1. Server File Loss

There are two elements in a standard WordPress site, as well as many other CMS platforms, that need to be backed up on a regular basis – the website’s files and the website’s database.

No one server is completely reliable. Data can easily be lost by corruption, mistakes, or hacking. To ensure this doesn’t happen, you should have your website’s files backed up either locally or on some server in a cloud, but the point is somewhere different than where the files sit.

The files of the website that can be accessed via and FTP program like Transmit or Cyberduck or FireFTP include the Javascript, PHP, CSS, HTML, movies, images and other types of media.

2. Database File Loss

The other element that functions more behind the scenes is the WordPress MySQL database. This is the element that is commonly overlooks because it is not visible from an FTP browser.

This is where a great plugin for your WordPress website plays a very valuable role. While there is a wide variety of backup plugins available at no charge for the WordPress CMS, I have found one in particular to be very simple and functional. It is called WP-DB-Backup. Its alternative full name once installed is WordPress Database Backup.

3. Avoid Disaster

Lossing all you blog posts, your page content, and your settings can be a disaster, especially for a business. The sad truth is that 40% of small to medium businesses don’t back up their data.

Having your site down for any period of time can be detrimental to your image. If your business relies on e-commerce functionality, a down site can cost much more than just your image.

Backing up gives you the power to relaunch your site in a mater of minutes or hours, not days or months.

4. Piece Of Mind

As a business owner, you have a lot of things to worry about. Backing up your website should be very near the top of your priority list. Give yourself the piece of mind knowing your site won’t disappear or be downed for long lengths of time. Your customers will duly note a downed website.

5. Protection From Viruses

Backing up your content is really the ONLY way to be completely safe from virus attacks. Of course, backing up won’t prevent a virus attack, but it will be much easier to quickly cure the attack when it happens.