World Backup Day: if your site disappeared, would you be ready?

It’s not something most WordPress users think about – until it happens.

A plugin update fails.
A file gets deleted.
A hosting issue takes your site offline.
A security problem corrupts your database.

Suddenly, your website isn’t working, and you’re left trying to figure out how to recover it.

This is exactly why World Backup Day exists. Every year on 31 March, it’s a reminder to make sure the work you’ve put into your website is protected before something goes wrong.

If you’re not currently using a backup plugin, you can get started with the free version of UpdraftPlus and set up automatic backups in just a few clicks.

If you’re looking for more advanced features, UpdraftPlus Premium adds flexible scheduling, multiple storage locations, and detailed reporting. It’s especially useful for agencies, developers, or anyone managing multiple WordPress sites who wants extra control and time-saving tools.

The good news is that it only takes a few minutes to check. Here are three simple things you can do today to make sure your WordPress site is backed up and ready to restore if needed.

Manual backups are easy to forget, especially when you’re busy updating plugins, creating content, or managing client sites. Automatic backups help ensure your site is protected in the background.

With UpdraftPlus, you can schedule backups to run:

• Every few hours
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

If you already have a schedule in place, it’s worth reviewing it. Sites that change frequently, such as WooCommerce stores, may benefit from more frequent backups, while less active sites may not need them as often.

Premium users can also schedule backups at specific times, such as overnight, or automatically run backups before updates for additional protection.

Backups are only helpful if you know they’re actually completing successfully. Enabling backup reports means you’ll receive confirmation when a backup runs and can spot any issues early.

To check this:

1. Open UpdraftPlus
2. Go to the Settings tab
3. Scroll to Email
4. Make sure the box is checked

This small step gives you confidence that your backups are running as expected.

If your backups are saved on the same server as your website, they could be lost at the same time as your site. That’s why storing backups offsite is strongly recommended.

With UpdraftPlus, you can back up your WordPress site for free to:

• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• Amazon S3
• Rackspace Cloud
• OpenStack (Swift)
• DreamObjects

Premium users can also back up to additional locations, including:

• Microsoft OneDrive
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud
• Backblaze
• SFTP and SCP
• pCloud
• WebDAV
• UpdraftVault

You can even back up to multiple locations for extra peace of mind.

To connect remote storage:

1. Open UpdraftPlus
2. Go to Settings
3. Click your preferred storage provider
4. Follow the connection steps

World Backup Day is simply a reminder to check that your backups are working before you need them.

Restoring a backup takes minutes. Rebuilding a WordPress site from scratch can take far longer.

Taking a few minutes today helps ensure that if something unexpected happens, you’re ready to recover quickly and get your site back online.

You can get started today with the free version of UpdraftPlus and set up automatic backups in just a few clicks. If you need more flexibility, remote storage options, and advanced scheduling, UpdraftPlus Premium adds extra protection and time-saving features.