Static Site Generation Development – Fast, Scalable Static Sites

Static Site Generation (SSG): When SSR Falls Short

Static Site Generation is our answer to server-side rendering performance issues. Instead of dynamically assembling each page, we generate HTML at build time and serve it via a CDN. TTFB drops to 50 ms, server load disappears, and hosting costs decrease by up to 90% compared to SSR. This directly impacts Core Web Vitals: LCP shrinks from 2.5 s to 1.2 s. Our experience shows that SSG sites handle peak loads without additional costs.

Static Site Generation

Problems SSG Solves

Slow loading: LCP > 2.5 seconds is typical for SSR. After migrating to SSG, LCP drops to 0.8–1.2 s due to pre-built HTML and CDN delivery. High costs: An SSR site requires a server that costs several times more than static hosting. Scaling complexity: Under sudden traffic spikes, SSR servers fail, while SSG scales automatically via CDN without extra servers.

How We Implement SSG: A Practical Case Study

Tools and Stack

For most content projects, we choose Astro with a headless CMS. Astro ships zero client-side JS by default and supports React, Vue, and Svelte components simultaneously.

--- // src/pages/blog/[slug].astro import { getCollection, type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'; import BlogLayout from '@/layouts/BlogLayout.astro'; export async function getStaticPaths() { const posts = await getCollection('blog'); return posts.map(post => ({ params: { slug: post.slug }, props: { post }, })); } interface Props { post: CollectionEntry<'blog'>; } const { post } = Astro.props; const { Content, headings, remarkPluginFrontmatter } = await post.render(); --- <BlogLayout title={post.data.title} description={post.data.description} publishedAt={post.data.publishedAt} readingTime={remarkPluginFrontmatter.minutesRead} > <Content /> </BlogLayout> 

A typed content schema is the foundation for automatic page generation:

// src/content/config.ts import { defineCollection, z } from 'astro:content'; const blog = defineCollection({ type: 'content', schema: z.object({ title: z.string(), description: z.string().max(160), publishedAt: z.date(), tags: z.array(z.string()), draft: z.boolean().default(false), }), }); export const collections = { blog }; 

Headless CMS Integration

Data is loaded at build time via API. Example with Contentful:

// src/lib/cms.ts import contentful from 'contentful'; const client = contentful.createClient({ space: import.meta.env.CONTENTFUL_SPACE_ID, accessToken: import.meta.env.CONTENTFUL_ACCESS_TOKEN, }); export async function getProducts(): Promise<Product[]> { const entries = await client.getEntries<ProductFields>({ content_type: 'product', order: ['-sys.createdAt'], limit: 1000, }); return entries.items.map(item => ({ id: item.sys.id, name: item.fields.name, slug: item.fields.slug, price: item.fields.price, image: `https:${item.fields.image.fields.file.url}`, })); } 

On every deploy or via a webhook from the CMS, the site rebuilds with fresh data. For 5000 pages, a build takes 2 minutes. SSG outperforms SSR by 3x on TTFB.

Which Tools Best Suit SSG?

Tool selection depends on the task. Astro is optimal for content projects, Next.js for hybrid solutions with ISR, Nuxt for Vue ecosystems. We guarantee: after SSG implementation, LCP will not exceed 1.5 s on a typical project.

Why SSG Is More Cost-Effective Than a Classic Server

SSG wins on delivery speed, cost, and reliability. The downside is a rebuild on every content change, but that is solved with webhook deployments.

How SSG Affects Core Web Vitals

SSG directly improves three Google metrics:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Pre-built HTML served via CDN with optimized images; LCP < 1.5 s.
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): Minimal client-side JS ensures fast interactions.
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Reserved space for images and fonts eliminates layout shifts.

We guarantee: after SSG implementation, LCP will not exceed 1.5 s on a typical project.

Step-by-Step SSG Implementation

1. Analytics – audit of the current site, metrics, identification of content for SSG.
2. Design – tool selection, architecture, content schema.
3. Template development – building pages, integrating with CMS (Contentful, Sanity, Strapi).
4. Optimization – images (WebP/AVIF + srcset), SEO (sitemap, robots.txt, OpenGraph).
5. Testing – Core Web Vitals, performance, accessibility.
6. Deployment – CI/CD setup (Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel), webhook rebuilds.
7. Training – instructions for the content team and documentation.

What's Included

• SSG architecture development tailored to your stack
• Build and CI/CD setup (Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel, S3 + CloudFront)
• Headless CMS integration (Contentful, Sanity, Strapi, Payload CMS)
• SEO optimization: sitemap, robots.txt, OpenGraph, structured data
• Image optimization: automatic WebP/AVIF conversion, srcset
• Incremental builds for large sites (cache, turbo)
• Documentation and content team training

Timeline

• 1–2 weeks – start: tool selection, project structure, design system
• 3–4 weeks – development: templates, CMS integration, SEO, optimization
• 5–6 weeks – finale: testing, deployment pipeline, training

Timelines may vary depending on content volume and integration complexity. Contact us – we'll assess your project for free and propose the best solution.

Get a consultation on SSG for your project – reach out to us. Request a free audit of your site for SSG feasibility.