##rsync
If your folder contains subfolders and more importantly symlinks you want to use rsync:
rsync -aruv localfolder/ user@server:destination/
Or in reverse:
rsync -aruv user@server:destination/ localfolder/
This will do a recursive backup / copy from localfolder to your server while keeping ownership and permissions intact. The solutions suggested so far are valid however scp doesn't handle symlinks by default and will instead create a new copy of the linked file.