Backups are one of those things that feel unnecessary right up until the moment they're the only thing standing between you and rebuilding your entire site from nothing.
The General Rule
Backup frequency should roughly match how often your site changes. A rarely-updated brochure site needs backups less often than an active e-commerce store or blog with daily changes.
Recommended Frequency by Site Type
- Static brochure sites: weekly backups are usually sufficient
- Active blogs or content sites: daily backups protect against losing recent posts
- E-commerce stores: daily, or even more frequent, given constantly changing orders and inventory
Where Backups Should Be Stored
Backups stored only on the same server as your site offer little protection if that entire server fails or is compromised. Off-site backup storage — a separate location entirely — is the safer standard.
Test Your Backups Occasionally
A backup you've never tested restoring is a backup you can't be fully confident works when you actually need it.
What Happens Without Backups
Without a recent backup, recovering from a hack, accidental deletion, or server failure can mean rebuilding your entire site from scratch — a costly, time-consuming outcome that's entirely avoidable.
Check Your Current Setup
All our hosting plans include regular automated backups as standard. If you're unsure whether your current hosting backs up your site — or how often — ask us to check.