Backup Your WordPress Website With These 5 Plugins
If you have your own WordPress website then you should definitely consider keeping a backup of it. Backups give you peace of mind knowing all your data is backed up and secure just incase your website gets hacked or you accidentally lock yourself out. Manually backing up a WordPress website can be a painstaking task, but luckily there are plenty of WordPress backup plugins that can do the job for you.
If you’re looking to migrate your WordPress website to another server or host then using a backup plugin can also save you a lot of time and effort. Most of these plugins come with cloning features which are perfect for doing this kind of thing.
WordPress Backup Plugin #1: Duplicator
The first WordPress backup plugin on the list is Duplicator, a simple free plugin that is capable of backing up your data and duplicating your whole website. The plugin has been installed over half a million times and is currently one of the highest rated plugins on the WordPress website.
The plugin gives you the option to migrate, copy and clone your website from one location to another which greatly reduces the time compared to if you did it manually.
Due to the power of the plugin it is sometimes considered fairly hard to use so a good technical knowledge is essential. If you’re not 100% sure what you are doing then we would suggest talking to a WordPress expert or seeking help.
WordPress Backup Plugin #2: BackUpWordPress
Another great free option to backup your WordPress website is the appropriately named plugin BackUpWordPress. This plugin will backup your entire site including your files and database at a scheduled time that suits your needs.
It requires no setup and works on very low memory, which is great if you use shared hosting and don’t have much server power or resources.
The plugin gives you the option to use ZIP and mysqldump files for faster backups. Which can greatly reduce the backup times.
BackUpWordPress also offers support in multiple languages which is a great feature and most of the other plugins stick to English only.
WordPress Backup Plugin #3: UpdraftPlus Backup and Restoration
Another popular WordPress backup plugin, UpdraftPlus Backup and Restoration allows you to backup your files directly to the Amazon S3 cloud storage via FTP. It also allows you to use other popular online file storage solutions such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Rackspace Cloud and DreamObjects.
Although the free version of this plugin lets you do all the main things such as backing up to a different remote server they also offer a premium version. The premium version of the plugin allows you to clone databases, use secure FTP transfer and send backups to remote destinations.
Also included with the premium version is a gigabyte worth of backup storage on the Updraft Vault. Which should be more than enough storage space for most websites.
WordPress Backup Plugin #4: BackupBuddy
BackupBuddy is a premium WordPress plugin that allows you to easily schedule daily, weekly or monthly backups and store them in Dropbox. It is also possible to change to the external backup location to Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud or even email a copy to yourself (although it’s not recommended).
The biggest benefit of using BackUpBuddy is that it is not a subscription based service. You can use the plugin on as many websites as your plan includes. You also get 1GB of cloud storage space for your websites backups.
Another useful feature is that you can use the plugin to move WordPress to a new host with no downtime which is what every website owner wants nowadays.
WordPress Backup Plugin #5: BackWPup
BackWPup is a free versatile plugin that allows you to create complete WordPress backups for free and store it on a cloud storage service of your choice. Some of the storage services include Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace etc. You can also have the backup sent to a FTP storage location, email or downloaded to your computer.
It is also extremely easy to set up automatic backups as frequently as you like with this simple to use WordPress backup plugin.
There is also a premium version of the plugin that comes with some additional premium features such as priority support, the ability to store backups on Google Drive and many other cool features.
Remember – the most expensive backup is the one you never did! If you are looking for more help and tips regarding this important topic then make sure to have a read through our other blog posts or contact us using the link below.
