What is a website backup?
This video and the information below it explain the importance of backing up your website and options for doing so.
A website backup is a snapshot of all your website's important components. Website backups should include all of the following elements of your website:
- Website code files
- Any website databases
- Images
- Any add-ons, plugins, or themes used by your website
Making backups of your website is an important part of regular site maintenance. You don't want to be left without a backup of your site should something happen - such as a security compromise, or if your billing accidentally lapses long enough to cancel your account. By keeping regular backups, you ensure that you have a way to bring your website back without having to rebuild it from scratch.
Making Backups
There are several ways you can create a backup of your website.
| Backup Option | When to use this option? |
|---|---|
| Use your hosting platform's built-in backup system | This is an one-click option to make a backup of your hosting account (Web Hosting (cPanel) / Windows Hosting (Plesk) / Managed Hosting for WordPress). This is the most useful if you do not plan to change platforms (i.e. cPanel backups can only be restored to Web Hosting (cPanel), Plesk backups to Windows Hosting (Plesk), etc.) |
| Use the GoDaddy paid Website Backup service | The best option if you simply want your site to always be backed up on time, without having to worry about creating backups yourself. |
| Manually create a backup of your site (files and database) | You can manually back up your site's files with FTP and database in phpMyAdmin. This is a more advanced option and it's useful if you need to upload this backup to a different type of hosting account. If your site doesn't have a database, back up files only. |