Are you worried that a server crash or a malicious attack by hackers may lead to you losing your website? Or are you about to install a new theme, plugin, addon, or make some changes to the core files of your website, and you’re afraid that something may go wrong? Well, I’ll let you know now that you no longer need to harbor these fears.
The best way to backup a WordPress website is through a reliable web hosting provider via instant backups or automatic daily backups. This is followed by backing up a WordPress website using a plugin like All-in-One WP Migration or UpdraftPlus.
A backup is essentially a full copy of your website’s files and database. With a backup, you will be able to restore your website back to its former glory if something detrimental was to happens to it. Throughout the remainder of this article, we will take an in-depth look at the two backup methods mentioned above.
Backup Your WordPress Website Via Your Web Host
The simplest most headache-free way to backup your WordPress website or blog without a plugin is through your web host. Now not all web hosting providers are the same, some may offer this feature and some may not.
My website, the one you’re currently reading this article on is hosted with Siteground Managed WordPress Hosting. Siteground provides one of the most reliable hosting services and offers daily automatic backups as well as instant backups depending on your selected hosting plan.
They provide daily automatic backups on all of their web hosting packages including their most basic plan which starts at $6.99. If this is the functionality that you are looking for then you can sign up for one of their managed WordPress hosting plans and migrate your website or blog to their servers.
If you’ve currently got a hosting plan with SiteGround and would like to access or create a backup follow the following steps:
Step 1: Log into your SiteGround account.
Step 2: Select the website tab then click on site tools.
Step 3: Using the menu to the left select the security tab then click on backups.
Step 4: On the backups page you can create an instant backup by using the “Create New Backup” option (To create an instant backup you’ll need to at least be subscribed to SiteGround’s “GrowBig” plan).
Step 5: To view all the automatic backups that SiteGround has created for you scroll down to the “manage backups” section.
Backup Your WordPress Website Using a Plugin
If you’re looking for a free plugin that requires no technical knowledge to backup your wordpress site or blog then All-in-One WP Migration is the one for you.
The free version of this plugin allows you to do a complete backup of your wordpress site to your computer. By complete I mean it backs up your database, media files, plugins, and themes in a single file that you can then use to restore your website if something goes wrong.
This is a plugin that I have used multiple times to move websites from a staging server to a live server. So I highly recommend you use All-in-One WP Migration for all your backup needs.
Step 1: Go to your WordPress dashboard hover over plugins then click on add new.
Step 2: Use the search bar and type in “all in one wp migration”.
Step 3: Install and activate the plugin after which a new menu option will appear in the sidebar.
Step 4: Hover over the All-in-One WP Migration menu option and then click on “export”.
Step 5: On the export site page click on the Export to button and select “file”.
Step 6: When the plugin is finished creating your backup click on download now.
Step 7 (optional): Create a folder called “yourwebsitename-backup” and save your backup files in that folder for better organization.
All-in-One WP Migration Free vs Premium Features
As I mentioned before All-in-One WP Migration has a free and paid version. Current on the latest free version of All-in-One WP Migration the only limitation when it comes to creating a backup is the location that you’re allowed to export your backup to. The premium version unlocks all the other export and import options which include: URL FTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, and much more.
The main reason for backing up your WordPress website is to have the ability to restore it if something goes wrong. With the free version of All-in-One WP Migration, you are limited to restoring from a backup that is located on your computer.
Because of this, if you’re using shared hosting you’re only permitted to upload backup files that are smaller than the maximum upload limit set by your hosting provider.
The premium version of All-in-One WP Migration allows you to restore directly from their built-in backups option.
With this feature, you are able to restore from backups that you have uploaded directly to your file manager. The beauty of this is that some web hosting providers like SiteGround don’t impose an upload file size limit if you’re working directly with the file manager. Therefore you’re able to upload backup files that are larger than the maximum upload file size limit set by your hosting provider.
Final Thoughts On Backing Up Your WordPress Site or Blog
Regardless of which method you use, you should always backup your WordPress website before making any major changes to it.
If you’re a beginner. I highly recommend that you use a plugin or get a hosting plan that offers daily automatic backups along with instant manual backups.
If you’re more advanced and would like to learn how to manually backup your WordPress website and database without the assistance of a plugin or service provided by your hosting provider you can view my other tutorial where I cover that.
