GitHub repository & Pages playbook

Follow the platform-native workflow

This is an owned channel — you create and maintain the page yourself. It is not a third-party directory submission or guest pitch.

1. Separate product code from your open presence repo

   NetTree’s SaaS application lives in a private product codebase. The public face on GitHub is a separate repository—NetTreeAi at ~/Sites/ai/NetTreeAi locally—that publishes methodology, curated samples, and GitHub Pages. That split keeps business logic private while giving search engines and researchers a crawlable, citable surface you own.

   • Product app → nettree.ai (accounts, workflows, verification)
   • Open repo → github.com/tsingniao666/nettreeai (docs, lists, Pages)
   • Every meaningful page should link to the canonical product URL when it helps the reader
2. Create the public repository and local workspace

   Initialize a public repo (for NetTree we use nettreeai). Clone it beside your product work, e.g. ~/Sites/ai/NetTreeAi, so content updates ship on their own cadence. Add a clear LICENSE (MIT for our open docs), CONTRIBUTING.md, and a README that states what the repo is for—and what it is not (not a dump of every submission site, not auto-spam tooling).

   • Repository name: short, memorable, matches your Pages URL path if possible
   • Default branch: main
   • Visibility: Public
   • Website field (About): https://nettree.ai

   

3. Write a README that search engines and humans can trust

   Lead with one sentence on what the project does, then link to the product. NetTreeAi’s README explains NetTree in plain language, badges for the website and Pages hub, and a table mapping Markdown sources to browser-friendly Pages URLs. Include a 中文 section when you serve bilingual markets—GEO-friendly for Chinese queries without duplicating spam pages.

   • First paragraph: problem → outcome → link to nettree.ai
   • Resource table: hub home, methodology, starter lists, free CSV templates
   • Quick start for the product (5 steps), separate from repo maintenance
   • Disclaimer: no guaranteed rankings; third-party sites decide link attributes
4. Configure repository About, topics, and social preview

   In GitHub → Settings → General (or the About pencil on the repo home), set Description, Website, and Topics. For NetTreeAi we use topics such as backlinks, seo, saas, link-building, and growth. Enable Discussions with a Q&A template if you want community signal without mixing it into issue noise.

   • Description: one line matching your README lede
   • Website: canonical product URL (https://nettree.ai)
   • Topics: 5–8 accurate tags—not keyword stuffing
   • Optional: pin the repo on your profile if it is a flagship open asset
5. Structure docs/ for GitHub Pages

   Static HTML under docs/ becomes your Pages site. NetTreeAi keeps Markdown in lists/, resources/, and methodology/ for editing, plus rendered HTML in docs/ for indexing. Include robots.txt, sitemap.xml (generated on deploy), assets/site.css, and a zh/ mirror for Chinese Pages URLs.

   • docs/index.html — hub with links to guides and nettree.ai
   • docs/saas-directories.html, starter-directories.html — citable samples
   • docs/github-pages-backlink-guide.html — meta guide for owned assets
   • scripts/site_maintenance.py — regenerate sitemap and changelog
   scripts/site_maintenance.pybashCopy

   # Run from repo root (~/Sites/ai/NetTreeAi)
   python3 scripts/site_maintenance.py generate-sitemap
   python3 scripts/site_maintenance.py render-changelog
   python3 scripts/site_maintenance.py check-links

   

6. Deploy GitHub Pages with Actions

   Use GitHub Actions instead of legacy branch publishing. NetTreeAi’s .github/workflows/pages.yml checks out main, runs site_maintenance.py (changelog + sitemap), uploads docs/ as the Pages artifact, and deploys. On push to main, Pages URL stays https://tsingniao666.github.io/nettreeai/—a separate hostname from nettree.ai, which is intentional for cross-domain discovery links.

   • Settings → Pages → Source: GitHub Actions
   • Workflow permissions: pages: write, id-token: write
   • Post-deploy: optional search-engine ping from site_maintenance.py
   • Verify the live URL in a private browser window before recording it
   .github/workflows/pages.ymlyamlCopy

   # .github/workflows/pages.yml (excerpt)
   permissions:
     contents: read
     pages: write
     id-token: write
   
   jobs:
     deploy:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         - name: Build site artifacts
           run: |
             python3 scripts/site_maintenance.py render-changelog
             python3 scripts/site_maintenance.py generate-sitemap
         - uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
         - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
           with:
             path: docs
         - id: deployment
           uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

   

7. Publish useful open resources (not doorway pages)

   Ship content others can fork or cite: curated directory samples with inclusion criteria, a Submitted vs Live methodology note, and a free Backlink Evidence Log CSV. Automated workflows re-check starter URLs weekly/bi-weekly so the repo shows maintenance signal. The full matching library stays in the product—this repo is a honest preview.

   • lists/starter-directories.md + .csv — 20-row public sample with last_verified
   • resources/backlink-evidence-log.csv — portable verification template
   • methodology/submitted-vs-live.md — defines Live vs Submitted
   • Avoid: bulk URL dumps, copied marketing copy, keyword-only pages
8. SEO & GEO checklist after first publish

   Register the Pages property in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools; submit docs/sitemap.xml. Add the Pages hub to your llms.txt / public resource lists. Cross-link from nettree.ai (e.g. /guides/platforms/github) back to the repo so crawlers see a coherent graph. Keep changelog.html updated—freshness beats one-off launch spikes.

   • Google Search Console: verify tsingniao666.github.io/nettreeai
   • Submit sitemap: …/nettreeai/sitemap.xml
   • Repository About → Website = nettree.ai
   • Maintain docs/zh/ for Chinese discovery queries
   • Use accurate titles and meta descriptions on each HTML guide page
9. Record the live URL in NetTree Content Publish

   Add github.com from the Public Library, open your queue item, and paste either the repository URL or the published Pages URL—whichever you track as the owned asset. NetTree treats this as an owned channel (repo/pages), not a directory submission. After the page is public, run link verification so the record moves from Submitted to Live only when the URL is reachable.

   • Tracked URL examples: https://github.com/tsingniao666/nettreeai or https://tsingniao666.github.io/nettreeai/
   • Match URL shape to what you actually maintain
   • Re-verify after major README or Pages restructuring

Reference URL shape

Example: https://github.com/tsingniao666/nettreeai

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