SaaS Signal

SaaS Signal is a Next.js 14 App Router publication and directory for B2B SaaS and AI tool buyers. It ships 100 programmatic reports, comparison tables, calculators, trust pages, and direct-sold sponsor placements signed by Miles McQueen.

Local setup

1. Install dependencies with pnpm install.
2. Copy .env.example to .env.local.
3. Set NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL to your local or production origin.
4. Add Supabase credentials after provisioning.
5. Run pnpm dev.

If Supabase credentials are absent, the app uses the bundled typed dataset so build and local preview still work.

Set NEXT_PUBLIC_DATA_SOURCE=supabase only after running the latest supabase/seed.sql. Leave it as bundled for the polished built-in dataset.

Supabase provisioning

1. Create a Supabase project.
2. Open the SQL editor and run supabase/schema.sql.
3. Run supabase/seed.sql to insert the 100 directory rows.
4. Copy the project URL and anon key into .env.local and Vercel project settings.
5. Run pnpm build to verify static generation.

Vercel launch

1. Push the project to GitHub.
2. Import the repo in Vercel.
3. Add NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY, and NEXT_PUBLIC_PUBLISHER_EMAIL in Vercel project settings.
4. Deploy to production.
5. Add the production domain to Google Search Console and submit /sitemap.xml.

Traffic launch

SaaS Signal now ships with:

• /sitemap.xml for search discovery.
• /feed.xml for RSS readers, syndication, and monitoring tools.
• A public IndexNow key at /saas-signal-2026-indexnow-key.txt.
• pnpm submit:indexnow to notify Bing after publishing.
• Related-report links on every programmatic page.
• TRAFFIC-PLAYBOOK.md with the 24-hour launch steps, weekly publishing rhythm, and outreach scripts.

After every production deploy, run:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://saassignalreport.com pnpm submit:indexnow

Direct sponsorship setup

This project does not use AdSense. It is wired for direct SaaS sponsorships and affiliate-ready placements that can go live as soon as an advertiser pays and supplies an approved URL.

Edit only lib/ads.ts to change the default sponsor creative. For a fast campaign, set these public environment variables in Vercel:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_HEADER_BANNER_TITLE="Your sponsor headline"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_HEADER_BANNER_URL="https://sponsor.example"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_SIDEBAR_STICKY_TITLE="Your sidebar offer"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_SIDEBAR_STICKY_URL="https://sponsor.example"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_IN_CONTENT_INLINE_TITLE="Your in-report offer"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_IN_CONTENT_INLINE_URL="https://sponsor.example"

Keep AD_SLOT_DIMENSIONS unchanged unless the sponsor contract changes, because those dimensions reserve space before hydration and protect CLS.

Trust pages

The site includes About, Contact, Advertise, Privacy, and Terms pages. Update NEXT_PUBLIC_PUBLISHER_EMAIL before launch so sponsor and correction requests go to Miles McQueen.

Dataset updates

The dataset source lives in lib/data.ts, and the SQL seed mirrors the same category and use-case matrix. Add categories or use cases there, then run pnpm build; the prebuild script validates row count, quick-answer length, comparison row count, and calculator formula discriminants.

Quality checks

Run these before shipping changes:

pnpm test
pnpm typecheck
pnpm lint
pnpm build