diff --git a/deploy-nginx.sh b/deploy-nginx.sh
index c650f94..76f3ed8 100644
--- a/deploy-nginx.sh
+++ b/deploy-nginx.sh
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ SITES_ENABLED="$NGINX_ETC/sites-enabled"
 SNIPPETS="$NGINX_ETC/snippets"
 CONFD="$NGINX_ETC/conf.d"
 
-# Where to deploy static files from ./http and ./robots.txt
-WEB_ROOT="${WEB_ROOT:-/var/www/nginx-conf}"
+# Static file deploy targets (match your current layout)
+WEB_HTML="/var/www/html"
+WEB_ERRORS="/var/www/errors"
 
-# Which sites to ensure are enabled (symlinked)
 ENABLE_SITES=(
   "default"
   "nik4nao.home.arpa"
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ ENABLE_SITES=(
   "prv-api.nik4nao.xyz"
 )
 
-# Backup location
 BACKUP_BASE="/var/backups/nginx-conf-deploy"
 
 # ---------------------------
@@ -33,14 +32,11 @@ usage() {
   cat <<'EOF'
 Usage:
   sudo ./deploy-nginx.sh [--dry-run]
-
-Options:
-  --dry-run   Show actions, do not write/reload.
-Env:
-  WEB_ROOT=/some/path  Override static deploy directory (default: /var/www/nginx-conf)
 EOF
 }
 
+log() { echo "==> $*"; }
+
 need_root() {
   if [[ "${EUID}" -ne 0 ]]; then
     echo "ERROR: run as root (use sudo)." >&2
@@ -48,8 +44,6 @@ need_root() {
   fi
 }
 
-log() { echo "==> $*"; }
-
 DRY_RUN=0
 if [[ "${1:-}" == "--dry-run" ]]; then
   DRY_RUN=1
@@ -90,20 +84,6 @@ copy_file() {
   fi
 }
 
-sync_dir() {
-  local src="$1"
-  local dst="$2"
-  if [[ ! -d "$src" ]]; then
-    echo "ERROR: missing source dir: $src" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  if (( DRY_RUN )); then
-    log "[dry-run] rsync -a --delete $src/ -> $dst/"
-  else
-    rsync -a --delete "${src}/" "${dst}/"
-  fi
-}
-
 make_symlink() {
   local target="$1"
   local linkpath="$2"
@@ -114,6 +94,25 @@ make_symlink() {
   fi
 }
 
+sync_selected_http_files() {
+  # Copy only the files you actually use, into the two target dirs
+  local src_dir="$REPO_DIR/http"
+
+  # /var/www/html
+  for f in index.html index.nginx-debian.html nik4nao-xyz-landing.html; do
+    if [[ -f "$src_dir/$f" ]]; then
+      copy_file "$src_dir/$f" "$WEB_HTML/$f"
+    fi
+  done
+
+  # /var/www/errors
+  for f in 404.html 50x.html; do
+    if [[ -f "$src_dir/$f" ]]; then
+      copy_file "$src_dir/$f" "$WEB_ERRORS/$f"
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
 backup_paths=()
 
 add_backup_path() {
@@ -125,7 +124,8 @@ add_backup_path() {
 
 do_backup() {
   mkdir_p "$backup_dir"
-  # Backup only what we touch (and their symlinks)
+
+  # nginx files we touch
   add_backup_path "$NGINX_ETC/nginx.conf"
   add_backup_path "$CONFD/upstreams.conf"
   add_backup_path "$SNIPPETS/proxy-common.conf"
@@ -134,14 +134,21 @@ do_backup() {
     add_backup_path "$SITES_ENABLED/$s"
   done
 
+  # static files we touch (only the known ones)
+  for f in index.html index.nginx-debian.html nik4nao-xyz-landing.html robots.txt; do
+    add_backup_path "$WEB_HTML/$f"
+  done
+  for f in 404.html 50x.html; do
+    add_backup_path "$WEB_ERRORS/$f"
+  done
+
   if (( DRY_RUN )); then
-    log "[dry-run] tar -czf $backup_tar -P ${backup_paths[*]}"
+    log "[dry-run] tar -czf $backup_tar -P ${backup_paths[*]:-}"
     return
   fi
 
   if ((${#backup_paths[@]} == 0)); then
     log "No existing paths found to backup (first deploy?)."
-    # still create empty backup dir for consistency
     return
   fi
 
@@ -154,12 +161,12 @@ restore_backup() {
     log "[dry-run] restore from $backup_tar"
     return
   fi
-  if [[ ! -f "$backup_tar" ]]; then
+  if [[ -f "$backup_tar" ]]; then
+    log "Restoring from backup..."
+    tar -xzf "$backup_tar" -P
+  else
     log "No backup tar found to restore: $backup_tar"
-    return
   fi
-  log "Restoring from backup..."
-  tar -xzf "$backup_tar" -P
 }
 
 nginx_test() {
@@ -182,18 +189,15 @@ nginx_reload() {
 # Deploy
 # ---------------------------
 log "Repo: $REPO_DIR"
-log "Deploying to: $NGINX_ETC"
-log "Static WEB_ROOT: $WEB_ROOT"
 
 do_backup
 
-# Ensure target dirs exist
-mkdir_p "$SITES_AVAIL" "$SITES_ENABLED" "$SNIPPETS" "$CONFD" "$WEB_ROOT"
+mkdir_p "$SITES_AVAIL" "$SITES_ENABLED" "$SNIPPETS" "$CONFD" "$WEB_HTML" "$WEB_ERRORS"
 
 # Copy core config/snippets
-copy_file "$REPO_DIR/nginx.conf"            "$NGINX_ETC/nginx.conf"
-copy_file "$REPO_DIR/upstreams.conf"        "$CONFD/upstreams.conf"
-copy_file "$REPO_DIR/proxy-common.conf"     "$SNIPPETS/proxy-common.conf"
+copy_file "$REPO_DIR/nginx.conf"        "$NGINX_ETC/nginx.conf"
+copy_file "$REPO_DIR/upstreams.conf"    "$CONFD/upstreams.conf"
+copy_file "$REPO_DIR/proxy-common.conf" "$SNIPPETS/proxy-common.conf"
 
 # Copy site configs (repo *.conf -> /etc/nginx/sites-available/<name>)
 copy_file "$REPO_DIR/default.conf"              "$SITES_AVAIL/default"
@@ -201,15 +205,15 @@ copy_file "$REPO_DIR/nik4nao.home.arpa.conf"    "$SITES_AVAIL/nik4nao.home.arpa"
 copy_file "$REPO_DIR/nik4nao.xyz.conf"          "$SITES_AVAIL/nik4nao.xyz"
 copy_file "$REPO_DIR/prv-api.nik4nao.xyz.conf"  "$SITES_AVAIL/prv-api.nik4nao.xyz"
 
-# Enable sites (symlinks)
+# Enable sites
 for s in "${ENABLE_SITES[@]}"; do
   make_symlink "$SITES_AVAIL/$s" "$SITES_ENABLED/$s"
 done
 
-# Deploy static content
-sync_dir "$REPO_DIR/http" "$WEB_ROOT"
+# Static files
+sync_selected_http_files
 if [[ -f "$REPO_DIR/robots.txt" ]]; then
-  copy_file "$REPO_DIR/robots.txt" "$WEB_ROOT/robots.txt"
+  copy_file "$REPO_DIR/robots.txt" "$WEB_HTML/robots.txt"
 fi
 
 # Test + reload (rollback on failure)