Generating 50+ SEO Landing Pages from a Static Site Build Script

The author of TextTimeTools, a free site offering speaking-time and reading-time calculators, utilizes a build script to generate 50+ SEO-optimized landing pages without manual intervention. Rather than maintaining individual pages for each keyword, the site employs a build script that creates complete HTML pages for every keyword-targeted page.

The script, gen-longtail.cjs, takes a list of keyword targets and emits a separate page for each one. It computes the answer from a speed table and renders a full HTML page with essential elements such as a keyword-exact title, computed answer, speed selector table, and FAQ section tailored to that keyword. The script ensures that each page is as useful and consistent as a hand-written page, thanks to the one-time template creation and real data used for calculations.

The build pipeline comprises four steps: gen-longtail.cjs for generating "how many words is a X minute speech" pages, gen-reading.cjs for generating "how long to read N words" pages, build-site.mjs for assembling the dist/ directory, and gen-sitemap.mjs for generating sitemap.xml. The sitemap generation step automatically discovers existing pages in the dist/ directory, eliminating the need for manual maintenance and avoiding orphaned URLs.

By implementing this build script-based approach, the site transitioned from a single calculator page to 50+ keyword-targeted pages with minimal ongoing manual effort. The site ranks for the questions people actually ask, combining instant answers with interactive tools to maximize conversion rates.