You Need A GitHub Jekyll Website

The cheap and easy way to have a website

Easier than you think to manage and update

Are you paying a lot of money per month for your business website?

If you are not using Jekyll and Github, to build and host your website, you are paying too much.

You are looking at a Jekyll website right now. It is hosted on GitHub. It is fast and secure. It is also cheap. No one will know, how will they know? :)

Why Jekyll?

Jekyll is a low end CMS and static site generator. It takes your content, applies it to a template, and generates a complete website. The website is just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. No server-side processing is required. This makes it fast and secure. It is also easy to manage and update.

Jekyll lets you seprate content from design. This makes it easy to update your website. You can change the design without changing the content. You can change the content without changing the design. You can even change the design and content at the same time.

Once you decide on a template you are good to go and create all the content you want. You can even create a blog. Jekyll has a built-in blog feature. You can also add a contact form. You can add a gallery. You can add pretty much anything you want.

Why GitHub?

GitHub is a web-based Git repository hosting service. It is mostly used for computer code. But it can also host websites. GitHub Pages is a static site hosting service. It is designed to host your personal, organization, or project pages directly from a GitHub repository. It is free and easy to use. Especially when you use some free software like VSCode and Git to manage your codes.

Brass Tacks

A Github hosted site is only $4 US per month. The domain name is $12 US per year. That is $60 US per year. Which is a lot cheaper than most hosting services. You could even go cheaper, i.e. free hosting, if you want but that is a whole other blog post about Firebase Hosting.

Squarespace, for example, does give you a lot of features. But it is $34 US per month. That is $408 US per year. And do you really use all their features? You might intend to, but maybe just spend a lot less and get your feet wet with a Jekyll website. You will still have to update and manage Squarespace yourself, so why not do it with Jekyll and GitHub?

How to Get Started

  1. Create a free GitHub account.
  2. Decide on a free jekyll template/theme. Checkout some free Jekyll Themes for some ideas. Or you can create your own like we did.
  3. Create a new public repository with the name username.github.io where username is your GitHub username.
  4. Optional but helpful install WSL on your Windows computer. This will give you a Linux command line.
  5. Clone the theme repository to your computer.
  6. Install the necessary VSCode, Git, and Jekyll software.
  7. Run the jekyll server on your computer.

NOTE: Check out our Jekyll and Bootstrap 5 Template for a great starting point.

How to Build Your Website

After you have your Jekyll website running on your computer.

  1. Customize your website settings in the _config.yml file.
  2. Create and edit your content using regular markdown files.
  3. Push your website to your GitHub repository.
  4. Go to your GitHub repository settings and enable GitHub Pages.
  5. Your website will now be live at http://username.github.io.
  6. Set up your optional custom domain name.
  7. Enjoy your new super cheap website.

Does this sound hard?

OK So this isn’t for everyone. But if you are a small business owner, a freelancer, or a hobbyist, this is a great way to have your own custom website.

Maybe Get some help

If you need help consider reaching out to us here at Hepaestus Consulting. We can help you get started with your new website. We can also help you with your content and design. We can even help you with your social media and marketing.