Looking back, I learned to use FrontPage to create web pages since elementary school, but except for GitHub Pages, I never really set up and operated my own website. However, now it’s possible. With the support of agents and SaaS services, creating and launching a website has become quite simple…
Technology Selection and Deployment
For a quick and straightforward launch, writing a pure frontend without a backend is naturally the best choice. However, with my current work experience in website operation, I chose the Next.js framework to facilitate SEO and GEO. At the same time, for rapid deployment and my own accessibility, I also needed to use Vercel and Cloudflare.
Introduction to Vercel
Vercel is a cloud platform designed specifically for frontend developers. Its main features include:
- Free Hosting: Provides free static website hosting services
- Automatic Deployment: Integrates with GitHub, automatically deploying when code is pushed to the repository
- Global CDN: Content Delivery Network ensures fast access worldwide
- HTTPS Support: Automatically provides free SSL certificates
The deployment process is simple: register an account on the Vercel website, connect your GitHub repository, and select the project to deploy. Vercel automatically recognizes static websites and completes the deployment. However, its default domain was blocked a long time ago, so for convenience, I also needed to use Cloudflare.
Introduction to Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a platform that provides CDN, DNS resolution, and domain registration services. The reasons I chose it:
- All-in-One Service: Domain purchase, DNS resolution, and CDN acceleration can all be done on one platform
- Free Domain DNS: Basic DNS services are free
- Security Protection: Built-in DDoS protection and other security features
Although Cloudflare is generous enough to offer free services, domains still need to be purchased. To avoid managing multiple platforms and accounts, I bought my domain directly through Cloudflare.
Getting Started with SEO and GEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) are essentially two similar approaches at present. The former improves your content’s ranking in search engines through technical means, while the latter increases the probability of being answered by LLM services. Since LLM responses currently also rely on information obtained through searches, fundamentally, both now aim to optimize search and display situations.
Using legitimate methods, one should optimize the website’s structure and keyword design to make the information easily crawlable and indexable. However, taking shortcuts, one could also flood the internet with low-quality information, using a volume strategy to increase probability (finally understanding the purpose of spammy content).
As an individual, I naturally cannot pursue the volume strategy. I mainly searched for a couple of techniques and added keywords to the compiled static website…
The current website URL is https://webapp-picks.cc. Let’s see how much traffic this little website can get over the next year…
