How to Back Up a WordPress Site

Not too long ago, I was editing my blog’s code when something terrible happened. I was trying to change a small piece of code for my resource library when all of a sudden my website crashed. Nothing was showing up on the front end, and I couldn’t access the back end.

Luckily, I made a smart move when I purchased my domain and moved everything over from Domain.com to Bluehost. And I won’t purchase a site without it.

How to Back Up a WordPress Site with Bluehost

When I first made the transition over from Domain.com to Bluehost, I decided to purchase the Site Backup Pro upgrade. It’s only $1.99 per month and easily saved my blog. It’s one of the best ways to back up a WordPress site.

You purchase this upgrade when you’re registering your site, or you can add it later by going to Addons on your dashboard menu.

Site Backup Pro automatically backs up your website every 24 hours, so if you do anything wrong in the coding (like I did), you just have to go into Bluehost and select the date you’d like your site to go back to.

So, how do you do that?

1. Log into Bluehost and select Site Backup Pro.

First things first, log in so you’re at your dashboard. Remember: this is your login for Bluehost.com, not your WordPress back end.

Then, under the Files section, select Site Backup Pro. For me, it’s red.

2. Go to Website Files and click on Restore.

Once you arrive on the Site Backup Pro page, there will be a few options. You’ll want to click on Restore under the Website Files header.

3. Select the date you want and click Restore Now.

Once you click Restore under Website Files, a popup will appear. Select the date you want to go back to from the dropdown menu and click Restore Now. I typically choose the same day so I don’t lose any minor changes, but depending on when the error started you might need to go back farther.

It conveniently tells you what time the backup was performed, so you know whether or not it’s far back enough.

Then voila! You’re done. It might take a little bit for the restore to happen, but then you’ll be good to go again. It’s a bit embarrassing how many times I’ve had to do this… but I’m learning, right?

How to Back Up a WordPress Site with WordPress

So that’s what you need to do if your site crashes. But what if you just want to have your posts on hand, just in case?

Every month, I make sure to export all of the content on my site in case anything happens to it. I might accidentally delete a post, or someone might hack my site and my posts might disappear.

This back up won’t include your themes and customization options, but it will include your posts, pages, and comments. And hey, that’s better than nothing.

1. Log into your WordPress back end and go to Tools -> Export.

This time, you’ll want to go to your WordPress back end (where you go to publish your posts).

On the left-hand menu, you’ll see a spot that says Tools. Hover over it and click Export.

2. Select All Content and export.

Once you get to the Export page, make sure “All Content” is selected, rather than just posts, pages, or feedback. (Mine also says Slides based on my theme; yours might have something different or just the other three.)

Then export it and save it in a safe place! I have a monthly folder for all of my posts, so I do one export per month and keep the file safe and organized in there.

These are just two ways you can keep your WordPress site backed up safely. Do you know of any others?

Now get out there and back up those sites!