diff --git a/kewt.sh b/kewt.sh
index 255be87..fd3a647 100755
--- a/kewt.sh
+++ b/kewt.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ src=""
 out=""
 new_mode="false"
 new_title=""
+clean_mode="true"
 post_mode="false"
 post_title=""
 positional_count=0
@@ -33,13 +34,19 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
             usage
             exit 0
             ;;
-        --new)
+        --new|--init)
             new_mode="true"
             if [ $# -gt 1 ] && [ "${2#-}" = "$2" ]; then
                 new_title="$2"
                 shift
             fi
             ;;
+        --no-clean)
+            clean_mode="false"
+            ;;
+        --clean)
+            clean_mode="true"
+            ;;
         --version|-v)
             echo "kewt version git"
             exit 0
@@ -53,6 +60,9 @@ _kewt() {
         '--help[Show help message]'
         '(-h)--help[Show help message]'
         '(-)--new[Create a new site directory]'
+        '(-)--init[Create a new site directory (alias for --new)]'
+        '(-)--clean[Clean the output directory before building]'
+        '(-)--no-clean[Do not clean the output directory before building]'
         '(-)--update[Update site.conf and template.html with latest defaults]'
         '(-)--post[Create a new empty post file in the configured posts_dir]'
         '(-)--generate-template[Generate a new template file]'
@@ -264,7 +274,9 @@ if [ ! -f "$template" ]; then
     printf '%s\n' "$DEFAULT_TMPL" > "$template"
 fi
 
-[ -d "$out" ] && rm -rf "$out"
+if [ "$clean_mode" = "true" ]; then
+    [ -d "$out" ] && rm -rf "$out"
+fi
 mkdir -p "$out"
 
 nav=$(generate_nav "$src")
diff --git a/lib/commands.sh b/lib/commands.sh
index 10bd177..5218348 100644
--- a/lib/commands.sh
+++ b/lib/commands.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ Usage: $invoked_as [--from <src>] [--to <out>]
 
 Options:
   --help                     Show this help message.
-  --new [title]              Create a new site directory (default: site)
+  --new, --init [title]      Create a new site directory (default: site)
+  --clean                    Clean the output directory before building (default).
+  --no-clean                 Do not clean the output directory before building.
   --update [dir]             Update site.conf and template.html with latest defaults (defaults to current directory)
   --post                     Create a new empty post file in the configured posts_dir with current date and time as name
   --generate-template [path] Generate a new template file at <path> (default: template.html)
diff --git a/packaging/zsh/_kewt b/packaging/zsh/_kewt
index 267e241..4edf5d2 100644
--- a/packaging/zsh/_kewt
+++ b/packaging/zsh/_kewt
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ _kewt() {
         '--help[Show help message]'
         '(-h)--help[Show help message]'
         '(-)--new[Create a new site directory]'
+        '(-)--init[Create a new site directory (alias for --new)]'
+        '(-)--clean[Clean the output directory before building]'
+        '(-)--no-clean[Do not clean the output directory before building]'
         '(-)--update[Update site.conf and template.html with latest defaults]'
         '(-)--post[Create a new empty post file in the configured posts_dir]'
         '(-)--generate-template[Generate a new template file]'