Before you ever pull, your stance decides how the lift will go. Where you set your feet changes your mechanics, which muscles do the work, and how the bar moves. Get the stance right for your body and the deadlift feels stronger immediately. Get it wrong and you fight yourself every rep.
Conventional Versus Sumo
The two main stances are conventional, with the feet about hip width and the hands outside the legs, and sumo, with a wide stance and the hands inside the legs. Conventional leans more on the back and hips and suits many lifters with strong posterior chains. Sumo shortens the range a bit and shares the load more with the legs and hips, often suiting lifters with the hips and mobility for it. Neither is cheating. The right one is the one you pull the most with and stay healthy doing.
Dial In Your Foot Width and Angle
Even within a stance, small changes matter. In conventional, your feet are usually about hip width with the toes pointed slightly out. In sumo, you widen out until you find the spot where your hips can sink in and your legs can drive. Point your toes in line with your knees so the joints track together. A few minutes of testing widths can find you free strength.
Where the Bar Sits
Whatever stance you pull, the bar should sit over the middle of your foot, close to your shins. Too far forward and the bar drifts away from you and the lift gets heavy. Setting up with the bar in the right spot keeps it traveling in a straight line up your body, which is the most efficient and strongest path.
Test both stances, find your foot width, and set the bar over midfoot every time. The stance is the foundation of the pull. Build it right and everything above it gets easier.