🔗 SITE INTEGRITY
Root hubs + redirects Done
5 root category hubs. /category/* redirects. Invalid /search JSON-LD removed. degree-match-quiz demoted from MVP funnel.
🎨 DESIGN LOCK
Result-led mobile funnel Locked
No result gate, post-result CTA, transparent partner handoff. conversion-ready-design-lock.md + DESIGN.md + design-brief.md.
🔧 TOOL AUDIT
10 contracts / 291 parity Passing
P0 revenue: SAI/EFC + Quiz. P1: GI Bill + Aid Letter Decoder. P2: 6 commodity tools funneling back. Per conversion-ready-tool-audit.md.
📡 TRACKING CONTRACT
7 events + Everflow s1-s5 Locked
Every event carries page_url, tool_category, attribution. s1=tool_id, s2=field, s3=degree, s4=pell, s5=utm_source.
⚡ TRACKING IMPL
Code complete Operator-gated
tracking.ts + offer-routing.ts + Svelte CTAs + email capture + capi-relay /postback. Live IDs + secrets + Zaraz auto-inject = operator.
🎯 Tool roster discipline:
P0/P1 revenue tools (SAI/EFC + Financial Aid Quiz + GI Bill Calculator) carry the moat
with federal-formula-grade computation competitors cannot replicate.
P2 commodity tools (Scholarship Finder, ROI, Employer Tuition, Loan Repayment, Career Salary, Time-to-Degree)
carry SEO depth + platform quality signal; each must funnel back into a revenue tool.
EFC → SAI rename pending per Federal Student Aid Handbook 2024-25+.
5 contested decisions with kill criteria. Each evaluated like a $5K/day campaign test.
Astro + Svelte Islands
Zero JS on articles. ~5KB per tool island. Cloudflare Pages native. Svelte knowledge reuse.
Next.js -- 80-120KB React runtime on every page. No SSR on CF Pages.
Plain HTML -- doesn't scale past 50 pages. No component model.
Phase 1: Astro Content Collections
MDX + Zod schemas. Git-versioned. Zero external deps. Type-safe.
Phase 2+: Directus
GUI editing, roles, API. When team grows or 100+ pages/vertical.
Svelte 5 Runes
$state for wizard steps. $derived auto-computes formulas. ~5.4KB runtime.
Vanilla JS -- manual DOM updates, untestable, 3,200 line monolith.
Tailwind CSS v4
@theme tokens. Multi-brand via CSS custom properties. Tree-shaken.
Custom CSS -- no multi-brand theming. Manual duplication.
Astro <Image> -- build-time AVIF/WebP/srcset. Zero runtime cost. No paid Cloudflare plan needed.
2
Islands Architecture -- Two Page Types
Article pages ship zero JavaScript. Tool pages hydrate only the interactive component. Everything else is static HTML.
Article Page (60-70% of pages)
0 KB JavaScript -- Lighthouse 100
Header + Navstatic HTML
Hero + Breadcrumbstatic HTML
Key Takeawaysstatic HTML
Article Body (2,500 words)MDX → static
Tables, Callouts, TipsAstro components
Mid-Article CTAstatic link
More Editorial ContentMDX → static
Sources + Relatedstatic HTML
Footerstatic HTML
Tool Page (30-40% of pages)
~5-8 KB JavaScript -- Lighthouse 95+
Header + Navstatic HTML
Hero + Badgesstatic HTML
TOOL ISLAND (Svelte)client:load
Multi-Step Wizard$state steps
Calculator Logic$derived
Result Cards + CTAreactive
Email Captureclient:visible
Editorial Content (1,500 words)static -- for SEO
Sources + Relatedstatic HTML
Footerstatic HTML
3
Component Architecture -- From 3,200-Line Monolith to Composable
Each tool: ~150 lines Svelte (UI) + ~200 lines TypeScript (logic, 100% tested). Shared components eliminate duplication.
src/components/tools/
├── shared/
│ ├── StepWizard.svelte
│ ├── ResultCard.svelte
│ ├── InputField.svelte
│ ├── ButtonGroup.svelte
│ ├── ProgressBar.svelte
│ ├── MethodologyDisclosure.svelte
│ ├── SourceCitation.svelte
│ ├── EmailCapture.svelte
│ └── offer-routing.ts
├── edu/
│ ├── EFCCalculator.svelte
│ ├── efc-calculator.logic.ts
│ ├── efc-calculator.data.ts
│ ├── FinancialAidQuiz.svelte
│ ├── ScholarshipFinder.svelte
│ └── ... (7 more tools)
└── auto-insurance/
└── CoverageChecker.svelte
4
SEO & E-E-A-T Strategy -- YMYL Compliance
Education financial aid = YMYL (Your Money Your Life). Google holds this content to the highest standard.
📝
Schema Markup
Article → Article schema
Tool → WebApplication
FAQ → FAQPage
Breadcrumb → BreadcrumbList
🔗
Internal Linking
Hub-and-spoke model
5 root category hubs
Related resources wired
Tools as secondary hubs
🔬
E-E-A-T Pages
/about/
/editorial-policy/
/methodology/
/contact/
📅
Freshness
FAFSA: annually
Pell amounts: Jan
Tools: annually
Articles: semi-annually
🗺️
URL Structure
/tools/efc-calculator/
/financial-aid/
/online-degrees/
Root category hubs
📊
Content Depth
Pillar: 3,000-5,000 words
Articles: 1,500-2,500
Tool editorial: 1,500-2,500
40-50 pages for authority
🗃️
Sitemaps
Separate: articles + tools
lastmod only (no priority)
Accurate timestamps
GSC submitted
📱
Core Web Vitals
LCP < 1.5s
INP < 100ms
CLS < 0.05
TTFB < 200ms
5
Multi-Vertical System -- One Codebase, Many Brands
Shared components + design tokens. Vertical-specific: colors, fonts, data connectors, offer routing, tracking IDs.
Education Conversion-ready
degreesources.com
10 tools, 54 pages, 291 parity tests
Lighthouse 95+ desktop
LIVE on CF Pages preview — production DNS cutover operator-gated
Auto Insurance
TBD domain
Coverage checkers, rate comparisons
Phase 5+
Medicare
TBD domain
Plan finders, enrollment tools
Phase 5+
Solar
TBD domain
Savings calculators, incentive finders
Phase 5+
Financial
financialsharks.com
Tax, crypto, exchanges
Phase 5+
Multi-Vertical Hub
lifenexus.com
Cross-vertical portal
Future
SHARED (all verticals)
StepWizard, ResultCard, InputField
BaseLayout, ArticleLayout, ToolLayout
Nav, Footer, Breadcrumb, CTACard
Spacing, radius, shadows, font sizes
Event taxonomy, Zaraz integration
Zod content schemas, build pipeline
PER-VERTICAL (brand-specific)
Colors, fonts (CSS custom properties)
Logo, favicon, OG images
Calculator logic + data sources
Offer routing + partner URLs
Pixel IDs, publisher IDs, tracking
Category taxonomy, content
6
Conversion-Ready Migration Gate
Old site remains rollback. ContentForge now prioritizes site integrity, design lock, tool audit, tracking contract, then first-dollar verification.
Week 1
Astro scaffold + Tailwind + Svelte integration
Design tokens migrated from site.css → @theme
Base layouts recreated (header, footer, nav)
Week 1-2
Article JSON → MDX frontmatter conversion
Tool JSON → MDX frontmatter + component refs
Visual comparison: old vs new (pixel match)
Week 2-4
EFC Calculator → Svelte (highest traffic)
Financial Aid Quiz → Svelte (primary funnel)
Scholarship Finder → Svelte (search pattern)
Remaining 7 tools → Svelte (parallel)
Week 3-4
Schema markup (WebApplication, Article, FAQ)
E-E-A-T pages (/about, /editorial-policy, /methodology)
Sitemaps + breadcrumbs + GSC submission
Week 4-5
Event taxonomy via Zaraz + cf:track
Everflow s1-s5 URL builder
Meta CAPI + /postback relay
Week 5-6
Lighthouse audit (95+ all pages)
Playwright E2E suite (all 10 tools)
A11y audit (zero critical violations)
GO LIVE -- switch CF Pages build to Astro
7
ROI Analysis -- Break-Even at 6-8 Weeks
At $500/day ad spend across platforms, the migration pays for itself through cost reduction and conversion improvement.
CPM Reduction (Lighthouse → Meta Landing Page Score)
-$25-50/day
Better Core Web Vitals → higher Meta HiVA → 5-10% lower CPMs. Astro's 0 JS articles + fast tool pages directly improve landing page quality score.
CPL Reduction (CAPI Tool Events)
-$50-75/day
Feeding tool_complete events to Meta CAPI gives the algorithm a mid-funnel signal to optimize against. 10-15% CPL improvement estimated.
Organic Traffic (SEO Authority, 6-12 mo)
~$100-200/day equiv.
E-E-A-T pages + schema + content freshness → organic rankings for YMYL keywords. Organic traffic = free leads that reduce paid dependency.
Conversion Rate (A/B Testing)
+5-20% CR
GrowthBook A/B testing on CTAs, form layouts, and result presentation. 10% improvement on $500/day spend = $50/day in recovered revenue.
8
Tool Component Architecture
Each tool follows the triad pattern: UI component + pure logic + static data. Logic files have 100% test coverage.
10 Tools — Click to Expand
EFC Calculator
Estimates Student Aid Index + aid range. Source: Federal SAI formula (fsapartners.ed.gov). Calculates IPA, progressive rate, asset contribution at 5.64%. $derived auto-computes when inputs change.
Financial Aid Quiz
5-7 step wizard → personalized aid estimate + matched programs. Multi-step StepWizard pattern. Auto-advance on single-select.
Scholarship Finder
Search/filter scholarships by degree, field, student type, amount. Client-side filtering of scholarship database.
ROI Calculator
Calculate degree ROI by field. Source: BLS salary data. Payback period, lifetime earnings delta, IRR estimate.
Employer Tuition Checker
Check if employer offers tuition reimbursement. Database of Fortune 500 + major employer programs.
Loan Repayment Calculator
Monthly payments, total interest, timeline. Amortization schedule. Standard, graduated, extended, IBR/PAYE comparison.
Career Salary Explorer
Salary ranges by career field pre/post-degree. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook. P10/P25/median/P75/P90.
Time-to-Degree Calculator
Estimate completion time based on schedule (full/part-time), transfer credits, accelerated options.
GI Bill Calculator
Calculate GI Bill benefits for veterans/military. Source: VA benefit rates. Post-9/11, Montgomery, Yellow Ribbon.
Aid Letter Decoder
Decode a financial aid award letter into plain English. Identifies grants (free), loans (debt), work-study. Calculates true out-of-pocket.
9
Performance & Core Web Vitals Targets
94-98% of Meta/TikTok traffic is mobile. Performance is not optional — it's the invisible ad auction signal.
LCP
<1.5s
Largest Contentful Paint
Hero image + tool shell
INP
<100ms
Interaction to Next Paint
Button clicks, form inputs
CLS
<0.1
Cumulative Layout Shift
No jumps during load
TTFB
<200ms
Time to First Byte
CF Pages edge delivery
Article Pages
0 KB JavaScript. Pure static HTML. Lighthouse target: 100. No hydration, no framework runtime. Astro ships zero JS by default.
Tool Pages
~5-8 KB JavaScript (Svelte island). Lighthouse target: 95+. Only the tool component hydrates. Editorial content below remains static.
10
Tracking & Attribution Architecture
Client events carry page/context; Everflow click URLs stamp s1-s5; CAPI Worker receives Zaraz events and token-protected Everflow postbacks.
| Event | When It Fires | Meta CAPI Mapping | Required Context |
|---|
| tool_view | Tool page loaded | ViewContent | tool_name, tool_category, page_url |
| tool_start | User begins first input | InitiateCheckout | entry_point + attribution |
| step_complete | Each wizard step finished | — | analytics only |
| tool_complete | Results displayed | CompleteRegistration | result_summary |
| cta_click | User clicks offer CTA | Lead / Subscribe | cta_type, cta_position |
| partner_redirect | Everflow URL built | Lead | s1-s5 content mapping |
| /postback | Everflow conversion fires | Purchase | tid, s1-s5, token |
11
6-Week Migration Timeline
Current plain HTML site → Astro + Svelte islands. Zero downtime. A/B test validates conversion rate before cutover.
W2-3
Top 3 Tools
EFC+Quiz+Finder
W3-5
Remaining 7
tools + routing
GATE G-CF: ContentForge Live
Lighthouse 96+ on priority pages. All 10 shipped tools audited. No public ghost funnel routes. Zaraz + Everflow + CAPI verified with synthetic click-to-postback before Cloudflare Pages production cutover.