Any webmaster/SEO will tell you that you can never have enough backups of your content. They will tell you this because they have tried to keep enough backups but ultimately even the most OCD backup plan will leave you wanting more.
When it comes to website backups the Wayback Machine has saved me many many times from wondering what a site ‘used’ to look like or ‘when’ an issue was added to the site for those ‘who done it’ moments.
Say you wanted to find out when a logo was added to a client site to make sure that the typo in the image didn’t come from your offices? If you put the URL into the Wayback Machine, and start looking through older versions of the page you can usually find the date it changed in minutes:
The service is very well laid out, straight forward, and advertisement free, yet they backup web pages, and on-line content, for the entire planet, employing over 160 people in the process!
If you don’t know about the internet archives, take a look and see what you’ve been missing out on. I know a lot of folks are amazed when I pull something out of the fire by fetching an old layout from years prior to even dealing with the client. It’s not black magic, it’s just the internet archive.
Heck even just browsing old movies in the archive is fun!
There’s plenty more on the site, and some of the videos are really interesting, and there’s support for Flash, HTML5, MPEG, and OOG.
So regardless of who you are, search engine optimization specialist, web-master, graphic designer, etc., and regardless of how you use the Wayback Machine, or other Internet Archive features, it’s a great service that runs on donations…
Thanks!
