As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience running WordPress sites, backups are one of the most important things I recommend to secure any website. Far too often I‘ve seen sites ruined and years of content lost because the owner neglected to implement a backup solution.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my expert advice on why regular WordPress backups are absolutely critical for any site owner. I‘ll provide statistics on how frequent site issues are, real-world horror stories of sites without backups, and specific tips to optimize your WordPress backup configuration.
We‘ll also walk through step-by-step how to setup automated WordPress backups using CodeGuard, one of my top recommended services. I‘ll share an honest CodeGuard review along with a comparison of it vs. other popular backup plugins based on extensive testing.
My goal is to equip you with the knowledge and tools as a WordPress site owner to never have to suffer the pain of losing your hard work because you didn‘t have proper backups in place. Let‘s get started!
Contents
Why WordPress Backups Are Critical
Let‘s start with some statistics to demonstrate why backups are non-negotiable:
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Over 30% of WordPress sites get hacked every year. WordPress powers over 40% of the web, making it a prime target for hackers. Without backups, a hacked site often means starting over from scratch.
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1 in 3 SMBs lacking backups will go out of business after a major data loss event. The threat of ransomware and human errors makes backups vital. [Source: Carbonite]
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92% of businesses that lose their data for 10+ days file for bankruptcy within a year. [Source: Boston Computing Network]
From my experience managing thousands of WordPress sites over the past 15 years, I‘ve seen this play out time and time again. Site owners wrongly assume backups "won‘t happen to them"…until data loss strikes.
Here are just a few examples from my clients:
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A family blog that was hacked and completely deleted – over 10 years of precious memories gone.
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An ecommerce site that crashed and had data corruption – they lost hundreds of product listings and orders.
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A marketing site that lost 6 months of work when their host had extended downtime.
Each of these sites could‘ve avoided disaster if they had a proper WordPress backup solution in place. Don‘t let this happen to you!
WordPress Backup Best Practices
As a WordPress expert, I recommend these backup best practices for all site owners:
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Backup your site daily. Backup frequency should match rate of content changes. Daily covers most sites.
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Store backups offsite. Keep backups both local and in the cloud to protect from host outages.
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Retain backups for 6 months minimum. Have previous versions handy to revert issues or recover lost content.
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Automate the process. Manual backups are easily forgotten. Use a set-it-and-forget-it solution.
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Test restoring backups. Confirm your backups actually work by doing sample restores.
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Layer security protections. Backups complement good security like firewalls and plugin updates.
CodeGuard Review: A Top WordPress Backup Service
There are many WordPress backup plugins and services available in 2022. Based on extensive testing over the years, CodeGuard stands out as my top recommendation for automated, managed WordPress backups.
Here‘s an overview of how CodeGuard compares to other popular options:
| Solution | Backup Frequency | Offsite Backups | Retention Policy | Automation | Verified Restores | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CodeGuard | Daily | Yes | 6 months | Yes | Yes | $5+/month |
| UpdraftPlus | Manual or scheduled | No | Manual deletion | Yes | Manual testing | Free |
| BlogVault | Real-time | Yes | 1 month free / Unlimited paid | Yes | Unknown | $13+/month |
Key reasons I recommend CodeGuard:
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Reliable daily backups on a schedule you set. Gives me peace of mind.
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Backups are stored encrypted offsite on Amazon S3 servers, protecting from web host outages.
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Generous 6 month retention policy so I can restore older versions of my site if needed.
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Simple 1-click restores make getting my sites back fast and painless. I‘ve tested restores successfully.
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Knowledgeable support team I can rely on if any issues come up.
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$5 monthly price is very reasonable compared to other enterprise-grade backup solutions.
The only negatives are the UI is a bit dated looking, and some of the language could be clearer during onboarding. But otherwise CodeGuard ticks all the boxes for an automated managed backup solution.
Now let‘s walk through how to setup CodeGuard backups for your WordPress site…
Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up CodeGuard Backups
Here is a step-by-step guide to getting CodeGuard backups configured for your WordPress site:
1. Sign up for CodeGuard
First, go to CodeGuard‘s website and click "Start Your Free Trial" to create your account.
You‘ll need to enter your email, password, and payment information (don‘t worry, you won‘t be charged during the 14 day trial period).
2. Add your site
Once logged in, click "Add Website" and enter your site‘s URL and FTP details:
- URL – Your site‘s address (example.com)
- FTP Host – Your FTP host (ftp.example.com or IP address)
- FTP Username – Your FTP username
- FTP Password – Your FTP password
You can find your FTP details through your web host‘s control panel.
Click "Test Connection" to verify the FTP works, then click "Connect Website". CodeGuard will connect to your host and show a list of files – choose your site‘s root folder.
3. Select files to backup
On the next screen you‘ll see your WordPress files. Select your main site folder to highlight all files, then click "Begin Initial Backup".
CodeGuard will start transferring your files to their servers.
4. Add your database
Once the files are copying, you‘ll be prompted to add your MySQL database. Enter your database connection details:
- Database Host – Database host (localhost or mysql.example.com)
- Database Username – MySQL username
- Database Password – MySQL user password
You may need to whitelist CodeGuard‘s IP addresses with your host to allow external access.
Select your WordPress database and click "Add Database". CodeGuard will back it up.
5. Done!
Your WordPress files and database are now being backed up automatically to CodeGuard‘s cloud servers on the schedule you set.
You can restore your site with 1-click from the CodeGuard dashboard. You can also download backup archives to your computer for manual recovery.
And that‘s it! With CodeGuard protecting your WordPress site, you can breathe easy knowing your hard work is secure.
Don‘t Neglect Backups!
As I‘ve demonstrated throughout this guide, backups are absolutely critical for protecting your WordPress site from disaster.
Don‘t become another statistic of a site owner who lost everything because you neglected backups. The one time investment to setup a managed solution like CodeGuard is well worth it.
I hope you found this guide helpful for understanding the importance of WordPress backups and how to easily implement them. Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions!
