ScrapeKey

The challenge

Affiliate-focused creators typically stitch together Ahrefs or Ubersuggest for keywords, then manually hunt programs across CJ, ShareASale, Impact, or brand sites. Nothing scores a keyword by monetization potential and surfaces ranked affiliate matches in the same workspace. That fragmentation wastes time and leads to two failure modes: targeting keywords that never convert, or joining programs with no clear content angle. I set out to build one product that answers a simple question — which keywords should I target, and which offers can I promote with them?

My role

I owned ScrapeKey end to end as solo founder and full-stack engineer: product definition, brand direction, UX, API design, data modeling, integrations, deployment, and go-to-market documentation. I made the architectural calls — React on Vercel, FastAPI on Railway, MongoDB Atlas — and drove production honesty by removing mock data paths from customer-facing flows. During closed beta, I also operate founder ops: invite codes, allowlisted registration, comped Pro for testers, and feedback via the contact form and support inbox.

Three pillars of the product

• Keyword discovery — Projects, scrape jobs, and free SEO tools (long-tail generator, SERP preview, keyword density) that feed signup without forcing a credit card first.
• Affiliate matching — A weighted scoring engine that ranks programs by relevance, commission, competition, trend, and performance against each keyword, backed by a live catalog sync (Awin).
• Production SaaS platform — Auth with MFA, Stripe live subscriptions, tiered plan limits, real-time notifications, admin/owner dashboards, and closed-beta gating until public launch.

Mapping the DIY stack

Before writing production code, I documented how solo creators actually work today: keyword tool → spreadsheet → network browsing → content tool → analytics. Competitive research confirmed that SEO suites optimize for agencies and volume metrics, while affiliate directories optimize for browsing programs — neither connects intent to monetization in one loop. That gap became the wedge: ScrapeKey would not try to out-Ahrefs Ahrefs; it would own the path from keyword opportunity to promotable offer.

Defining the product wedge

I locked brand and funnel early: ScrapeKey on scrapekey.com, tagline Scrape keywords. Match offers that pay, and a fox mascot as a flat vector mark (minimal, Apple-influenced marketing shell + gray functional app). Free ScrapeKey Tools act as top-of-funnel; logged-in projects hold scrape results and matches; Pro unlocks deeper limits and paid-tool gates. Agency tier stays “coming soon” so beta focus stays on core creator workflow and Pro validation.

Choosing a production-ready foundation

I prioritized integrations that make the demo defensible in production: MongoDB Atlas for workspace data, Stripe for live Pro billing, SMTP for password reset and contact, and publisher API sync for real affiliate catalog rows — not placeholder cards. Auth hardening (lockout, step-up forgot-password, 15-minute reset tokens, MFA/TOTP, Have I Been Pwned checks) shipped before scaling tester access. AI content generation is wired behind feature flags with structured OpenAI prompts; matching and intent scoring stay deterministic so the product does not overclaim “AI-powered” where rules and data do the work.

Core workflow: Research → Match → Publish

The in-app loop is deliberate and repeatable: create a project for a niche, run scrape to collect keyword candidates, execute matching against the affiliate catalog, then use matches to inform content (templates today; LLM-assisted briefs on the roadmap). Project-scoped APIs keep data isolated; match rows expose scores recruiters and creators can scan quickly. This workflow is the narrative spine for marketing, portfolio, and future onboarding.

Shipped a live creator SaaS

ScrapeKey runs in production at scrapekey.com with a cohesive brand, working registration and login, free tools, project workspace, and Stripe live for Pro ($49.99/mo). The site is in closed beta: personal invite codes plus email allowlist on registration, with Pro comped for invited testers during feedback collection. Public launch follows beta learnings — not a fixed calendar date — so quality and positioning stay aligned with real creator use.

Closed the keyword-to-offer gap

The matching engine gives creators ranked affiliate programs per keyword using multi-factor scoring, not manual network tab hunting. Awin catalog sync populates thousands of programs for operator-managed collection and marketplace UX. Free tools provide immediate SEO utility and a honest top-of-funnel; the logged-in product delivers the differentiated match experience competitors spread across separate subscriptions.

Production-grade platform readiness

Beyond the creator UI, ScrapeKey includes admin and owner dashboards, auth audit metrics, plan cap enforcement (projects, enrichment, API usage), contact form to support@scrapekey.com, and deployment runbooks for Railway and Vercel. CI runs E2E smoke on main. The codebase reflects solo-founder scope choices: deep on wedge and production integrity, with marketing hero visuals and final fox asset polish still on the roadmap — a conscious tradeoff to ship beta and learn from testers first.