---
title: "Serving static pages with Nginx instead of a WordPress setup"
language: en
topics: ["Amsterdam", "art", "creating", "design", "server", "web", "webdesign", "work"]
full_article_url: https://willem.com/en/2025-01-23_champions-league-of-webdesign/
---
# Serving static pages with Nginx instead of a WordPress setup

*Fewer moving parts means faster loading and fewer security risks.*

> Pre-generated static pages remove per-request database work and the public /wp-admin login screen. I serve minified static HTML through Nginx with RAM file caches, SSD storage and HTTP/2: fewer moving parts, faster loading, easier scaling, fewer security risks.

I built Escape.nl, the website for Escape Club Amsterdam, as pre-generated static pages instead of a CMS that processes every request. Most run-of-the-mill websites, WordPress included, query a database on each visit and expose a public login screen at /wp-admin. Separating content management from public delivery removes both: the team edits through a management system, while visitors only touch minified static files served by Nginx with RAM file caches, SSD storage and HTTP/2.
Assets get individual treatment with jpegoptim, pngquant and ffmpeg, and two separately cut video files serve wide and portrait screens for instant playback. The result held up under loads from TV exposure and met top Chrome Lighthouse, Google PageSpeed and W3C benchmarks for speed, accessibility and SEO.