HunterSEO: how we turned our own SEO method into software
HunterSEO is software from Appfront that researches and writes SEO pages and, once approved, publishes them in a website's CMS. It began as the programmatic SEO approach we use to grow appfront.nl. In this case study you can read what we built, how a page comes about and what the approach has delivered for appfront.nl.
The problem: no team can keep writing every page by hand
People who want to build software, a web app or an app search for it very specifically. Not for "software", but for their own process, their industry or the integration they need. That is why on appfront.nl we create a dedicated page for each of these search queries, with content that genuinely answers the question. This is called programmatic SEO: many pages with a fixed structure, each covering its own topic.
The work is in the details. For a page about an integration or an industry, it first has to be clear how that field works: which standards apply, which systems exist and what a reader already knows. Then the text has to match the tone of the site, fit the template, and come with metadata, structured data and links to related pages. Done by hand, that takes so much attention per page that you either never reach the scale you want, or quality slips.
So we first documented our own steps: researching, writing according to fixed rules, checking and publishing in Directus, the CMS of appfront.nl. Once that chain worked, the next question was obvious: can other companies use this too, on their own websites?
Research per topic
Every page requires its own expertise. Without research, a page becomes a variation on the previous one, and that is of no use to a reader.
Fixed structure and your own tone
Every page has to fit the same template, in the same tone, and without promises the organisation cannot keep.
Publishing with everything in place
A page is only finished with a good title, meta description, canonical, structured data and links to related pages.
What we built: a work board from topic to published page
HunterSEO is a web application in which every organisation has its own workspace. At its heart is the work board. Each topic is a card that moves from left to right through five columns. This shows at a glance what is ready, what is waiting for a decision and what is already live.
Topics
Ideas for pages, entered by you or suggested by the software.
Concept
The AI has researched the topic and written a complete page.
Approved
Someone from the organisation has read the page, edited it where needed and approved it.
Scheduled
The page has a publication date in the calendar.
Published
The page is in the website's CMS and is live.
Around the work board we built three components that make the work lighter. HunterSEO can analyse websites you specify, such as those of competitors, and suggests topics based on them; an approved suggestion goes into the first column. A calendar shows which page goes live when. And a dashboard shows which pages perform best and worst and what has recently been published.
How a page comes about
A page from HunterSEO is not a loose piece of text from a chat window. Three things determine its quality: the research beforehand, the organisation's writing rules and a template that matches the fields of your own CMS. After that, a human decides.
Web research
Before the AI writes, it searches the web for the topic: how the field works, which standards and systems exist and which questions a buyer asks before making a decision.
Writing rules per organisation
Each organisation defines who it writes for, in what tone and which research steps are needed. Those rules apply to every page, even when many are created at the same time.
Template for your CMS
The template describes the fields of the CMS itself: title, slug, meta description, Open Graph and the content. That way every page ends up in the right fields instead of in one block of text.
Approving and publishing
Someone at the organisation reads the page, adjusts what needs adjusting and approves it. HunterSEO then publishes the page in the CMS on the scheduled day.
For appfront.nl, HunterSEO delivers the content as structured fields. A flow in Directus places those fields in the site's fixed page template, with the same structure as the other service pages, including structured data and frequently asked questions. The AI writes the content; the format is fixed.
The technology behind HunterSEO
HunterSEO is a web application with a NestJS backend and a React frontend. Each organisation works in its own workspace with its own writing rules, templates and CMS integrations. This lets a single application serve multiple customers, the pattern we cover in multi-tenant SaaS architecture.
The research and writing are done by Claude, Anthropic's language model, with access to web research. You can read how we build a model like this into custom software on the page about a Claude API integration.
Publishing runs through integrations with the systems that websites run on: WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Wix and Directus. With Directus, you can also choose which collection the pages end up in.
What the approach delivers for appfront.nl
appfront.nl is the site where this approach originated. The figures below relate to that site as a whole and come from Google Search Console.
848
clicks from Google in September 2026
+35%
more clicks than in August 2026
268
pages that received at least one click in September
Source: Google Search Console for appfront.nl, September 2026.
Those figures are the result of the approach, not of the software alone: the choice of topics, the research, the structure of the pages and the internal links between them. HunterSEO captures that approach in software so that it is repeatable, including on other sites.
From internal tool to product
What began as a tool for our own site is now a product for other companies: HunterSEO. It is designed for service providers, agencies and software companies that want more enquiries through their own website without writing pages themselves every week. If you want to do it yourself, you work with the software on the task board. If you would rather hand it off, HunterSEO chooses the topics, writes the pages and publishes them; approval then stays with your own organisation.
For us as builders, it was a lesson in productisation. A tool that works for one site has to cope, as a product, with other CMSs, other writing rules and users who did not devise the approach themselves. We take the same step with organisations that want to turn an internal solution into a product they can sell, see building a SaaS. More of our work can be found in the portfolio.
What it took to turn it into a product
- A separate workspace per organisation, instead of one configured site
- Writing rules and templates that each organisation sets itself
- Integrations with multiple CMSs instead of only Directus
- A task board where a person approves before anything goes live
- A calendar and a dashboard, so that even those who are not SEO specialists keep an overview
Want to build a SaaS like this yourself?
Does your organisation have a way of working or an internal tool that other companies would also want to use? Appfront designs and builds custom software, from a no-obligation introduction to maintenance. We help you think through what it takes to turn an internal solution into a product.
Want to use it yourself?
Would you like to use HunterSEO for the pages on your own website? On the HunterSEO site, you can see how it works, which systems it integrates with and which plans are available.
Frequently asked questions about HunterSEO
What HunterSEO is, how it works and what Appfront has done with it.
HunterSEO is software from Appfront that researches SEO pages, writes them and, once approved, publishes them in a website's CMS. It is the product version of the programmatic SEO approach we use to grow appfront.nl.
Programmatic SEO is the creation of many pages with a fixed structure, where each page answers its own search query. The risk is that such pages start to look alike and add little. That is why, in HunterSEO, every page starts with research into the topic, and the AI writes according to the organisation's own fixed rules.
HunterSEO integrates with WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Wix and Directus. The template describes the fields of your own CMS, so a page ends up in the right fields. If you have your own system, we will look at what is possible together.
No. A new page first appears as a draft on the work board. Only once someone from the organisation has read it, adjusted it where needed and approved it is it scheduled and published.
HunterSEO uses Claude, Anthropic's language model. Before the model writes, it carries out web research on the topic, so a page is about how the profession works in practice and not just general knowledge.
Not only. The 848 clicks from Google in September 2026 and the 268 pages with at least one click are the result of the approach as a whole: the choice of topics, the research, the structure of the pages and the internal links. HunterSEO captures that approach in software. The figures come from Google Search Console for appfront.nl.
Yes. Appfront designs and builds custom software, including SaaS products. A project starts with a no-obligation introductory meeting and moves through planning and development to maintenance. You can read more on our page about building SaaS.