Website backups are one of those things that nobody thinks about until disaster strikes, and by then it’s usually too late. A hacked website, a bad plugin update, a server failure, or even an accidental deletion can wipe out months or years of work in an instant. If you don’t have a reliable backup system in place, you’re gambling with your entire online presence.
I’ve seen this play out too many times with clients at E-Commerce Paradise. Someone’s site gets hacked, they contact their host, and the host’s backups are either outdated or nonexistent. Recovering without a backup means rebuilding from scratch, which costs thousands of dollars and weeks of work. In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to set up a backup system that protects your website against every type of failure. Whether you’re running a blog, a business site, or a high-ticket dropshipping store, backups are non-negotiable.
What You Need to Back Up
A complete website backup includes two critical components that you need both of to fully restore your site.
Website Files
Your website files include everything in your public_html directory (or wherever your website is hosted). For WordPress sites, this means the WordPress core files, your theme files (including any customizations), all installed plugins, the uploads directory (all your images, documents, and media), and configuration files like wp-config.php and .htaccess.
Database
Your database contains all your dynamic content. For WordPress, this includes every post, page, and custom post type you’ve created, all comments, all site settings and configurations, user accounts and passwords, plugin and theme settings, WooCommerce orders, products, customers, and transaction data (for e-commerce sites). The database is often more critical than the files because your content is irreplaceable while WordPress core files and plugins can be reinstalled.
Backup Frequency: How Often to Back Up
The right backup frequency depends on how often your site content changes.
For blogs and content sites that publish a few times per week, daily backups are sufficient. For e-commerce stores that process orders and update inventory regularly, you need at minimum daily backups, ideally every 6 to 12 hours. For high-traffic sites with user-generated content, hourly or real-time backups are recommended.
According to Backblaze’s backup research, the 3-2-1 backup rule is the gold standard: maintain 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage media, with 1 copy stored off-site. This ensures you can recover from any type of failure.
Method 1: Hosting Provider Backups
Most hosting providers include some form of backup with their plans. Here’s what the major hosts offer.
SiteGround Backups
SiteGround includes free daily automatic backups stored for 30 days. You can restore your entire site or just the database from their Site Tools panel with one click. On-demand backups are available on their GrowBig and GoGeek plans.
Cloudways Backups
Cloudways includes automated backups on a configurable schedule (hourly, daily, every 3 days, weekly). Backups are stored on the same cloud provider as your server. You can set retention periods and restore with one click. On-demand backups are available anytime.
Namecheap Backups
Namecheap includes automatic backups on their Stellar Plus and Stellar Business plans. The Stellar (basic) plan does not include automatic backups, so you’ll need to set up your own backup solution.
The Problem with Relying Only on Host Backups
Host backups should be part of your backup strategy, but never your only backup. If your hosting account gets compromised, the backups stored on the same account may also be compromised. If your host has a catastrophic server failure, both your site and backups could be lost. Some hosts don’t guarantee backup reliability or retention periods.
Always maintain at least one independent backup outside your hosting provider.
Method 2: WordPress Backup Plugins (Recommended)
Backup plugins give you control over your backup schedule, storage location, and restore process. These are the most popular options.
UpdraftPlus (Most Popular)
UpdraftPlus is the most widely used WordPress backup plugin with over 3 million active installations. The free version includes scheduled automatic backups, backup to remote storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3), one-click restoration, and separate file and database backups.
To set up UpdraftPlus, install and activate the plugin from the WordPress plugin directory. Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups. Click the Settings tab. Set your backup schedule (daily for files, daily for database). Choose your remote storage location (I recommend Google Drive for simplicity). Authenticate with your storage provider. Click Save Changes. Run your first manual backup to verify everything works.
The premium version ($70 per year) adds incremental backups (faster and smaller backups), more storage options, migration tools, and multisite support.
BlogVault (Best for E-Commerce)
BlogVault is a premium backup service specifically designed for WordPress and WooCommerce sites. It offers real-time backups (captures every change as it happens), off-site storage on BlogVault’s servers, one-click staging for testing restores, built-in migration tools, and WooCommerce-specific features that ensure no orders or customer data are lost.
BlogVault costs $89 per year for a single site. For e-commerce stores processing orders daily, the real-time backup capability is worth the investment. If you’re running a store in a profitable niche and processing high-value orders, losing even one day of order data is unacceptable.
BackWPup (Free Alternative)
BackWPup is a free plugin that supports scheduled backups to Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, and FTP. It’s more technical to configure than UpdraftPlus but offers fine-grained control over what gets backed up and where.
Method 3: Manual Backups via cPanel
If you prefer manual control, you can create backups directly through cPanel.
Full cPanel Backup
Log into cPanel and go to Files > Backup or Backup Wizard. Click “Download a Full Account Backup.” Choose the backup destination (Home Directory or Remote FTP server). Click “Generate Backup.” Download the backup file to your local computer.
This creates a complete backup of all files, databases, email accounts, and cPanel settings.
Manual Database Backup
For a quick database-only backup, go to cPanel > phpMyAdmin. Select your WordPress database from the left sidebar. Click the Export tab. Choose “Quick” for a standard SQL export. Click Go and save the .sql file.
Manual File Backup
Using cPanel’s File Manager or an FTP client, navigate to your public_html directory. Select all files and folders. Create a compressed archive (ZIP) and download it.
Where to Store Your Backups
The location of your backups matters as much as having them in the first place.
Cloud Storage (Recommended)
Google Drive offers 15 GB free. Dropbox offers 2 GB free (expandable). Amazon S3 costs about $0.023 per GB per month. Cloud storage is ideal because it’s geographically separate from your hosting server, accessible from anywhere, and automatically redundant.
Local Storage
Downloading backups to your local computer or an external hard drive provides another layer of protection. Keep at least one recent backup on a device you physically control.
Multiple Locations
Following the 3-2-1 rule, I recommend keeping backups in at least two locations. For example, automated daily backups to Google Drive through UpdraftPlus plus weekly manual downloads to your local computer. This ensures you can recover from virtually any scenario.
Testing Your Backups
A backup you’ve never tested is a backup you can’t trust. I can’t emphasize this enough. I’ve seen cases where backups ran successfully for months, but when a restore was needed, the backup files were corrupted or incomplete.
How to Test
Set up a staging environment or a local WordPress installation. Restore your backup to the test environment. Verify that all pages load correctly, all images display, the database content is complete, and plugins and themes function properly. For e-commerce sites, verify that product data, customer data, and order history are intact.
Test your backups at least quarterly. If you’re managing supplier relationships and customer orders, monthly testing is more appropriate.
Backup Strategy for E-Commerce Sites
E-commerce sites have unique backup requirements because they process transactions and store customer data.
Order data is irreplaceable. If you lose orders, you can’t recreate them. Use a backup solution that captures database changes in real-time or at least every few hours. Customer data (accounts, addresses, order history) must be protected and included in every backup. Product data (descriptions, images, pricing, inventory levels) takes significant effort to recreate, so frequent backups are essential. Payment processor data is typically stored with your payment gateway (Stripe, PayPal) and not in your database, but verify this for your specific setup.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of data loss for small businesses is substantial. For e-commerce stores, the combination of lost revenue, customer trust damage, and recovery costs makes comprehensive backups essential.
Automating Your Backup Workflow
The best backup system is one that runs automatically without requiring you to remember to do anything.
Configure your backup plugin to run on a schedule that matches your site’s update frequency. Set up email notifications so you know when backups complete successfully (and more importantly, when they fail). Monitor your backup storage to ensure you have enough space and old backups are being cleaned up according to your retention policy. Set a calendar reminder to test backups quarterly.
Recovering from a Disaster
When something goes wrong, here’s the process for recovering your site.
Stay calm. If you have good backups, you can recover from almost anything. Identify the problem. Is it a hack, a bad update, an accidental deletion, or a server failure? Restore from the most recent clean backup. If the issue is a hack, restore from a backup created before the compromise. If it’s a bad update, restore from the backup made before the update. Verify the restoration. Check all pages, functionality, and data after restoring. Address the root cause. If you were hacked, strengthen security. If a plugin caused the issue, don’t reinstall it.
Getting Help
If backup setup and management feels like too much to handle alongside running your business, check out the management service at E-Commerce Paradise. We handle backup configuration, monitoring, and disaster recovery as part of our complete store management package.
For a complete business setup including backup systems, hosting, and store configuration, the turnkey service covers everything. Make sure your business foundation is solid and grab the free niches list to explore profitable product categories.
Join the E-Commerce Paradise community for backup tips and technical support from fellow entrepreneurs. Backups are one of those things that seem boring until you need them, and then they’re the most important thing in the world. Set them up right, test them regularly, and you’ll sleep better at night. I wish you guys the best of luck.
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
