All your website data is stored on the hosting provider’s server. When you create a backup copy of your current website, you copy data to another location – to your computer, another provider’s server, cloud storage, hard drive, and so on.

Keeping a single version of the backup is not enough. Sometimes issues with the site become noticeable not immediately but after a while. For example, a computer virus can quietly be destroying your data for several days before you realize it. Thus, your yesterday’s backup will not help to restore the site in any way. It’s better to keep backups for a month or even three months.

There’re several types of WordPress backups:

• A full backup – copying all the files and the database.
• Incremental backup – when not all files are copied but only new and changed ones since the creation of the previous copy, the WordPress full site backup, or an additional one.
• Differential backup – the process of copying only those files that have been modified or created since the last time a full backup task was run. The difference between incremental and differential backups is that with a differential backup, changes in the original data are counted from the full backup and not from the previous partial backup.
• Mixed backup – consists of a full backup followed by a certain predefined number of incremental or differential backups.

No matter which method you choose, it is vital to backup your site regularly. It will prevent you from losing important data and save your nerves.