## SEO starts before the first article
Before writing a single line of content, I stopped and asked myself a simple question: is this site built to last? Many people launch a site by picking a quick template and publishing content, hoping for the best. I chose to focus on the structure first.
SEO is not just about keywords or articles. It starts with foundations. The early decisions you make — often without thinking about them — define the ceiling of a site's growth. Here are the three choices I made deliberately.
---
[Intent:Structure]
## Decision 1 — Combining a portfolio and a blog to boost SEO
My first decision was to not choose between the two. A portfolio shows what you can do; a blog shows how you think. Together, they create a stronger space that reflects both competence and reasoning.
From an SEO standpoint, it is the obvious strategic move. A static portfolio produces no new content. A regularly updated blog does. Search engines index what exists — the broader the content surface, the more opportunities there are to be discovered. This combination laid the groundwork for my visibility.
---
[Intent:Technical]
## Decision 2 — Switching from Lovable to Next.js for Performance
This was the most technical decision. I started with Lovable to move fast on the design, but I quickly hit the limits of a "no-code" prototype for a long-term SEO strategy.
### Under the hood: Technical Optimizations
Beyond Server-Side Rendering (SSR), migrating to Next.js allowed me to master the **Critical Rendering Path**. I audited every millisecond:
- **GPU Acceleration:** I rewrote animations to use `translate3d`. This forces the browser to use the graphics card instead of the CPU, ensuring a buttery smooth 60fps scroll.
- **Removing the "Cyber-Grid":** I removed a heavy background grid to prioritize user experience and crawl budget. I opted for a much simpler, cleaner layout.
- **Smart Rendering:** By using `content-visibility: auto`, the browser only calculates what's on screen.
---
[Intent:Infrastructure]
## Decision 3 — Planning content and a Scalable Structure
Rather than publishing to fill space, I first defined my editorial positioning. I built a decoupled data system where my article content lives in TypeScript, while translations are synced via JSON files.
This allows me to handle **Multilingual SEO** like a pro: no code duplication, and unique metadata for every single page (FR/EN). It is my launchpad. My next step? Connecting this foundation to a **Headless CMS** to scale content production.
---
## Conclusion
SEO is not a sprint. It is the discipline of making the right decisions at the right moment — and the right moment is almost always before anyone visits your site.
**Building on solid foundations is one thing — but knowing which decisions to make next requires a different discipline. That's where data comes in.**