Website backup in Toronto

A website backup is a complete, restorable copy of your site: the files, the database, the media library, the plugins and the theme, saved together and kept somewhere other than the server the site runs on. It is what lets you roll back a bad update, recover from a hacked page or move to a new host without rebuilding from memory. This page is for owners and site managers of WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify and other business websites who want to know their copies exist, work and belong to them. Canada Create is a Toronto agency that sets up and checks website backups for businesses across Canada.

• What a full website copy contains
• How often your site should be copied
• Where copies are stored and for how long
• A fresh copy before every update
• Restore tests on a staging copy
• What your host’s own backups leave out
• Shopify and other hosted platforms
• Domain records, logins and who holds the copies
• How backups fit with hosting and maintenance
• Customer data, privacy and accessibility
• How we set up website backups
• What website backup costs
• How to choose a website backup provider
• Book a website backup check for your business site

What a full website copy contains

A website is two things working together: a folder of files on the server and a database that holds the words, settings, orders and users. A copy that has only one of them is half a website, and restoring half a website usually produces a blank page or a site that looks right but has lost its last month of posts.

Files

The files include the core software, the configuration file that tells the site how to reach its database, any custom code, and server settings such as redirect rules. On a WordPress site, most of what makes your site yours lives in the content folder, but the configuration file and the server rules matter too, because without them a restored site may not load.

The database

The database holds pages, posts, menus, form entries, user accounts, store products and, on a WooCommerce site, every order and customer record. It changes every time someone edits a page, places an order or fills in a form, which is why its copy schedule often needs to be tighter than the files.

The media library

Photos, PDFs, menus, price sheets and videos uploaded over the years are often the largest part of a site and the hardest to replace. A shop with thousands of product photos or a law firm with years of downloadable guides cannot recreate them quickly from a laptop folder.

Plugins and theme

Plugins and the theme can usually be downloaded again from their makers, but the exact versions you ran, any paid licences and any changes a developer made to the theme cannot. Copying them with the rest means a restore puts back the site as it was, not a newer version that might behave differently.

Copied together, at the same moment

Files and database should be copied as one set, so a restore brings back a database that matches the files beside it. Mixing yesterday’s files with last week’s database is how missing images and broken pages appear after a restore.

How often your site should be copied

The right schedule depends on how often the site changes and how much work would be lost between copies. There is no single correct answer, only a sensible match between the copy schedule and the way the site is used.

A store taking orders all day

An online store that takes orders throughout the day writes new orders, stock changes and customer accounts to its database constantly. A copy once a night would leave a day of orders unaccounted for, so stores usually copy the database several times a day, or continuously where the hosting allows, while the larger file and media copy runs nightly.

A brochure site that rarely changes

A site for an accounting firm, a contractor or a clinic that is edited a few times a month can often be copied daily or weekly, plus a fresh copy whenever someone makes a significant change. Copying it hourly would add storage cost without protecting anything new.

Booking, membership and form heavy sites

Sites that collect bookings, membership sign ups, donations or job applications sit in between. The form entries and accounts in the database are the part that matters most, and the schedule should reflect how many come in on a busy day.

Seasonal changes

A garden centre in spring, a tax preparer in March or a retailer in the weeks before the holidays may see far more activity than usual. The copy schedule can be tightened for those periods and relaxed afterward, which the owner decides and the written plan records.

Where copies are stored and for how long

A copy kept on the same server as the website protects against an editing mistake, but not against the server failing, the hosting account being suspended or an attacker who reaches the server. At least one copy should always live elsewhere.

Away from the web server

Off server copies go to separate storage with a different provider or at least a different account, protected by its own login and multi factor authentication. If the hosting account is compromised or closed, the copies remain reachable.

A Canadian storage option

Some businesses prefer, or are expected by their clients, to keep copies of customer data in Canada. Storage services with Canadian regions make that possible, and the region chosen is written in your backup plan so you can answer the question when a client or an auditor asks.

Encryption

Website copies contain customer names, emails, order histories and form submissions. They should be encrypted on the way to storage and while stored, with the key or password kept somewhere the business controls and more than one person knows how to find.

How long copies are kept

Keeping a run of daily copies plus older weekly and monthly ones lets you go back to a point before a problem started, which matters when a hack or a broken plugin goes unnoticed for a while. Keeping copies forever adds storage cost and keeps personal information longer than needed, so the owner sets a retention period and the oldest copies are removed on schedule.

A fresh copy before every update

Updates to WordPress, plugins, themes and server software are where many website problems begin. A plugin update that conflicts with the theme can break the checkout or the contact form without warning.

Copy, update, check

A fresh copy taken minutes before an update means the site can be rolled back to exactly how it was, instead of to last night’s copy that misses today’s orders. After the update, the home page, a product or service page, the contact form and the checkout are checked before the work is considered finished.

Before bigger changes too

The same rule applies before a redesign, a move to a new host, a change of payment provider, a bulk import of products or any developer work on the theme. Each of these is recorded with the copy that was taken before it, so the team knows which copy to reach for.

Restore tests on a staging copy

A website copy that has never been restored is a file of unknown value. Restore tests are how you find out, before you need it, whether a copy actually brings the site back.

Restoring to staging, not to the live site

A restore test puts the copy onto a separate staging site, away from the public address, so customers never see it. The staging site is then checked: pages load, images appear, the menu works, forms submit, logins work and, for a store, products and recent orders are present.

Recording the result

Each test is written down with the date, which copy was used, what was checked and anything that failed. If a test fails, the cause is found and fixed in the copy schedule, which is far better than finding the same problem on the day the live site is down.

How often to test

Testing on a regular schedule, and after any change to how copies are made or where they are stored, keeps the process honest. The schedule is set in your written plan.

What your host’s own backups leave out

Many hosting plans include backups, and they are useful. They are rarely enough on their own, and the details are worth reading.

Common gaps

A host’s backups are often stored on the same infrastructure as the website, kept for a short period, and restorable only as a whole account rather than a single site or a single day. Some plans copy files but not databases, some charge to restore, and some exclude large media folders. If the account is suspended or the host closes, the copies usually go with it.

Questions to ask your host

How often are copies taken, and are databases included? Where are they stored, and for how long? Can I download a copy myself? Can I restore a single site or a single day? Is there a fee to restore? The answers decide what your own off server copies need to cover. Our website hosting service answers these in writing for sites we host.

Shopify and other hosted platforms

Hosted platforms such as Shopify, Squarespace and Wix run the servers for you and keep the platform itself available. That is not the same as keeping a copy of your store or your content that you can bring back if something is deleted or changed by mistake.

What owners still export

On Shopify, products, customers and orders can be exported as spreadsheet files, and theme files can be downloaded. Pages, blog posts, navigation and some store settings may need a separate method to copy. A regular export of each, stored off the platform in your own account, means a deleted collection or an overwritten product description can be put back.

Theme changes and apps

Before a developer edits a live theme, a duplicate of the theme is made and the original downloaded. Apps that add reviews, subscriptions or wholesale pricing store some data on their own systems, so the plan notes which app holds what and how it can be exported. If you are planning a new store, our Shopify store builds include setting this up from the start.

Domain records, logins and who holds the copies

A restored website is no use if nobody can point the domain at it. Domain and DNS details are often the forgotten piece of a backup plan.

Domain and DNS records written down

The plan records where the domain is registered, when it expires, who can sign in, and a full copy of the DNS records: the address for the website, mail records, verification entries for Google and Microsoft services, and anything else added over the years. If DNS is ever changed by mistake or moved to a new provider, the records can be put back exactly, and business email keeps working.

Who holds the copies and logins

The copies, the storage account, the encryption key, the hosting account and the domain registrar login should all be in the business’s name, with your provider given access rather than ownership. If you ever change web partners, you keep every copy and every login and simply remove their access.

How backups fit with hosting and maintenance

Website backup sits alongside two related services. Our website maintenance and security plans cover updates, hardening and malware cleanup, and they rely on good copies. Website monitoring watches whether the site is up and working and tells you when it is not. Copies of company files, laptops, servers and Microsoft 365 mail are covered separately by our data backup service for business files, which this page does not repeat. Owners planning a new site can include backups in a web development project or an ecommerce website build from the first day, and the wider protection of your systems is covered on our cyber security page. Ransomware Protection and Network Support are new pages in this group too.

Customer data, privacy and accessibility

Website copies are not just files. They hold the personal information your site collects, and restoring one can change what visitors see.

Personal information in copies

PIPEDA expects businesses to protect the personal information they hold and to keep it only as long as it is needed. That applies to website copies just as much as to the live site, so copies are encrypted, access is limited and the oldest copies are removed on the retention schedule. Card numbers should never be stored on the website at all; payments belong with the payment provider, so they never end up in a copy.

Subscriber lists and consent records

If your site collects newsletter sign ups, the consent records that CASL expects you to keep, such as when and how someone agreed to hear from you, may live in the website database. Including them in copies, and restoring them with the rest, keeps those records intact.

Accessibility after a restore

In Ontario, AODA requires websites of organizations covered by the rules to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Restoring an older copy can quietly undo accessibility fixes made since, such as image descriptions or form labels, so changes like these are noted in the restore record and checked after any rollback. This is a marketing observation, not legal advice.

How we set up website backups

A free review

We start by looking at your site: which platform, where it is hosted, how often it changes, what the host already copies, where any existing copies are and when anyone last restored one. Access to the hosting account and the site admin helps, and we ask for it in your name.

A custom proposal

You receive a custom proposal covering what is copied, how often, where copies are stored, the storage region, encryption, retention and the restore test schedule, with fees quoted in writing and any storage subscriptions shown separately.

Setup and first restore test

Copies are set up in accounts owned by your business, the domain and DNS records are documented, and a first restore test to staging is carried out and recorded before the work is signed off.

Monthly reporting

Each month you receive a short summary: copies completed and any that failed, what was done about failures, restore tests run and their results, and any change in what the site needs, such as a new store section or a move to a new host.

What website backup costs

Once we have seen your platform, your host’s copies and how busy your database is, our fees for copying and testing the site are quoted in writing. The storage that holds your off server copies, and any backup plugin licence, is billed by its maker to your business, so the quote lists those on lines of their own.

What drives the quote

• The platform, since a WordPress or WooCommerce site is copied differently from a Shopify store.
• How large the site is, especially the media library.
• How often the database changes, from a few edits a month to orders all day.
• How many sites, staging copies or language versions are included.
• Whether a Canadian storage region is required.
• How often restore tests are carried out.
• Whether backup care is bundled with hosting or maintenance work you already have with us.

A five page brochure site on WordPress is a small arrangement. A WooCommerce store with thousands of products, frequent orders and a storage region set by a client’s privacy questions is a larger one.

How to choose a website backup provider

A backup provider holds a full copy of your website and its customer data, so it pays to ask plainly how it all works.

• Who owns the accounts? The answer should be you, including the storage account, the encryption key, the hosting login and the domain registrar.
• Are files and database copied together, and how often for my kind of site?
• Where are the copies stored, in which region, and are they encrypted?
• How long are copies kept, and who decides?
• When was the last restore test, and can I see the record?
• Is a fresh copy taken before every update?
• For my hosted store, what do you export and where does it go?

Signs of a weak answer

Be cautious if a provider says the host already handles it without checking, keeps copies only on the web server, cannot show a restore test, promises a restore time before seeing your site, or keeps the storage account in its own name.

Book a website backup check for your business site

Before the call, note which platform your site runs on, who hosts it, where the domain is registered and when anyone last restored a copy. With that, Canada Create can review your website copies, your host’s backups and your domain records in a free website backup review and send a custom proposal afterward.

Call (416) 273-9030, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm, and Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm. After hours, our 24/7 AI agent answers the toll-free line, +1 (800) 808-9235, and we’ll follow up the next business morning.

You can also ask for a website backup review online. We reply within one business day.

Our office is at 126 Willowdale Avenue, Suite 3, Toronto, and we look after websites for businesses across Canada.