It is vital that you backup your website regularly. This will ensure you will not lose everything if your website is hacked or compromised in some way.
The cheapest way to backup is to manually backup your database and files on a regular basis. A more practical solution is to automate backing up using a third party plugin or service. This is not an area to scrimp and save. You should ensure that your backup solution is reliable and effective.
Blog Backups
If you search the support forums of popular blogging platforms such as WordPress, you will find thousands of threads from frustrated bloggers who have seen their blog go offline. Sometimes this is due to their own error, sometimes it is due to being hacked, and sometimes it is because a plugin they installed caused a fatal error.
Having a reliable blog backup solution will let you restore your blog in the event of your blog going down. Some of the best blogging backup solutions are listed below.
Akeeba BackupA free Joomla component that allows you to backup your installation via FTP. | |
BackupBuddyA WordPress backup plugin backs up your entire WordPress installation. It allows you to send back up files to Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, your email address, or directly to your desktop. It costs $75 to use the plugin on two websites, $100 on ten websites, and $150 on an unlimited number of websites. | |
BackupCreatorA WordPress backup plugin that allows you to backup your installation to your computer, to your email, via FTP, or to Amazon S3. It only costs $7 to buy the plugin. | |
BlogVaultA WordPress backup service that allows you to backup, restore, and migrate your blog. Plans start at $9 a month to backup one blog. | |
VaultPressAn amazing WordPress backup service from the makers of WordPress. The service backs up your blog every hour and you can restore any backup from any time, whether the backup file was made one day ago or two years ago. The basic service costs $15 per month per blog. |
Website Backup
The following backup services can be used to backup any type of website (including blogs).
BackupMachineA fully automatic backup service that can restore a backup in minutes. Their daily backup option costs $9.99 per month and allows a whopping 600GB of storage. It only costs $4.99 per month if you only need weekly backups. | |
BackupSFWebsite backup software that can back up your database and files using FTP. The application costs $25 if you need to backup two websites and $39 for backing up to twenty-five websites. | |
CodeGuardA backup, restoration, and monitoring service that supports most major blogging and hosting platforms. It only costs $5 per month to back up one blog. | |
CPanelSiteBackupA simple backup solution that works with any hosting service that uses cPanel. The base account only costs $1.80 per month for 1GB of backup storage space. | |
DropMySiteA website backup service that allows you to schedule daily, weekly, or monthly backups. The basic package allows you to back up 10GB of storage for only $19.95 per year. | |
SiteAutoBackupA fully automated file and database backup service that supports any hosting plan that uses cPanel. Plans start from only $1.95 per month for 1GB backup storage space. | |
SiteVaultA backup application that backs up all your files to your server quickly using FTP. The cheapest version of the software costs $39 (one time only) and allows five websites to be backed up. | |
XClonerA backup and restoration application that works with any PHP/MySQL powered website. WordPress and Joomla versions of the software is available as well. XCloner is free to download, however you can purchase 1 year of support for €49.95. |