What is Static Site Generation (SSG)?
A technique where web pages are pre-built at build time and served as static HTML files. Pages are generated once and served instantly to every user without server computation.
In plain English
SSG is like printing a newspaper. You write and lay out all the articles once (at build time), print thousands of copies, and distribute them instantly. Every reader gets the same pre-made copy. It's extremely fast but you can't personalize each copy in real-time.
How it works
During the build process, the framework (Next.js, Astro, Gatsby) generates HTML files for each page by fetching data and rendering templates. These static files are deployed to a CDN and served directly to users without any server-side computation per request. Some frameworks support Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) which rebuilds individual pages in the background at set intervals.
Why it matters for AI-built apps
SSG offers the best possible performance — pre-built pages served from CDN edge nodes load almost instantly worldwide. It's perfect for marketing pages, documentation, blogs, and product catalogs. For AI-built apps, SSG reduces infrastructure costs (no server rendering per request) and provides excellent SEO. Many AI-generated pages benefit from SSG since their content doesn't change per-user.
Common issues
Long build times when generating thousands of pages, stale content between builds, not using ISR for pages that change moderately often, trying to use SSG for highly dynamic or personalized content (use SSR instead), and large build outputs consuming deployment bandwidth.
Best practices
Use SSG for content that changes infrequently: marketing pages, documentation, blog posts, landing pages. Implement ISR for content that updates periodically (product catalogs, pricing). Use dynamic routes with generateStaticParams in Next.js. Monitor build times and optimize data fetching. Combine SSG pages with client-side data fetching for personalized components.
Frequently asked questions
When should I use SSG vs SSR?
Use SSG when the page content is the same for all users and doesn't change frequently (marketing pages, docs, blog). Use SSR when content is personalized or changes per-request (dashboards, user profiles, search results). Use ISR as a middle ground for content that changes periodically (product pages, pricing). Most apps use a mix of all three.
My build takes too long because I have thousands of pages — what can I do?
Use Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) instead of generating all pages at build time. In Next.js, generate only your most popular pages statically and let the rest be rendered on-demand and then cached. You can also parallelize data fetching and optimize your build pipeline.
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