If you just answered, “My hosting provider!”, you really need to read this!
Here’s the most common scenario.
You just updated your WordPress website and now you’re seeing a White Screen of Death or maybe your design is messed up. Maybe you just see a few fatal error messages and can’t access the WP Admin.
Now what!?
Some people might call their hosting provider to see if they can undo what they just did or if they can restore the site from a backup.
Most hosting companies have backups, or the option to add backups to your hosting account, but do you know if you have backups?
Most Managed WordPress Hosting solutions have daily backups built in, which is nice.
Hosting providers that offer cPanel hosting should also have a backup option that is usually an additional charge, but worth the investment even if you never have to use it.
My hosting company doesn’t do backups?
Outside of the above options, the hosting company will likely have a backup, but these backups are not easy to access and are not intended for fixing your screw up. These backs are what the company uses to cover their butts.
Because space is precious, they’re not going to keep those backups for a long period of time, 4-30 days is pretty common. And there’s no telling how old the available backup is.
If they make this backup available to you, you’re going to pay for it!
Who’s fault is it?
Yours!
Every hosting company I’ve ever used has a similar policy and procedure for content. They don’t take any responsibility for your content.
Which includes providing backups.
Your website, your responsibility. It’s your job to maintain that content and ensure you have a backup plan which may mean you hire somebody to manage your websites for you to make sure it’s getting done.
Doing it yourself?
If you’re going to manage your backups yourself. There is nothing wrong with some redundancy.
Meaning, paying for the backup service your hosting provider offers, and having your own backup solution.
As for the backup solution I recommend, Sucuri Disaster Recovery!
You can use WordPress backup plugins but they often cause a bunch of problems because they’re resource hogs.
If you’re a WebPro you may want to check out ManageWP, it does a lot more than just backups that will enable you to better manage your WordPress Websites, but that is all we’re discussing here!
You’ll find a step-by-step on how to use the ManageWP backup solution here.
Hiring a website maintenance provider!
I’m just going to point out the things that you want to make sure you’re getting from a paid maintenance service.
- Backups. Daily is ideal.
- Updates. WordPress, Plugins, and Themes
- Security Scan. At least a monthly scan..
- Uptime Monitoring. To make sure your site is online.
- Spam & Revision Optimization. Keeping your database lean and clean.
- Monthly Reports. So you know what was done and when.
In my opinion these things are the most important, the bare minimum that you should be getting.
The reports are a must. That is how you verify that stuff is actually getting done.
Our service provides these and more! It even eliminates stress and cures headaches.
Summing this up.
You need to take ownership of your site and not expect that your hosting provider is. They’re not!
If you don’t want to do it yourself, then you need to find someone that can do it for you, because it needs to be done.
Leave your questions and comments below or use the chat.