Unfortunately, one of these is bound to happen at some time or another:

• Your website crashes for no apparent reason
• A power outage
• An application failure occurs
• A natural disaster
• A cyber breach or attack

You then walk through the list of checks and balances, yet nothing seems to change.

Frustration sets in. You sit there scratching your head and mumbling under your breath, “Now what?”

A time like this is when you want to ensure you have a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) in place. Being proactive by setting one up from the get go can be the difference in the end between saving or losing your website for good.

How Do You Create a Website Recovery Plan?

According to TechTarget, “As cybercrime and security breaches become more sophisticated, it is important for an organization to define its data recovery and protection strategies. The ability to handle incidents quickly can reduce downtime and minimize financial and reputational damages. DRPs also help organizations meet compliance requirements while providing a clear roadmap to recovery.”

To plan for such an incident, there are several critical factors listed below you will want to incorporate into your recovery plan. Though things can go wrong regardless of how prepared you may be, a recovery plan will be your best line of defense when the unexpected transpires.

Backup of Your Website

This is a step you can NOT skip! Without a current backup, you could be looking at the prospect of having to start over from scratch and create an entirely new website. When making a backup, securely store one externally to your hosting platform. I said “one” because I highly recommend you make 2 or 3 backups and secure them in different locations. This may sound tedious and redundant, but with technology, you never know when one of your other locations might also be affected.

Website Maintenance

Regular website maintenance will allow you a greater possibility of catching a problem before it becomes a catastrophe. Appoint someone in your company, or designate your web developer to maintain and perform regular security updates. I would suggest making this a weekly habit.

NOTE: Before performing any updates, make sure to back up your website first. Glitches happen, and you don’t want to be left having to comb through an older version of your site if something goes awry during an update.

Uptime Monitoring

It’s pretty much impossible and highly unlikely you can maintain an individual within your organization to sit and monitor your website 24/7. Therefore, you can either have your web developer handle this monitoring (often included in website care plans) or monitor it yourself through a service such as Uptime Robot. With this particular service you can set it up to check your website every 5 minutes. You will only be notified if it detects downtime, and then you can review and take appropriate action as you see fit.

Content Updates

Have a plan in place to update your content after a backup. I would advise with this process; you include a second pair of eyes to comb through the content. This will help to lessen the likelihood of typos and/or embarrassing errors.

Passwords

I would encourage carrying out regular audits of your passwords every 2 to 3 months. Verify all of your passwords are strong and safely secured in some type of secure password manager. I would also urge you to review these regularly in regards to who has access to your website/passwords and remove individuals who no longer need this information.

Contact Details

Create and maintain an updated list of who to contact when a disaster may strike. This would encompass your hosting company, domain provider, and email provider at a minimum. Being prepared will create efficiency and effectiveness from the get go to repair any damage that may occur swiftly.

In addition, your recovery plan should include a detailed strategy on how internal and external communication will flow. This might contain how to notify clients, family members, shareholders, etc., of updates and status during a time of crisis.

JJ Social Light Website Recovery and Care Plans 

Here at JJ Social Light, we offer support plans and Hosting for Wordpress websites.

Like a car, your website needs regular maintenance to ensure that it runs optimally, is as safe as possible from potential security risks and hacking, and continues supporting your business and serving your customers without fail.

A WordPress Website Maintenance Plan is designed to give you the peace of mind you need, knowing that your website’s backend software stays updated to minimize issues and problems that can crop up on a website over time.

Allow our team of experts to take care of all your ongoing website needs through such means as regular software updates, regular website backups, security protection, and uptime monitoring, to name a few.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you prepare and implement a disaster recovery plan, please contact us to schedule a call.

Being proactive with a recovery plan will save you a lot of frustration and hassle when the unthinkable materializes. Making the time to be prepared will undoubtedly safeguard you from having to utilize unnecessary manpower in the long run. Just the thought of having to rebuild your website from scratch should be more than enough incentive to implement (or update) a proper recovery plan today.