40 with a Family. Help me get started\u2026

1. Embrace the Cloud #

Backup your internet connection by setting up a cheap yearly cloud account. Owning your own site or static site generator (SSG) means you’re not susceptible to a third party or ISP throttling your connection. I like hosting on a VPS because I can install software. Hetzner is a favorite but if it’s out of your budget, DigitalOcean or Vultr will suffice. For a static site generator like Hugo, storage bandwidth matters more than RAM. For SSGs like WordPress, memory is more crucial. Tip: Use free tiers to test your host’s reliability. For $6 a month, you can keep your website live with a static site generator. Perhaps you’ll find that your long articles benefit from hosting locally, especially once the popularity of your site grows.

2. Automate Your Deployment #

Use CI/CD for Hugo. With a simple GitHub repo, I deploy Hugo sites dynamically. I set up a GitHub Action to check my site’s build and point TRAVIS to deploy if it passes. Automated deployment guarantees daily updates for readers. I use an ecosystem tool called puma for extreme low-hassle support if you work with larger sites. Tip: Run git clone : n[path to your hugh repo] . n[path to yur toxfile] n/config_HOOKS=pre-commit pre-commit install Overkill for most people, but the syntax makes fine-tuning undo’s easier for larger sites.

3. Plan for Failure #

If you want peace of mind, host your own Hugo site regardless of your traffic. For most of us, hosting on a third party is more practical. Backup your site and configurations often. Incremental backups reduce storage usage and speed up restores. Use free tools and scripts to automate and regularly backup your site like a boss. You shouldn’t hold onto old versions that arenO’t served or required but keeping around 3 ancient versions just in case can be helpful.