How to Back Up Your Website (and Why You Really Must)
Most people think about backups only after they need one. By then it is too late. A backup is the difference between a bad afternoon and losing years of work - and setting one up takes far less time than people assume.
What Can Actually Go Wrong
- A plugin or theme update breaks your site
- You or someone with access accidentally deletes files or content
- Your site gets hacked and content is modified or destroyed
- A botched edit to a core file takes the site offline
- Server-level hardware failure (rare, but not impossible anywhere)
Notice that most of these are not your host's fault - they are things that happen at the website level, which is exactly why your own backups matter.
What You Actually Need to Back Up
A complete website backup has two parts, and missing either one makes the backup useless:
- Files - everything in your public_html folder: themes, plugins, uploaded images, and core files
- Database - for any CMS like WordPress, this holds all your actual content: posts, pages, settings, user accounts, comments
Restoring files without the database gives you an empty shell. Restoring the database without files gives you content with nothing to display it. You need both.
How to Take a Full Backup in cPanel
- Log in to cPanel
- Under the Files section, click Backup (or Backup Wizard for a guided version)
- Click Download a Full Account Backup - this packages your files, databases and email accounts together
- Choose the destination (Home Directory is fine) and start the backup
- Once it is generated, download the file to your own computer - this step matters, see below
For a database-only backup, you can also use phpMyAdmin in cPanel and use its Export function.
The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
Leaving the backup file sitting on the same server as your website. If the problem is server-level, or if your account is compromised, your backup is affected too. A backup stored only in the same place as the original is not really a backup.
Always download a copy off the server - to your computer, an external drive, or a cloud storage account. This single habit is what makes the difference when you actually need it.
How Often Should You Back Up?
- Static website that rarely changes: monthly is usually fine
- Blog or business site updated regularly: weekly
- Site with customer data, orders, or daily content: daily
- Always, regardless of schedule: before any major change - updating WordPress core, switching themes, editing core files, or migrating
cPanel Included on Every Hostira Plan
Every Hostira hosting plan includes full cPanel access with the built-in Backup and Backup Wizard tools, so you can generate and download complete account backups whenever you need to.
View Hosting Plans →About Your Host's Backups
Many hosts run their own periodic backups, which is genuinely useful as a safety net. But it is worth understanding the limits: retention periods vary, restore requests may take time, and the backup schedule may not align with when you actually need a restore point. Treat host backups as a bonus layer, not your only line of defence.
Test Your Backup at Least Once
An untested backup is an assumption. At least once, verify that your backup file actually opens and contains what you expect - the files, and a database export that is not zero bytes. Finding out a backup was broken during an actual emergency is a genuinely bad experience.
Conclusion
Backups are boring right up until the moment they are the most important thing you own. Take a full cPanel backup, download it off the server, set yourself a realistic schedule, and always back up before major changes. It takes a few minutes and removes an entire category of risk.
