DEV Community

Dreams
Dreams

Posted on

How I Built a 680-Tool Website with Astro and Got 22K Pages Indexed

#javascript #performance #tools #webdev

A journey of 933 rounds of iterative development

The Problem

I was tired of online tools that:

  • Required email sign-ups
  • Showed intrusive ads
  • Sent your data to unknown servers
  • Were slow and bloated

The Solution: NeoToolkit

NeoToolkit (https://neotoolkit.com) is a privacy-first online toolkit with 680+ free tools that run entirely in your browser.

Key Numbers

  • 🛠️ 680+ tools — calculators, converters, generators, and more
  • 🌍 12 languages — EN, ES, FR, DE, IT, PT, JA, KO, ZH, RU, AR, HI
  • 📄 22,386 pages — all statically generated
  • 🔒 100% client-side — zero data collection
  • ⚡ Fast — Astro SSG + Vercel edge

Tech Stack 

Framework:  Astro (Static Site Generation)
Language:   TypeScript
Styling:    Tailwind CSS
Deploy:     Vercel
Build time: ~44 seconds for 22K pages
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The Development Process

Instead of building everything at once, I used an iterative approach:

  1. Round 1-100: Core infrastructure + first 50 tools
  2. Round 101-500: Expanded to 12 languages, added 300+ tools
  3. Round 501-933: Refined SEO, added sports/financial/health tools

Each "round" = data collection → analysis → plan → develop → deploy → report.

SEO Strategy

What Worked

  • Multi-language pages: 12x the indexing opportunity
  • Long-tail keywords: Each tool targets specific queries
  • Structured data: Schema.org markup on every page
  • Sitemap: 22K URLs submitted to Google

What Didn't (Yet)

  • Backlinks: Still building domain authority
  • Core keywords: Ranking ~50th for competitive terms
  • Click-through rate: 0% from Google search (working on this!)

Popular Tools

Tool Category Why It Works
Online Ruler Utility Unique — calibrates to your screen
Tournament Bracket Sports Supports 4-128 teams
BMI Calculator Health Simple, fast, accurate
Password Generator Security Multiple strength options
AI Content Detector AI Trending topic

Lessons Learned

  1. Astro SSG is perfect for tool sites — fast builds, zero JS by default
  2. i18n is non-trivial — 12 languages = 12x the content management
  3. SEO is a marathon — 22K pages indexed but ranking takes time
  4. Client-side = trust — users love that their data stays local
  5. Iterate fast — 933 rounds taught me more than any course

What's Next

  • More backlink building (this article is part of it!)
  • AI-powered tools
  • User-requested features
  • Performance optimization

Try It Out

👉 https://neotoolkit.com

Open source? Not yet, but considering it. Drop a comment if you'd contribute!

Built with ❤️ and way too much coffee.

Top comments (0)