How Often Should a Website Be Backed Up?

Short post, because the answer is short — and because the frequency question distracts from the two that actually matter.

The short answer

• Daily — if the site takes orders, bookings, payments, or has user accounts. Losing a day means losing real transactions.
• Weekly — for a brochure site that changes occasionally.
• Before every change — always, regardless of schedule. Updates and edits are when things break.
• Kept somewhere other than the website's own server — a backup sitting on the same server as the site isn't a backup.
• Tested at least once — an untested backup is a hope, not a safeguard.

The frequency matters less than that last point. Most people who lose a site had backups.

The real question: how much work can you afford to lose?

Backup frequency is just this question in disguise. If your site is backed up weekly and it fails on day six, you lose six days. For a brochure site, that's a couple of text edits — annoying. For a store, that's six days of orders — a different conversation entirely. So set the frequency by what accumulates, not by what feels responsible.

Where backups live matters more than how often they run

A backup stored on the same server as your website protects you from exactly one scenario: you broke something. It protects you from none of these:

• The server fails
• The hosting account is suspended or closed
• The site is compromised and the attacker reaches everything on that machine

Off-server backups — a separate cloud location, or a different provider — cover all three. Ask your host where backups are stored. If the answer is “on the server”, that's worth fixing.

The untested backup problem

This is the failure people don't see coming. Backups run for two years, everyone assumes they're fine, then the day comes and the restore doesn't work — the database wasn't included, or the files are corrupt, or nobody knows the restore process.

Restore one, once, to a staging environment rather than over your live site. It takes an hour and it's the only way to know.

Who's responsible for yours

Three possibilities, and you should know which applies:

• Your host — many managed hosts run automatic backups. Check the retention period; some keep only a few days.
• Your maintenance plan — if you have one, backups should be listed in it. If they aren't, they may not be happening.
• You — if neither of the above, it's you, and it's probably not happening.

When you can be relaxed about it

A five-page static site with no database, no forms storing data, and content you have copies of elsewhere is nearly self-backing — you could rebuild it from your own files. Weekly host backups are plenty. Don't pay for a daily backup service for a site that changes twice a year.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I back up my website?

Daily if it takes payments, bookings or has user accounts. Weekly for a brochure site. Always before making changes.

Where should website backups be stored?

Somewhere other than the site's own server — a separate cloud location or provider. Same-server backups don't survive a server failure or an account suspension.

Does my hosting company back up my website?

Often, but not always, and retention varies. Check the frequency and how far back they keep copies. Don't assume.

How do I know if my backups actually work?

Restore one to a staging environment. It's the only real test, and most people never do it until the day they need it to work.

How long should backups be kept?

Long enough to cover a problem you didn't notice immediately. Thirty days is a reasonable default — some issues aren't spotted for weeks, and a three-day retention window is useless by then.

Where to start

Find out three things today: who takes your backups, where they're stored, and whether anyone has ever restored one. If you can't answer all three, that's the gap. Tell me your host and I'll tell you what's likely running. Get in touch.