Backing up the various files on our computer is a fairly regular activity for most of us. After all, it is the sensible thing to do given the various threats, like being infected with malware, these digital files face. However, have you ever considered that your websites face as many, if not more, risks as the files on your computer?
Websites are quite important for any organization or individual professional as they are the main source for potential customers to know about them. An interesting survey showed that there are more than 1.7 billion websites available online, and globally, too.
If you were to lose your website because of a hack or any other threat today, you would face a lot of difficulties, and to build it back up, you need to start from scratch. All the while, you will get fewer new customers and your organization will be impacted negatively.
To avoid any of this from happening, it is very important that you maintain an offline backup of your website. By doing this, you won’t have to start from square one if for some reason your website is damaged. Below are 3 points that will make it easier for you to understand the whole process of managing your website data offline:
1. The need for website backups
As mentioned above, websites are pretty important. It is not easy to build a website. A lot of financial resources and time goes into it.
If you were to lose your website because of a problem and you don’t have a back-up, you would hate to spend a similar sum of money to rebuild it.
Not to mention the productive hours that will be spent in just building a new website from scratch. Your organization will also be at a risk of monetary losses if the website was generating money via the content you put up or attract clients.
2. Things to keep in mind
The Frequency of back-ups
Just as you back-up your important files on a regular basis, it is important to back-up your website frequently. The number of times you back it up per week or per day can depend on the frequency of changes you make to it and the storage capacity you have available.
It is crucial to be up to date with your website back-ups because if your website is damaged, a back-up from a couple of months back would be of little use to you.
Where to store the back-up?
If you are using a software that automatically backs-up your website, the storage location would generally be on a cloud server.
However, if you want, you can also save copies on your computer. The storage location of the back-up depends on what you find more easily accessible.
3. Using an online backup service
A website is quite complex and therefore storing an exact copy of all the data on it is not an easy task to perform manually. An online service can help you in the following ways:
- It will become easier to back-up the website: Using an online service will help you reduce the burden of having to manually back up the website regularly and maintain an archive on your computer. It would automatically do so and you would be able to spend the time you have spent doing some other productive work.
- You will be able to recover your website faster: The main reason why you are backing up your website in the first place is to ensure that you are able to restore it to the most recent version as soon as possible in case it is damaged. An online service will help you commit to that.
- Enhanced security: Using an online back-up service would ensure that your backups are stored in a secured location and aren’t lost, damaged, or stolen.
There are many website archiving tools available online, which can help you with the online backup of your website.
These websites get backed up in real-time, and the tools are mostly automated. They also help in taking automated screenshots, at your desired frequency, and also store it in your desired location.
All of these things are crucial in ensuring that your website is properly backed up and you don’t face any difficulties if your website is damaged for some reason in the future.
