Website stewardship guide 03
If your site disappeared tomorrow, what would you need to bring it back? Start with the pages, data, and outside services that matter, then ask your provider to demonstrate a restore. A successful practice run shows what your backup really covers.
← All website stewardship guidanceList what to recover
Agree acceptable loss
Protect recovery copies
Practice a restore
Check customer tasks
Why this matters
Website files, uploaded images, customer records, and booking data can live in different places. A host's snapshot may include the site database but leave out email or an external appointment tool. A source-code repository may preserve the design and code while missing content uploaded through the editor.
Write down what must be recovered, where each copy lives, and who can restore it. Then consider two questions: how much recent work could you afford to lose, and how long could the business manage without the affected service? These recovery objectives help your provider choose a schedule and a realistic recovery process.
Responsible practices
Ask for a list covering files, database, uploads, configuration, redirects, and the instructions needed to run the site. Record separate arrangements for DNS, email, forms, booking, and other external services. Keep secrets in protected storage; a document can record where to retrieve them without exposing their values.
The recovery point objective is how much recent data loss the business is planning to tolerate. A nightly copy might omit everything entered since that copy was taken. A store receiving frequent orders needs a different plan from a brochure site edited occasionally. Include backups before risky changes as well as a recurring schedule.
Ask what happens to backups if the hosting account is compromised or closed. At least one appropriate recovery copy should have protection from the same failure affecting the live site. Confirm who can access it, how sensitive information is protected, how long copies are retained, and who can retrieve the necessary keys.
Have the provider run a restore drill in a safe test location: recover a selected page or file, then demonstrate the full site where the platform permits. Confirm the chosen backup is suitable for the incident. A suspected compromise calls for investigation and a known clean recovery point, not simply the newest archive.
Open important pages, inspect images and redirects, and test forms through delivery. Check external booking links, administrator access, and any records that changed after the backup. Record what was missing and how long the work took. A working restore gives you a useful baseline for improving the plan.
Worked example
Hypothetical example: a service business has a nightly website backup. Its contact form stores requests in a separate service, and appointments live in an external booking platform.
Use the example to discuss acceptable loss and recovery order. It is not a recommended backup interval or a promised recovery time.
Recovery drill
List the website functions your business could least afford to lose.
Ask what each backup includes and what needs a separate recovery method.
Agree how much recent work could be lost and the recovery time you are planning around.
Request the result of a restore drill and a list of the gaps it found.
Document capture schedules, retention, protected storage, access, and restoration instructions for each system.
Demonstrate a safe restore and verify customer paths, rather than reporting only that the backup job ran.
Explain recovery dependencies and the difference between a planning target and a contracted response or restoration commitment.
Avoid these failures
Good website care lowers risk, but no provider can guarantee uninterrupted service.
Questions business owners ask
It may cover much of the site, but verify its scope, retention, account dependency, and restore process. Email, DNS, external booking, and other services may need separate recovery arrangements.
Base the interval on how often important data changes and how much loss the business can accept. Also consider how long a problem might go unnoticed and whether older clean copies remain available.
That an authorized person can recover the required site into a safe test location, identify missing dependencies, and complete important customer paths. Record the time taken and corrective work.
It depends on where inquiries are stored and what the restore replaces. Have the provider identify newer records before proceeding and explain how they will be preserved or reconciled. Do the same for orders, appointments, and uploaded files.
Primary guidance
Plan the next step