Celebrate World Backup Day with Sectigo!

And thus, World Backup Day was born!

World Backup Day is a vital reminder that losing data, files, or databases doesn’t need to be the norm—not for individuals, and not for businesses. For today’s businesses, backing up their website files is a critical part of maintaining business continuity to ensure that critical data is never lost due to technical malfunctions, cyberattacks, or even natural disasters. Even small and medium-size businesses are vulnerable to cyberattacks in today’s threat landscape, and understanding the value of having a website backup in place is more important than ever.

Website Backups Prevent Costly Disasters

Last year, we spent some time reminding you why website backups are important, and World Backup Day is a great excuse to revisit that topic. In today’s digital world, it is critical for business websites to always be available. Not only do websites allow customers to make purchases and research products and services, but they also provide even more critical functions, ranging from processing important financial transactions to reviewing medical records. An unavailable website impacts a business with not only lost sales, but also damage to its reputation, brand power, and trust.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons why a website might go down:

1. Crashed Servers: Servers crash. It happens. It might be due to corrupt files or data, a power outage, or any number of other factors. Many businesses assume that web hosting providers back up customer websites, but this is rarely the case.

1. Malware/Viruses: Malware remains as prominent and dangerous as ever, and cybercriminals regularly target company websites with viruses, redirected traffic, data theft, and more. A backup can help ensure that crucial data isn’t lost if and when attackers strike.

1. User Error: People make mistakes. All it takes is an administrator clicking the wrong button or deleting an important file. Fortunately, reliable backups can ensure that this sort of damage has a minimal effect on the company.

1. Bad Updates: Sometimes, even the most well-intentioned updates don’t go according to plan. Maybe there’s a glitch in the update or an unforeseen incompatibility. Whatever the case, having the ability to restore a previous version of the website quickly and easily can make a huge difference.

1. Bad Actors: As our own recent research has shown, SMBs are not impervious to cyberattacks. On the contrary—they are often an easier target than large corporations with advanced cybersecurity teams. A backup of your website can help to ensure that a clean version of the site can be restored in the event of a compromise.

Creating a Backup

The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. There are a variety of resources and experts that businesses can turn when it comes to figuring out the best way to create a website backup.

Although web hosting providers usually don’t offer website backups as an included service, many of them do offer it as an additional service. Price is an important consideration for most businesses, but a web hosting provider capable of providing daily website backups is an attractive option.

Depending on how your website was built, it may be possible to enlist the help of a website developer. Some businesses have an independent contractor to help maintain their sites, and that contractor can perform backups and restorations as appropriate. More tech savvy business owners may even be able to manually save their website files and perform backups on their own. If you are comfortable doing this (or learning to do it), it can be the most cost-effective option. However, it also represents the option with the least amount of outside support to fall back on.

Finally, there are cloud-based solutions. This should come as no surprise to anyone who backs up their photos to the cloud. Website backups work much the same way. Cloud solutions like Sectigo Web Backup can automate the backup process, making it quick and easy. If you’re looking for a way to schedule simple backups with a one-click restore option, Sectigo Web Backup is perfect for you.

We often tell our customers to expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised. It was true last World Backup Day, and it remains true today. Website security is critical for any organization—and having a reliable backup solution in place can help save your business from potential disaster.