How to Back Up Your Website

Now that you have your web site, it must be kept safe in the event of fire, earthquakes, alien invasion or terrorist E.M.P.s.

Some web hosts offer automatic back up plans, consult your host about their services; but what happens in the event of their having a massive failure of some sort?  You should be prepared to do your own back ups, once every month or two.  This tutorial will show you how.

First, have this information ready (you can get from your web host's control panel):

• Your FTP address.
• Your FTP username.
• Your FTP password.

Now you need a good FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client.  We recommend a good free one called Filezilla. You can download it here:

Filezilla Client Download

After installing, open it up. Press the Site Management button:

Now you should see this box, follow these instructions.

You should see something like this now, follow the instruction.

Okay, not too hard, and your entire web site is backed up!  If you have Content Management System though, if your site runs from a database, there is still more to be done.

This next part is a little more intimidating, and it is best to get a professional to do it for you.  With that said, if you are feeling brave and fortunate, you might want to have a look.  Typically, it will go like this:

• Log in to your Hosting Control Panel.
• Find your database administration tools.
• Open phpMyAdmin.
• Click on your database's name.
• Click on the Export link.
• Be sure to Select All Files!
• Now Save as File.

Stay tuned for a "How to Restore Your Website" tutorial =)