Why I Built SoVoyage.fr — A Simple, Fast Website for Travel Deals

A few months ago, I started building a side project called SoVoyage.fr — a simple website to help travelers in Europe find flight deals, airline promo codes, and low-cost offers in one place.
As someone who often hunts for cheap flights, I realized how many “promo” pages were outdated, overloaded with ads, or just didn’t work. So I decided to create my own: lightweight, fast, and useful.
My Goals
✅ Keep it super fast (it scores 100/100 on Google PageSpeed — even on mobile)
✅ Make updates easy with Markdown + visual editing
✅ Focus on clean SEO structure and no fluff
✅ Deliver real, timely offers — no fake or expired content
How I Built It
I used Astro JS as the foundation. It lets me generate pages statically with minimal JavaScript, which is perfect for a content-driven site. All airline deals and promo codes are stored in Markdown files and managed visually through Netlify CMS.
For styling, I combined SCSS and Bootstrap to stay flexible but consistent across components. I also added small enhancements using Firebase — like displaying average ratings for each airline.
Lessons Learned
Building SoVoyage.fr reminded me how powerful static sites can be when combined with the right tools. You don’t need a huge stack to make something useful — just clarity, simplicity, and attention to what users actually need.
I’ve also learned that performance and structure matter just as much as content when it comes to visibility.
Try It
If you’re curious, or you just want to see a real example of a fast, SEO-first Astro site — feel free to visit:
Let me know what you think — happy to connect with others building similar content-focused projects!
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