---
title: "Deploying Hugo Sites: A Complete Guide"
date: 2023-07-22
author: "Alex Johnson"
description: "Learn how to deploy your Hugo site to various platforms including Netlify, Vercel, and GitHub Pages."
categories: ["Deployment"]
tags: ["hugo", "deployment", "netlify", "vercel", "github-pages"]
featured_image: "/images/blog/blog-3.webp"
---

{{< toc >}}

## Introduction

Once you've built your Hugo site, the next step is deploying it to make it accessible to the world. This guide covers various deployment options and best practices.

## Popular Deployment Platforms

### 1. Netlify

Netlify offers a seamless deployment experience:

{{< code bash "terminal" >}}
# Create netlify.toml
[build]
  publish = "public"
  command = "hugo --gc --minify"

[build.environment]
  HUGO_VERSION = "0.95.0"
{{< /code >}}

### 2. Vercel

Vercel provides excellent performance and analytics.

### 3. GitHub Pages

Perfect for project sites and personal blogs:

{{< code yaml "github-workflow.yml" >}}
name: GitHub Pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Setup Hugo
        uses: peaceiris/actions-hugo@v2
{{< /code >}}

## Deployment Best Practices

1. **Use Version Control**
   - Track your changes
   - Collaborate effectively
   - Enable automated deployments

2. **Optimize Assets**
   - Compress images
   - Minify CSS/JS
   - Enable caching

3. **Configure CI/CD**
   - Automate builds
   - Run tests
   - Deploy automatically

## Performance Considerations

1. **Page Load Speed**
   - Optimize images
   - Minimize HTTP requests
   - Use CDN

2. **SEO**
   - Configure meta tags
   - Create sitemap
   - Enable robots.txt

## Security Measures

1. **Enable HTTPS**
2. **Configure Headers**
3. **Implement CSP**

## Conclusion

Choosing the right deployment platform and following best practices ensures your Hugo site is fast, secure, and reliable.

## Resources

- [Hugo Deployment Documentation](https://gohugo.io/hosting-and-deployment/)
- [Netlify Documentation](https://docs.netlify.com/)
- [Vercel Documentation](https://vercel.com/docs)