The Tech Stack – 11ty + Tailwind CSS for Maximum Efficiency

My choice of 11ty as the static site generator (SSG) was based on both experience and research. I had previously worked with Jekyll, but it felt outdated and required more effort to implement my requirements. When I experimented with Next.js, I found it to be overkill for small websites—its complexity and additional overhead made it less appealing for a simple, efficient site.

In contrast, 11ty struck the perfect balance. It offered:

• Speed: Being a lightweight SSG, it generates static pages quickly without unnecessary overhead.
• SEO Benefits: Full control over page structures, metadata, and accessibility, which made SEO optimization much easier.
• Simplicity: Unlike Next.js, 11ty doesn’t force complex client-side dependencies, making it straightforward to implement and maintain.
• Flexibility: I could easily customize templates without being locked into a specific framework structure.

For my website, 11ty was simply the best fit—a developer-friendly tool that lets me focus on building, not troubleshooting excessive configurations.

When it came to styling, Tailwind CSS was my go-to choice over traditional CSS frameworks like Bootstrap. While Bootstrap is great for rapid development, I found it to be more limited when customization was necessary.

Tailwind CSS offers several advantages:

• Customization: I could define a unique theme, custom fonts, and spacing without overriding pre-set styles.
• Efficiency: Utility classes meant I could style directly in my markup, avoiding repetitive CSS files.
• Typography Plugin: Tailwind CSS Typography saved me significant time when publishing blog posts, making it easy to format content without manual tweaks.

The combination of 11ty and Tailwind CSS allowed me to create a fast, modern, and easily maintainable website without unnecessary bulk.

After setting up multiple small websites, I realized I was repeating the same setup steps each time. To optimize my workflow, I created a reusable template combining 11ty and Tailwind CSS, which is now publicly available:

11ty – Tailwind CSS Template

This template helps me (and others) quickly launch a new website without starting from scratch. It provides:

• A pre-configured 11ty setup for static site generation.
• Tailwind CSS integration, with themes and typography already configured.
• A streamlined structure for rapid deployment and customization.

Beyond the website’s frontend setup, I’m also working on automating my AWS infrastructure setup using CloudFormation. Just as I streamlined my website development with 11ty, I want to create a CloudFormation template to automate:

• S3 bucket creation and configuration for static website hosting.
• ACM certificate management for securing multiple subdomains.
• CloudFront distribution to optimize site performance globally.
• API Gateway setup for dynamic integrations.
• Route 53 configurations for seamless domain management.
• (Optional) Cognito for authentication, if needed.

This automation will save time when launching new web projects, just like my 11ty – Tailwind template does for frontend development. By focusing on efficiency and scalability, I can ensure that each project starts with a solid, pre-configured foundation.

My 11ty – Tailwind CSS approach has made developing and maintaining small websites fast, efficient, and enjoyable. By creating a reusable template, I’ve streamlined my process, allowing me to focus on content and functionality rather than setup. And with my future CloudFormation automation, I’ll bring the same level of efficiency to AWS infrastructure, ensuring a smooth, scalable workflow for my projects.