Incremental vs Full Backups and How to Combine Them to Protect Your WordPress Site

Key Data on Business Backup Practices

• 68% of Spanish businesses don’t have proper backup systems. (IT Reseller, 2024)
• Only 32% of SMEs back up their critical data regularly.
• Ransomware attacks doubled in 2023 compared to 2022.
• 92% of organizations will increase their data protection budget in 2024. (Veeam)
• 43% of companies that lost data suffered severe operational damage. (Gartner)
• 51% had to close permanently after a data loss disaster.
• Cloud backups cost between €10 and €90 per month, depending on storage needs.

From 3-2-1 to 3-2-1-1-0: A Necessary Evolution

Today’s best practice goes beyond the old 3-2-1 rule. The 3-2-1-1-0 strategy includes:

• 3 copies of your data
• 2 different storage types
• 1 copy stored offsite
• 1 air-gapped or immutable copy
• 0 errors: verified backups

What Does Each Backup Type Do?

Full Backups

A full backup includes your entire website: files, database, themes, plugins, uploads and configurations. It’s the foundation of any disaster recovery plan, but it’s heavy on resources and should be done during low-traffic periods.

Incremental Backups

Incremental backups store only the changes made since the last backup, saving time and space. They are perfect for active websites that change daily or hourly.

How to Build a Solid WordPress Backup Strategy

• Monthly full backup: Scheduled during off-peak hours to ensure a clean recovery point.
• Daily incremental backups: To capture ongoing changes without overloading the server.
• Weekly differentials: Faster restoration than using incrementals alone.
• Pre-update backups: Automatically created before updates to WordPress, plugins, or themes.
• Automatic verification: Test restores in staging environments to ensure backup integrity.
• Granular backups: Restore individual files, tables, or settings without rolling back the whole site.

Case Study: Backup Strategy for a Small Creative Agency

Company type: Creative agency with portfolio, blog, and client area.

• Full backup: First Sunday of every month at 3:00 AM.
• Weekly differentials: Every Sunday at 4:00 AM.
• Daily incrementals: Every day at 2:00 AM.
• Pre-update snapshots: Enabled before any update.
• Storage strategy: Recent backups stored locally, fulls on Google Drive, archived quarterly on Dropbox.

Result: Restoration in under 10 minutes, zero data loss in three years.

Common Backup Mistakes to Avoid

• Relying only on your hosting provider
• Never testing your backups
• Not keeping offsite or redundant copies
• Lack of automation

FAQs

1. What is the difference between incremental and differential backups?
   Incremental backups save only the changes since the last backup (of any kind), while differential backups save all changes since the last full backup. This means differential backups are larger but faster to restore.
2. Are incremental backups enough to restore a WordPress site?
   Not by themselves. You also need a full backup as a base. Incremental backups rely on the previous copies to rebuild the full website, so they must be used in combination.
3. How often should I back up my WordPress site?
   It depends on how often your site changes. For most businesses, a monthly full backup plus daily incrementals is ideal. Highly dynamic sites might need hourly backups.
4. Where should I store my WordPress backups?
   Always store backups in at least two separate locations: one local and one in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3). For extra security, use an immutable or offline copy.
5. Can I automate WordPress backups without plugins?
   Yes, through server cron jobs or managed hosting features. However, most users prefer using plugins like UpdraftPlus, JetBackup, or BlogVault for simplicity and scheduling.

Need Help? You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

At Modular DS, you can create tailored backup strategies for WordPress websites. Fully automated, scalable, and aligned with your website’s activity.