Disc Golf Buzz

1. Autonomous Content Pipeline

A custom YouTube ingestion pipeline runs on autopilot — continuously harvesting new videos and podcasts from curated channels, normalizing metadata, and writing records directly to the CMS through its local API. No third-party automation platforms. No orchestration tools. Pure Node.js scripts running on a schedule, doing exactly what they need to do and nothing more.

Every ingested video goes through an enrichment stage powered by Ollama — a locally hosted AI runtime — which generates unique SEO titles, meta descriptions, and introductory paragraphs for each piece of content. Video transcripts are fetched and stored alongside each record, transforming embedded YouTube content into fully crawlable, keyword-rich pages that rank independently in search.

Running AI locally means zero per-token costs, zero data sent to third-party APIs, and complete control over the quality and consistency of output across 18,500+ pages.

2. SEO Architecture at Scale

Search visibility was designed in from day one, not bolted on afterward.

Every video and podcast page generates valid Schema.org VideoObject JSON-LD — resolving Google's "video not on watch page" validation error that blocks rich result eligibility. The disc directory implements Product schema with flight numbers, brand data, and offers, making individual disc pages eligible for Google Merchant listings. Breadcrumb structured data accompanies every content page.

A sitemap index orchestrates five child sitemaps covering videos, podcasts, posts, pages, and news — each generated at runtime using server-side environment variables, eliminating the localhost URL contamination that commonly breaks Next.js deployments built locally and served remotely. Canonical tags, Open Graph metadata, and Twitter card data are generated dynamically on every page with correct production URLs.

The result: Google went from zero indexed pages at launch to 2,400+ pages and 637 video rich results indexed within three months — with both numbers still climbing steeply.

3. PDGA Disc Directory

A structured database of every PDGA-approved disc — flight numbers, physical specifications, certification numbers, and approval dates — normalized and served through the platform's public REST API. Each disc page generates Product schema eligible for rich results and is already surfacing in Google Search for long-tail disc-specific queries within weeks of launch.

The directory is designed to grow into the most comprehensive structured disc golf equipment dataset on the web — queryable by any developer without an API key or application process.

4. Public REST API

Every piece of content on discgolf.buzz is accessible through a free, unauthenticated public REST API. No API key. No rate limits for reasonable use. No application process.

Developers can query videos by category, filter discs by manufacturer and type, retrieve paginated news articles, or look up tournament coverage — all through the same data layer that powers the site itself. The API is the foundation for a planned ecosystem of third-party disc golf applications, fantasy platforms, club management tools, and community integrations.

This is an intentional architectural choice: the value is not in hoarding the data. The value is in being the place where the data lives.

5. Real-Time Community Layer

Beyond content aggregation, the platform runs a WebSocket-powered live chat system (wss://ws.discgolf.buzz) enabling real-time community interaction across every page. A member directory, private messaging, disc marketplace, and tenant system for local disc golf clubs and leagues round out the community layer.

The community system was built on a multi-tenant architecture — giving local disc golf groups, clubs, and leagues their own dedicated space on the platform while connecting their data to the broader ecosystem and public API.

Technical Stack

LayerTechnology

Frontend & API

Next.js 15 (App Router)

CMS & Database

Payload CMS · MongoDB

AI Pipeline

Ollama (local LLM runtime)

Real-Time

WebSockets · Custom chat server

Infrastructure

Cloudflare · PM2 · Ubuntu VPS

SEO

Schema.org · GSC · Dynamic sitemaps

Payments

Stripe

Auth

JWT · Email verification · Multi-tenant

Results

MetricValue

Video & podcast pages

18,500+

Pages indexed by Google

2,400+ and growing

Video rich results indexed

637 and climbing toward 900

Google Search impressions (3 months)

3,060

Average search position

11.4

Disc directory entries

PDGA-complete catalog

Built with orchestration tools

None

What This Demonstrates

Disc Golf Buzz was built entirely by MEC Designs — no orchestration platforms, no managed pipelines, no off-the-shelf aggregation tools. Every system was designed, built, and deployed from scratch: the ingestion pipeline, the AI enrichment layer, the SEO architecture, the real-time infrastructure, the public API, and the community layer.

It is a demonstration of what a small, focused studio can build when engineering decisions are made deliberately — choosing the right tool for each problem rather than defaulting to the heaviest framework available.

The platform continues to grow in content, indexing, and community every week. It is both a product in its own right and a live demonstration of MEC Designs' capability to build production-grade, SEO-optimized, AI-enhanced web platforms at scale.