Would You Be Prepared If Your Blog Just Disappeared?

Take a moment to think about that question. What if you woke up one morning, fired up your computer to check on your blog and nothing. It was just gone. Server crash, sloppy Systems Admin, or act of God, would you be prepared? How long would it take you to get back up and running? Would you have a copy of your content or would you have to start over?

If you’re not prepared, this could be your worst case scenario. Something you might not be able to recover from and if your unable to recover, it’s something that may cripple your blog or even kill it.

Creating backups of your blog (database and files) is extremely important. So important that you should have a system in place before you even write your first post. If you do not have a system in place to create backups of your blog’s database and files, you need to stop what you’re doing and set one up now, before it’s too late.

Alright, let’s put the scary, PSA voice away for a minute. The truth is most people don’t backup their blogs either because they aren’t aware they should be or they’re just lazy. That’s right, lazy! Hey, don’t be offended, I’m lazy too. But that doesn’t stop me from having consistently current backups of my blog, and it shouldn’t stop you either.

I don’t know about other platforms, but if you use Wordpress, the process of backing up your database couldn’t be any simpler. Just download and install the Wordpress Database Backup Plugin, configure a few settings and your done. In about 2 min you will have AUTOMATIC backups of your database when and where you choose. Now all you have to do is backup your “Theme” directory (and any additional files you’ve uploaded) on a schedule that works for you (monthly, quarterly, etc. depending upon how often you tweak your layout).

I currently have my settings configured to email a backup of my database to me daily, a good use of all that GMail storage. Then about once a week I use that same plugin to download a backup of the database to my computer (takes less than a minute). I don’t backup my theme nearly as often but always keep a backup that is current. If I make a change to the layout, I create a backup. If the worst happens I’ll be ready and could be back up in less than an hour.

Do you backup your blog? How often? If you aren’t making routine backups you need to start thinking about putting a system in place. If you have a system, now might be the right time to reevaluate and see if it still works for you.