What is SSG?

Static Site Generation (SSG) means pages are rendered into HTML at build time, before users request them.

The deployed output is static files served from CDN/static hosting, often with very fast response times.

How SSG works technically

1. Build starts in CI/local.
2. Framework renders predefined routes.
3. HTML files are generated for each route.
4. Assets (CSS/JS/images) are linked.
5. Output is deployed to static hosting/CDN.
6. User requests are served with prebuilt HTML instantly.

Core characteristics

• Rendering happens at build time.
• Runtime serving is simple and fast.
• Excellent reliability and low operational overhead.
• Content updates require rebuild/redeploy.

Advantages

• Fast global delivery through CDNs.
• Low hosting cost and minimal backend complexity.
• Strong SEO because HTML is pre-rendered.
• High scalability for traffic spikes.

Disadvantages

• Rebuild needed after content changes.
• Large sites with many routes can have long build times.
• Harder to handle highly dynamic per-user content directly.

Best use cases

• Blogs and knowledge bases.
• Documentation portals.
• Marketing websites and landing pages.
• Portfolio and company websites with predictable routes.

When SSG is a poor fit

• Real-time pages changing every request.
• Heavily personalized content by user/session.
• Massive route catalogs without incremental build strategy.

Implementation checklist

• Keep route source deterministic at build time.
• Use content pipelines (Markdown/CMS export) for updates.
• Add cache busting for assets.
• Automate rebuilds on content publish.
• Use edge/CDN headers for efficient delivery.

Quick decision rule

Choose SSG when pages are mostly predictable and you want maximum speed with minimum runtime complexity.