You’ve spent much time writing articles, reviewing guest posts for publication, collecting images and videos, recruiting followers and customizing your blog just the way you want it. The last thing you want is to lose all of the time and hard work you’ve put into perfecting your masterpiece. Unfortunately, a person with the right technical knowledge can hack, harm and potentially sabotage your blog.
What can you do minimize the impact if this were to happen? First, make sure all of your plug-ins and software versions are kept up to date. Second, back up EVERYTHING. Many bloggers don’t do this either because they just didn’t think about doing so, or, feel they aren’t going to become a victim. Sadly, hackers and viruses can target anybody, and you never know when they will strike.
Most blogging platforms offer specific instructions on how to execute your backups. Many will either have some sort of plug-in you can integrate or an export feature. Be sure to consult your provider for information on how to perform a backup.
Once you understand how to back up your blog, the next decision to make is where to store your data. It certainly is not a bad idea to keep files and information locally on an external portable drive. However, in the event of a fire, disaster or virus attack on your system, your data still may by unrecoverable. Therefore, it is advisable to also consider using a cloud platform.
If you have a Gmail account, you can already access 5GB of free storage space through Google Drive. Google Drive safely stores your all of your files on Google servers. The beauty of Drive is it also integrates with Google Apps, giving you a full spectrum of user-friendly applications and sharing options. If you find you need more than 5GB of storage, you can purchase more space for a nominal fee.
Amazon fans love Amazon Cloud Drive. This nifty service offers 5GB of online store for free. You simply need to sign up for a free Amazon account and install the free desktop app. You can not only backup your blog, but also access files remotely from any computer or on your Kindle Fire HD device.
You may already be using Dropbox to share photos and files. If so, then why not backup your blog to your Dropbox account? You get 2GB of free space, and can earn more by referring friends, connecting with your Social Media accounts, etc. Of course, the option to purchase additional space is also available.
You can also check with your hosting company to see what types of online storage options are available. MyInternetWebsite.com, GoDaddy.com, and FatCow.com are just a few hosting companies who offer such services.
Bottom line, you’ve put a lot of time into creating and updating your blog. Backing it up costs little to nothing, depending on how much storage you require. At the end of the day, it’s well worth whatever investment you need to make to protect the integrity of your blog and its valuable data. So, if you haven’t already done so, please, back up your blog!
