3 Dangerous Myths About WordPress Backups.

No one likes to think about all the possibilities that could go wrong, but the importance of regularly backing up your WordPress site cannot be underestimated. With the unlimited number potential dangers, errors and glitches that could possibly cause you to lose valuable work on your site, there is really no reason not to understand how to keep it all maintained, saved and secured.

Unfortunately, there are a number of myths and misconceptions when it comes to backing up WordPress sites, and especially for those who are new to the world of WordPress, it can be hard to know what is correct. Rookies to the blogging world often fall victim to these misconceptions because they misunderstand information or they believe something is untrue simply because it has lots of big technical-sounding terms that make the writer seem to be an expert.

Whether you are new to the world of WordPress and need to understand concepts about backing up your site, this guide is designed with any level of expertise in mind to help debunk some of the most common myths that can get you in trouble and cause you to lose the site you have worked so hard to build.

The Importance of Proper Backups

There is a number of things that can go wrong and cause you to lose the information on your WordPress site. It could be because of hackers who have intentionally destroyed or altered your site, or it could be something as simple as accidentally deleting media or typing one wrong line of code in the wrong place.

 It could also be accidental and find the root of the problem could take hours. It could be a mistake of your site’s hosting company, in which case you could find you have little control over and feel helpless until the mistake is corrected. And unfortunately, it could be an intentional problem caused by malicious hackers who seemingly target sites and random and decided upon yours as their next victim.

Whatever the cause may be, it is always important to be ready with solid and complete backups in case the worst does occur. With all that in mind, here are a few of the most common myths and misconceptions about WordPress backups that cause many individuals to not be as prepared as they may think they are.

1.  Only using a local backup

A local hard drive can fail at any point and are much more likely to do so than a shared, professionally maintained source. This concept is a perfect example of “putting all your eggs in the same basket,” and these physical devices are at risk of any number of unexpected dangers.

We live in a world of the cloud, and you should take advantage of this when storing your WordPress site. Sources like Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and others provide a great location to easily and safely store your site and quickly access your files should the backups be required.

2. Too small for hackers

Perhaps the most common myth that keeps users from backing up is that their site is too small or unimportant for hackers to bother with.

“Even a tiny site that you do not change often, is very much at risk,” says one expert from CBI Security; CBI provides cyber security in Detroit. “Hackers often target these small sites because they can be easily accessed and provide a good bit of practice.”

3. Auto-backup on WordPress

It is a common misconception among WordPress newcomers that WordPress automatically provides an auto-backup system for your files. This idea seems to have come about when version 3.5 of WordPress came out with a built in auto-update capability. Because WordPress began to automatically update, more people began to believe that it also automatically backed up their individual sites. This was not and is not the case.

You are always responsible for maintaining your own backups, and, with all the dangers lurking on the internet, there is no reason not to.

Derek Pursley is an influencer marketing pro with brownboxbranding.com who is passionate about building authentic relationships and helping businesses connect with their ideal online audience. He keeps his finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving digital marketing world by writing on the latest marketing advancements and focuses on developing customized blogger outreach plans based on industry and competition.