So your website is up and running – launched to the world, bringing your services to a potential worldwide audience. It’s ready to become a really important part of your business and for that reason, really important that it is up and running and you are protected if anything goes wrong.
We’d love to think that everything will just tick over normally on your website with no issues at all, but sometimes things can go wrong. Like your smartphone and computer you need to keep your WordPress Website updated and backed up, so that if things do go astray you can get back up and running with little impact on your business.
There are a number of plugins available for backups – some which are free, others have paid versions.
Here are the top 3 that I would recommend:
UpdraftPlus
There is a Free or Paid version. The free version will cover your basic needs – but I would generally suggest that you invest in the paid version for some of the advanced features.
One of the features in the paid version is automatic backup before updates. THIS IS GREAT! So you know that you are safe for any Wordpress or Plugin Updates.
You can backup to a number of cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox.
Price: from £54.00 (for 2 sites) *
VaultPress
This plugin is part of JetPack – and built by Automattic – the company behind WordPress.com.
There are a number of plans and it does also include some security functions and spam monitoring aswell.
Backups are stored in the cloud and you are able to
Price: fom $39 per year (for Jetpack Personal Plan)*
BackupBuddy
This plugin from ithemes.com has been around for a number of years.
It has a number of options to allow you to choose what is backed up and manage various schedules. It can be backed up to the Stash – which can include some additional charges or to Google Drive or Dropbox (among many others)
Price: $80 per year *- but it’s a good idea to sign up to their newsletter for 25% or more coupon codes that are regularly sent out
I have used this in the past, but as part of a Developer license that includes some other plugins and allows me to use it on a number of sites.
If you find that this is all too much to think about then you can also look at my ongoing maintenance plans – they include backups, security and website updates. You can see more details here.
Note: All of the prices are accurate as of 20th October 2017 and incur an annual renewal fee. There may be additional costs involved please check the websites for details.