How to start a blog using Hugo
A detailed tutorial on how to start a blog using Hugo, from the basics to deployment.
Hugo is a great tool for starting a blog. It’s simple, boring, flexible, and fast. The simplicity of Hugo allows you to get started quickly with minimal learning curve. You can write your content in Markdown, using your favorite text editor. Hugo is built using Go, a language known for its efficiency, and it doesn’t rely on fancy technologies or heavy dependencies.
With Hugo, you can focus on writing content instead of worrying about the technical details. It offers flexibility to create customized features beyond a simple blog, allowing you to tailor your website to your specific needs. Additionally, Hugo’s performance is exceptional due to its core being built with Go, which is known for its speed and efficiency.
Hosting a Hugo blog
A Hugo blog is completely static, meaning you don’t need to host your own server or use a specialized service. There are several great options for hosting your Hugo blog for free, such as Netlify, Now, and GitHub Pages. The only cost you will have is for the domain name. It is recommended to have your own domain name to give your blog a more professional impression.
Choose a domain
When selecting a domain, it is recommended to use your own name or a relevant term related to your blog’s topic. Using a .com or .blog domain is preferable over using localized domains or .io domains. Having an older domain is also beneficial as it can positively impact search engine rankings.
Install Hugo
To install Hugo on macOS, you can run the following command in your terminal:
1 | brew install hugo |
For Windows and Linux, please refer to the official installation guide on the Hugo website.
Create a Hugo site
Once Hugo is installed, you can create a new Hugo site by running the following command in your terminal:
1 | hugo new site myblog |
It is recommended to run this command in a www folder in your home directory as it will create a new myblog folder where you run the command.
Pick a theme
Before you get started, you need to select a theme for your blog. Hugo doesn’t come with a default theme, but you can find a variety of themes at https://themes.gohugo.io. A recommended starting point is the Ghostwriter theme, which can be found at https://themes.gohugo.io/ghostwriter/. You can download the theme from the GitHub repository mentioned on the page.
After downloading the theme, extract and place it in the themes/ghostwriter folder in your Hugo website directory. Make sure to copy the content from the exampleSite folder of the theme into the content folder of your website.
The configuration
The theme also comes with a sample config.toml file. It is recommended to customize this file before running Hugo. You can modify the config.toml with your desired settings, such as title, intro, headline, description, social media links, and date format.
Once the configuration is customized, you can start the local development server by running the command:
1 | hugo serve |
This will start a local server, and you can view your website at http://localhost:1313.
Deploy the Hugo site
To deploy your Hugo site, you can use platforms like Netlify or Zeit Now. These platforms offer a simple and efficient way to deploy static websites. For Netlify, you can create a GitHub repository to host your site and connect it to Netlify. For Zeit Now, you can also create a GitHub repository and deploy the site using the Now CLI.
Once your site is deployed, you can make changes to your local version and push them to GitHub, which will automatically trigger a redeployment.
By following this tutorial, you can easily start a blog using Hugo and host it on popular platforms like Netlify or Zeit Now.
Tags: Hugo, blogging, static site generator, web development