How to Backup WordPress Files for Beginners?

If you are a WordPress user, then you definitely know the importance of keeping backup copies of the Wordpress files because there is always a risk of losing your data. Sometimes your site might get hack, and then you could lose all the files and databases. That’s horrible, right? There are a lot of ways to secure your WordPress site, but I still think one of the best way is to backup regularly so that you can re-install your files or content and roll backed to your post in no time.

First of all, let’s learn about WordPress Files, all the WordPress sites consist of the following files:

Ø  WordPress Core Installation

Ø  WordPress Plugins

Ø  WordPress Themes

Ø  Images and Files

Ø  Javascripts, PHP scripts, and other code files

Ø  Additional Files and Static Web Pages

Accessing WordPress Files and Directories

First, you will need a FTP client to connect to your WordPress server. An easier alternative to FTP is File Manager. It is a web based application that comes built into cPanel dashboard of your WordPress hosting account.

Once you have connected to your WordPress site either using FTP or File Manager, you will see a file and directory structure that looks like this:

Files and folders in the red squares are the core WordPress files. These are the files and folders that run your WordPress site. You are not supposed to edit those files on your own.

Here is a list of core WordPress files and folders you would see in your WordPress site’s root directory.

WordPress Configuration Files

Your WordPress root directory contains some special configuration files. These files contain important settings specific to your WordPress site.

Ø  .htacces – A server configuration file, WordPress uses it to manage permalinks and redirects.

Ø  wp-config.php – This file tells WordPress how to connect to your database. It also sets some global settings for your WordPress site.

Ø  index.php – The index file basically loads and initializes all your WordPress files when a page is requested by a user.

If you don’t see .htaccess file in your root directory, then checkout our guide on why you can’t find .htaccess file in your WordPress root directory.

Depending on how your WordPress site is setup, you may or may not have the following files in your root directory.

Ø  robots.txt – Contains instructions for search engines crawlers

Ø  Favicon.ico – A favicon file is sometimes generated by WordPress hosts.

Inside wp-content Folder

WordPress stores all uploads, plugins, and themes in wp-content folder. 

It is generally assumed that you can edit files and folders inside wp-content folder. However, this is not entirely true.

Let’s take a look inside wp-content folder to understand how it works and what you can do here.

The contents of wp-content folder may differ from one WordPress site to another. But all WordPress sites usually have these:

Ø  [dir] themes

Ø  [dir] plugins

Ø  [dir] uploads

Ø  index.php

WordPress stores your theme files in /wp-content/themes/ folder. You can edit a theme file, but it is generally not recommended. As soon as you update your theme to a newer version, your changes will be overwritten during the update.

How to Backup Your WordPress Files?

#1. Backup WordPress Manually

WordPress is a web application based on PHP and MySQL. As such you need to backup all its files and its database to have a full copy of your site. The easiest way to copy your files is via FTP. To do this follow the instructions in our tutorial on how to use FTP. Make sure that you save all the files and folders in the directory WordPress is installed in (public_html if it's the main application for your site).

#2.Website Host Provided Backup Software 

Most website hosts provide software to back up your site. Check with your host to find out what services and programs they provide.

#3. Create Synchs With Your Site 

WinSCP and other programs allow you to synchronize with your website to keep a mirror copy of the content on your server and hard drive updated. It saves time and makes sure you have the latest files in both places.

To synchronize your files in WinScp:

Step 1 - Log in to your ftp server normally using WinScp.

Step 2 - Press the "Synchronize" button. Remote directory will automatically be set to the current ftp directory (often your root directory). Local directory would be set to the local directory as it was when you pressed Synchronize. You may want to change this to some other directory on your computer. Direction should be set to "local" to copy files FROM your web host TO your machine.
Synchronization Mode would be set to Synchronize files.

Step 3 - Click "OK" to show a summary of actions.

Step 4 - Click "OK" again to complete the synchronization.

#4.Use WordPress backup plugins

These plugins are used to take a back up of your critical data, files, tables and save them to your archives or any of the online storage for free or for a nominal price. Schedule the storage automatically and manage your entire database with these.

BackupBuddy

If you regularly update your site, then it wouldn’t be possible to always keep your backups up to date. This is where BackupBuddy comes in. It is a WordPress backup plugin, which allows you to automatically create complete backups of your WordPress site and save them on multiple remote locations like a cloud storage service, your computer, FTP server, etc.

WP Database Backup

WP-DB-Backup plugin creates a backup of your core database tables and also other tables in the database and gives you an option of saving your back up data either to your server or download to your computer or save get you backup file e-mailed to you.

BackUpWordPress

BackUpWordPress will back up your entire site, including your files and your database, at a schedule that suits your needs. It requires no setup and works on low memory – an excellent advantage if you’re operating on a shared host environment. The plugin also gives you the option to use zip and mysqldump for faster backups. That can be a significant benefit if time is of the essence.

blogVault

This plugin offers an automated backup solution directly to Dropbox, if that’s your tool of choice for online file storage. However, blogVault requires some setup, though the documentation claims that the setup is “easy” and that it will require a minimal investment of your time.

How To Avoid SEO Ranking Traps Before Re-designing a Website?

When it comes to creating a website, one of the first questions you should ask yourself is, “Should I focus on a fantastic design and user experience or on search engine optimization?”

Today, websites are marketing hubs and content publishing platforms. The problem is that the web design industry still creates websites as if they were digital brochures. Designers should work together with SEO specialists and developers to find a formula that would meet both the preferences of users and the requirements of search engines.

Moreover, the bridge between Design and SEO has a common trap that we need to avoid: SEO-friendly sites that are going through a big re-design requires careful monitoring, as the impending design can hurt the site’s SEO.

What are such design errors from web designers?

ERROR #1 – Splash Pages

Eye-catching splash screens can be a cool addition to your site but it can actually be a barrier between search engines and your website. Flash, Java applets, and all the non-textual content is often devalued or even ignored by search engine spiders. A homepage with no content and navigation will not be favored by search engines because it causes an improper indexation of the entire site.

It is recommended that you either entirely abandon the inclusion of a splash page or, if it is an absolute must-have, add plenty of textual content to the body of the page.

ERROR #2 – Too Much Flash

Though undoubtedly pleasing to the eyes, Flash is still badly indexed by search engines. Doesn’t mean that your site should contain zero Flash though; just avoid applying it for important content and navigation.

ERROR #3 – Frames

Paradoxically, there are still websites designed with the use of frames. In addition to the fact that they have become obsolete years ago, they also will not offer any help with the betterment of your site’s SEO. The use of frames will make it difficult for search engines to find all the valuable content within your site. Note that framed websites use three html files instead of one, causing all kinds of conflicts with indexation.

ERROR #4 – Images Instead of Important Elements

Using images as a primary form of navigation will be identified by search engines without their functional purpose. On the other hand, navigation through pure text isn’t a good practice as well. The solution? Simple. Use text-over-image techniques with CSS.

It is also not recommended to include images when using headers. Content replaced by beautiful graphics with text may look outstanding, but it will not work for SEO. Because header text is meant to highlight the important keywords, opting for images as an alternative will hurt overall content.

ERROR #5 – Lack of Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumb trail matrix that’s perfectly constructed will significantly increase your site’s search engine performance. Not only are text links easily read by search engines, but they also provide a transparent hierarchical navigation structure.

Unfortunately, designers sometimes forget about breadcrumbs despite the fact that they noticeably increase the user friendliness of a website.

 

ERROR #6 – Pop-Ups

To begin with, designers that include pop-ups are regarded in bad taste not just by their fellow designers, but also by visitors and search engines. They are annoying and usually closed by most users the moment they… pop up. Moreover, they immediately evoke prejudice about the website and search engines do not even index them as a part of the website. With that, it can be said that it’s best to forget about pop-ups forever for everybody’s sake.

ERROR #7 – Neglecting the navigation standards

There are probably a few designers out there who believe that creating a totally weird site with no regular navigation elements or footer links would attract users and seem original and unique to everyone. This is unfortunate. A navigation that is properly organized is essential both for visitors and search engines.

Creative art, if not applied properly, will be treated like a poor internal linking structure, harming your rankings and reputation. The global navigation bar must be present on each page; otherwise users might get lost within the website.

ERROR #8 – Improper 404 Error Page

Creating a custom 404 error page is always a cute way of sneaking in a bit of humor within your website. However, this intention for creativity might lead to the neglect of more essential factors, such as the link to return to the website.

Not only will it improve the user experience, but it will also complement the overall SEO value. Otherwise, search engines will identify your website as one with broken internal links, reducing its search rankings as a result.

Putting The “Design” Part Of Web Design Into Perspective

Managing the balance between design and search engine optimization is the key to a successful inbound marketing strategy. Seth Godin sums it up a post where he says that pretty websites rarely convert as well as unpretty ones.

As with any new project, you should always focus on getting the foundation right. Here are some thoughts to get your website re-design project off on the right foot: Best-selling author Ann Handley says that you should get the content people in the room early, rather than trying to shoe-horn content in after the fact.

Content is what drives SEO these days, not back links. Your website needs to be structured as a content publishing platform and as the hub of your marketing efforts. Keep in mind that people come to your website for its content, not for its design.

Remember that there is no perfect web design. In fact, there are an infinite number design styles your site can have and still get the same results as long as the design is professional and SEO friendly.

Focus on the website re-design to make your website look clean, attractive and easy to navigate.

Your new site must include a content management system (CMS). WordPress is the best CMS on the planet and there are many reasons why WordPress is the best CMS for small businesses. Launching a new website is just the beginning. You will need to feed it with great content all the time for it to grow and work for you.

The reason why many website re-designs fail is simply because content and SEO are addressed after the fact. There is nothing more discouraging for a business than when a new website loses valuable Google rankings, or when a company finds out they have to go back to the drawing board make a new site search engine friendly.

How To Avoid The New Website Ranking Blues

1. Keyword research will help you determine content and pages, thus, will impact site navigation, content and page count. Keyword research isnot as hard as it sounds. Yet, almost no one considers keyword research when drafting website content.

For basic keyword research, you can use a free tool within Google AdWords called the Keyword Planner to search for specific keywords that are being searched in your niche. The great thing about this tool is that you are not only able to find the words most searched, but also how much commercial competition there is for each word. With this data, you can develop a list of words to include in your website copy and content marketing plans.

2. The content people need to know what to write about.

Once you do the content research, you have to get it to the “write” people – as in the content writers. It’s important that they understand the goal of weaving your keyword targets into the copy while delivering your own messaging. It’s not that you want to write for Google or the search engines – that is a terrible idea. It’s just that you do want to forget about the search engines when you are writing or structuring your website.

3. SEO coding best practices should be addressed by designers and developers early on.

After your keyword research is done, you’ll need to pay close attention to SEO coding best practices to make sure the re-design is optimized from the first line of website code. Moz has an awesome resource for this called the Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet. This is extremely important and should be addressed early on.

4. Website layout and page elements, such as content placement above the fold and elsewhere are important for SEO and for conversion optimization. We’ve talked about including the right words, writing the right kind of copy and using the best code, but you also need to consider how much content to include and where it should be placed.

For example, the content at the top of your page has more search engine weight than the content at the bottom. Also, a page with 100 words of content is less likely to rank than one with 500 or 2500 words of quality content.

You want to make sure that the message and goal for each website page is clear at the top of the page, and that a call to action or purpose for each web page is clearly defined.

5. Other content besides text copy should be included on your website.

Rich media on your website not only helps for search engine optimization, but also for conversion optimization. Consider embedding videos from YouTube, embedded podcasts, downloadable PDFs and of course images.

Each one of these pages element can be tagged with structured data for SEO to give the search engines context to these page elements.