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Off-site backups are worth thousands of dollars

Michael Kwan · 10 March 2021 · Updated 15 August 2026

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On 10 March 2021, OVH, one of the world's biggest hosting providers, had a fire in one of their data centres. Thousands of websites went down immediately, and it took a long time before anyone had real clarity on what could be recovered. Now imagine if this happened to you. What do you do?

Source: Search Engine Journal

What are backups, really?

Obviously, a backup is a collection of your website's data into one file. However, different backup solutions create and store backups in different ways, and some backups contain more data than others.

For instance, WordPress backup plugins will only store content from that specific WP installation and does not include any subdomain websites or manually uploaded files outside of the WP installation. Hosting-level backups e.g. cPanel or Plesk backups include all files and databases inside the hosting plan, including email if you use server-hosted webmail.

By default, all backup solutions store backups in the same place where it was created, just like when you zip a folder on your hard drive. Obviously, this is not a good idea – if you ever lose access to the hosting plan, your website is pretty much gone. In the worst-case scenario like above, even your server provider may not be able to restore your site. This means that:

  • The thousands of dollars you spent on designing the website = GONE.
  • The thousands of dollars you spent on marketing & SEO = GONE.
  • The business you could've gotten if the website wasn't down = GONE.

In addition, you now need to spend thousands again to redesign your website.

How to make an off-site backup

It's important that you have a conversation with your web designer to ensure your backups are the right kind, so that all your files are protected.

If all you need is a simple WordPress full-site backup, here's the quick version with UpdraftPlus, which is what most people reach for:

  1. Install it from Plugins > Add New, search for UpdraftPlus, then Install and Activate.
  2. Its settings live under Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups.
  3. On the Settings tab, set a backup schedule for your files and database, and how many backups to keep, so old ones roll off instead of piling up.
  4. Pick a remote storage destination – Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, whatever you already use. This is the step that actually matters: a backup sitting on the same server as your site isn't off-site at all, it's just a second copy in the same fire.
  5. Authenticate with that storage provider. You'll be sent off to sign in and grant access, then dropped back into WordPress.
  6. Click Backup Now to run one immediately instead of waiting for the schedule.
  7. Check the Existing backups list afterwards and confirm there's a restore point sitting in your remote storage, not just on the server.

For more complicated setups, give your web designer a call, or get in touch with us for a quote.

If you'd rather watch than read, here's a walkthrough:

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