Website backups are saved copies of your site’s files and database that let you roll back quickly if something breaks, gets hacked, or you accidentally delete content.
A proper backup captures two parts: (1) your site files (themes, plugins, uploads like photos and PDFs) and (2) your database (pages, posts, settings, form entries, orders, and user accounts). If either part is missing, restores can be incomplete, which is why we treat backups as part of basic hosting hygiene, not a “nice to have.” In Central Florida, off-site copies matter even more because storms, power issues, and hardware failures can happen at the worst time.
How often backups should run
The right schedule depends on how often your site changes and how much recent data you can afford to lose. A brochure-style site that changes once in a while can live on daily backups. A site taking payments, bookings, or memberships usually needs much more frequent backups because losing even a few hours can mean lost revenue and angry customers.
| Site type | Recommended backup schedule | Why this schedule fits |
|---|---|---|
| Basic small business site | Daily automatic backups | Covers routine changes and gives you a clean restore point if an update goes sideways. |
| Content-heavy site (blogs, lots of edits) | Daily, plus extra backups on heavy editing days | Protects frequent page edits, media uploads, and layout changes. |
| Lead-gen site with forms and integrations | Daily, plus on-demand before any major changes | Helps you recover quickly if a form, CRM, or tracking setup breaks. |
| eCommerce, memberships, online booking | Hourly (or more often if transactions are constant) | Limits the number of orders, bookings, or member actions you could lose in a rollback. |
Two rules we follow on every site, no matter the industry: run an on-demand backup right before WordPress core, theme, or plugin updates, and keep multiple restore points so you are not stuck with only “yesterday’s” version. If you want a deeper look at storage and retention, read our FAQ on where backups are stored.
Frequency is only half the story, the other half is restore speed. Backups that take hours to download, unzip, and manually rebuild are not much help during business hours. That’s why managed hosting with fast restore tooling is a big deal, especially for dental practices, law firms, and home service companies that live on inbound calls. Our WordPress hosting is built around automated backups and quick restores, so you can get back online without a drawn-out rebuild.
Last practical tip: test a restore occasionally. We like restoring to a staging copy first (not your live site) so you can confirm the backup is usable and recent. If you’re curious how that works behind the scenes, our FAQ on how one-click restores work breaks it down in plain English.
