8 Reasons Your Personal Site Should Be Built On the JAMstack

WordPress accounts for over 30% of the websites on the internet.

We’ve all used it, whether you’re a member on WordPress.com or host your own private install. It’s practically a right of passage.

But I believe it’s not necessarily the right choice in 2020. In my opinion, JAMstack static-site generators have supplanted it as the right fit for most individuals who host their own personal site.

JAM stands for JavaScript, APIs, and markup. Basically you build the rules for the generator in JavaScript, use APIs to pull in data (remote or local), and write markup to design the aesthetic.

A JAMstack isn’t a traditional tech stack where each letter is a specific technology — but rather a shift in design architecture. Now, your site is generated before deployment, creating a static site instead of one that has to be literally built for every viewer each time it’s requested.

Here are eight reasons why you need to get on the JAM train and leave behind WordPress or whatever other site service you use.

1. It’s Free

Yeah, you read that right — it’s free. Aside from registering my domain name, I didn’t pay a dime for my personal site.

Hosting my site on GitHub and deploying via Netlify, I no longer pay WordPress.com, a web host like GoDaddy, or a VPS like DigitalOcean.

2. It’s Easy to Maintain

Once your site is set up, maintenance is generally as easy as adding, updating, or deleting Markdown files. Additionally, with some minor configuration, you can use a workflow that automatically publishes updates.

3. It’s Fast

Since your pages are prerendered, meaning they’re created on deployment and not on user request, your site will be blazing fast — way faster than WordPress and any other service that relies on making server requests for dynamic content.

4. It’s SEO-Friendly

Being prerendered also comes with a benefit of having all your content readily available for bots and crawlers. This can lead to moving up a spot or 10 in Google results, rewarding you with more exposure.

5. It’s Secure

The less back and forth between the server, database, and client, the better. Each transmission represents a security threat. The prerendered nature limits exposure to potential security risks.

6. It’s an Emerging Technology

Just like everybody was flocking to WordPress in its youth and adolescence, working on a JAMstack is simply cool. You’ll learn about new design architectures for the web and become a more discerning consumer of content.

7. You Have Options

Since JAM is a design philosophy and not an “Avengers”-style group of specific technologies, you have choices for how you wish to implement. Whether you use the React-based GatsbyJS, the Vue-based Gridsome, or another, you’ll be able to browse documentation, guides, and starters to find the right match.

8. Community Support

When you inevitably run into challenges, the communities are fantastic. People share a common desire to collaborate and encourage adoption, which lead to strong communities. I’ll also add, since JAMstack is ideal for deploying documentation, most frameworks have truly exemplary literature.

Conclusion

I heavily encourage anybody who’s currently using WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc. to try out a JAM-based static-site generator. You don’t need to be a developer to use them — although you may find that working on modifications is so delightful you end up learning more than you expected.

I’ve been redesigning my personal site, j-hsu.com, using a combination of Gridsome, Tailwind CSS, and Markdown. I was able to recreate my site in a single day instead of what would have taken an entire week in WordPress. Plus, it runs for free — being deployed from GitHub to Netlify.