previous options.  

Backing up your site is a study that you will understand the benefits of more clearly in the long run. You should not underestimate the threats your site may face. You should not forget that your site is your most important investment. Backing up may seem costly and arduous at first. However, when it is damaged, reversing this result is much more difficult and the consequences can be more costly. In order not to encounter such situations, you should back up your site. 

Backing up your site doesn’t take much of your time and is also low cost. Considering the seriousness of current threats, backup costs are a valuable investment to make. Back up your website now and avoid having to create a website from scratch in case something goes wrong.