A website backup is a saved copy of your site — its files, database, and content — that can be restored if something goes wrong. For small business websites, backups are one of the most important things to have in place and one of the most commonly neglected.
What can go wrong without backups
A plugin update breaks the site: WordPress updates happen frequently. Occasionally, a plugin update conflicts with something else and the site stops working. With a backup from before the update, recovery takes minutes. Without one, the problem has to be debugged from scratch.
A hack corrupts the site: If malicious code gets injected into a website, it can be difficult to remove completely. A clean backup from before the compromise makes full recovery straightforward.
Accidental content deletion: Someone removes the wrong page, or a database error wipes records. Without a backup, that content is gone.
Hosting failure: Server-level failures are rare but happen. If a host loses data without its own backup system, there's no recovery path.
How often should backups run?
For an active business website, daily backups are the minimum. The more frequently a site is updated — new pages, blog posts, product changes — the more frequently backups should run.
Backups should also be stored separately from the server they're backing up, so that a server-level failure doesn't take the backup with it.
What NC Digital includes
Backups are standard on all websites we host. They run automatically, are stored offsite, and are available for restore if needed. It's one of those things that runs silently in the background — until the day you need it.
Read about what else our managed hosting covers or find out more about our hosting and security service.