Benefits of Using Next JS for Building Websites and Apps
Next.js Framework for App and Web Development
The benefits of using Next js have been noticed by companies like Netflix, Twitch, and TikTok, which have since added it to their tech stack. However, they aren’t the only ones using it. Many smaller companies appreciate Next.js’s diverse capabilities. Since it’s one of the fastest-growing React frameworks, it can be applied to many projects, and it’s ideal for creating high-performing websites and applications across all devices.
What is the Next.js?
Next.js is a JavaScript-based framework for building React web applications and static websites. Nextjs’s Automatic Static Optimization, merges “static” and dynamic” into one, allowing for building hybrid applications containing both server-rendered and statically generated pages. With features like server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and incremental static regeneration (ISR), Next.js provides fast performance, smooth user experiences, and rapid development.
The three main advantages it offers are:
- Rich User Experience
- Outstanding Performance
- Fast Feature Development
When to Use Next.js?
Before deciding on a new technology, consider the needs of your business. In the words of our CTO:
“While working with clients across multiple sectors, we’ve witnessed a consistent trend: those aiming to stay ahead of the competition are choosing Next.js. They feel it’s the right choice, that will let them climb to the top of Google search and provide fast websites that the users would love. And we completely agree – we’ve built our website with Next.js, too“
Jakub Dakowicz, CTO at Pagepro
Nextjs will be a great addition to your project if your goal is to:
- Increase your conversion and sales
- Boost your marketing channels
- Outperform your competition online
- Provide a great user experience
- Cut the maintenance costs
- Scale your business easier
Benefits of Next.js
The benefits of Next JS can be divided into three main categories:
- Benefits for Business
- Advantages for Marketing
- Benefits for Development
Let’s take a look at them separately.
Benefits of Using Next.js for Business
The main goal of every business and its digital presence is to increase conversion rate, and consequently, sales, and what directly impacts your company’s conversion rate is user experience. The better the UX, the more likely your users are to come back.
This is where Next.js shines. It gives you complete freedom over the front-end layer, so you don’t have to limit yourself to any plugins, templates, or any other restrictions of the eCommerce platform or CMS you are working with. You can create a website or app that meets all of your clients’ needs and wants.
Other business-related benefits of Next are:
- Adaptability And Responsiveness – Websites and apps created with Next JS work on any device and adapt to any screen, allowing users to access them with their favourite device.
- Data Security – Next.js static sites don’t have a direct connection to the database, dependencies, user data or other sensitive information, making them very safe.
- Fully Omnichannel – Websites and web apps made with Next JS work on any device.
- Short Page Load Time – Because of their static nature, Next JS websites are very fast, ensuring a great user experience.
- Support On Demand – Since Next JS is a React framework, finding support in the form of its community or developers for hire is not hard, as it’s a very popular technology.
Is Next.JS is the right choice for your project?
Benefits of Next.js for Corporate Venture Building Projects:
Corporate venture building projects are growing fast as different organizations work to introduce technological innovations and achieve sustainable development process. Next.js offers compelling advantages for such projects:
- Accelerated MVP Development – Building an MVP is often the initial stage in corporate venture development. Next.js provides a solid foundation for fast development cycles, facilitating efficient iteration, validation, and refinement of ideas.
- Modular Architecture and Reusability – Efficient collaboration and code reuse are important in cost-effective corporate venture development. Next.js adopts a modular architecture, allowing development teams to build applications using reusable components, enhancing code maintainability, and encouraging collaboration.
- Thriving Developer Ecosystem – Next.js has an active developer community and an extensive ecosystem of plugins and libraries. Developers can use it to access pre-built components, integrations, and tools, accelerating development efforts and improving functionality.
- Scalability – As corporate venture building projects evolve, the potential for future growth becomes an important consideration. Next.js offers a scalable architecture that can accommodate growing user bases and evolving business needs.
Advantages of Next.js For Marketing
Marketing is a key part of any business strategy. One of the most important parts of marketing efforts is Search Engine Optimization efficiency and organic traffic growth.
Page load speed is one of the key SEO ranking factors, and Next.js excels at increasing page speed. It also supports metadata handling and dynamic page generation, further improving SEO.
However, the benefits of Next.js for marketing don’t end there:
- Increased Conversion Rate – Improved page load speed, rich user experience and high accessibility mean higher conversion. If the users are happy with the customer experience they get, they are more likely to come back later for more.
- Increased Organic Traffic – Aside from their speed, Next.JS websites are also easy to scan for bots and provide a great user experience. Speed, structure, and UX are important ranking factors and will make your website rank higher in search engines, ushering in more organic traffic.
- Unique User Experience – Marketers love design freedom – especially in eCommerce, where many online shops look alike, and creating a custom storefront is something that can set their business apart from competitors. Next.js allows for complete customisation, resulting in a unique look and feel of your website or app.
Benefits Of Using Next.Js For Development and Developers
Thanks to its rich feature set, Next.js is appreciated by web developers. The availability of reusable React components is a favourite, since it reduces development time and costs. However, there are more features that are helpful for developers:
- Hybrid Rendering: Next.js supports both SSR and SSG within the same application, allowing developers to choose the best rendering method for each page.
- Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR): ISR allows updates to static content at runtime without needing a full rebuild, which is ideal for frequently updated sites such as blogs and e-commerce platforms.
- Performance Optimization: Next.js optimizes applications with features like automatic code splitting, lazy loading, and image optimization (using the next/image component), ensuring faster load times and improved user experience.
- Developer Experience: The framework simplifies development with file-based routing, API routes, and automatic handling of JavaScript and CSS bundling, reducing overhead and speeding up build times.
- Full-Stack Capabilities: Developers can build both front-end and back-end within the same Next.js application, enabling rapid prototyping and eliminating the need for a separate back-end service.
- TypeScript Support: Next.js comes with built-in TypeScript support, enabling automatic configuration and compilation for static typing without extra setup.
- Fast Refresh: Next.js offers a fast, live-editing experience, allowing developers to see changes instantly without losing application state.
- Zero Configuration: The framework is optimized for production from the start, automatically handling compilation, bundling, and optimization so developers can focus on business logic.
- Rust-based Compiler (SWC): The new Rust-based compiler significantly boosts performance, offering 3x faster refreshes locally and 5x faster production builds by optimizing JavaScript transformations and minifications.
- Middleware: Next.js allows developers to run custom code before a request is completed, enabling tasks like authentication, redirects, and custom headers, providing more control over request handling.
- Strong Ecosystem and Community: Being part of the React ecosystem, Next.js benefits from extensive community support, a wealth of plugins, and ready-to-go solutions for common development challenges.
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READ CASE STUDYWhy Make Apps with Next.js
While Next.js is well-known for its website capabilities, it also excels at building fast, scalable apps—both web and mobile. Here’s how Next.js supports app development:
- Mobile Optimization – For mobile-first applications, Next.js supports automatic code splitting and image optimization, ensuring apps load quickly on mobile devices with reduced data usage. These features enhance the overall performance and deliver a smoother experience, particularly on slower networks.
- Full-Stack Capabilities for Apps – Next.js allows developers to build both the front-end and back-end within the same framework. If your apps require server-side functionality, like handling API requests, authentication, or real-time features (such as chat or live updates), Next.js will be a great choice.
- Fast API Routes for Apps – With built-in API routes, Next.js lets developers easily set up back-end services without needing an additional server. Building apps that need serverless functions for managing data, user sessions, or other dynamic app requirements benefits from this feature.
- Hybrid Rendering for Apps – Next.js’s ability to mix SSR and SSG is useful for apps that need both real-time updates and fast static content. It’s perfect for apps like social media platforms or real-time dashboards where different data types need to be handled efficiently.
- Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) – This framework makes it easy to develop Progressive Web Apps, which provide an app-like experience on the web. PWAs built with Next.js load quickly, work offline, and offer push notifications, giving users the same engagement level they expect from native apps without the need for separate app store deployments.
Use Cases of Next JS
Next.js is used for a variety of websites and applications, but it works great for projects where content needs to be frequently updated or delivered in real-time. It’s great for large, multi-user platforms requiring frequent, real-time publishing.
In circumstances when rebuilding an entire site is not possible due to time constraints, Next.js provides a more efficient solution with features like incremental static regeneration (ISR), helpful for fast-paced sites where content needs to stay fresh without lengthy updates.
Let’s look at some examples of websites where Next.js excels. If you want to learn more, check out our article on the topic.
Large Multi-User Platforms
For platforms that handle vast amounts of user-generated data in real time, performance is extremely important. Next.js ensures efficient rendering and the ability to handle real-time updates.
Examples:
- TikTok
- Hashnode
- Twitch (mobile)
Client-Side Rendered Applications (SPA/MPA)
These applications rewrite parts of the web page dynamically without full reloads, making Next.js a great fit for handling dynamic content while maintaining performance.
Examples:
- Hulu
- Binance
- Ticketmaster
eCommerce Websites and Apps
Conversion is crucial, and fast updates are necessary for a seamless shopping experience. Next.js makes immediate updates without needing full site rebuilds possible, which is vital for eCommerce.
Examples:
- Deliveroo
- JET
- TicketSwap
Web Portals
For web portals that rely on real-time data and personalization, performance is key. Next.js’s ability to manage large-scale content dynamically makes it a perfect solution for these platforms.
Examples:
- Ticketmaster
- Realtor
- IGN
- Learn Squared
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READ CASE STUDYImprove Performance with Nextjs
The advantages of Next.js make it a perfect fit for building fast, scalable, and versatile websites and applications. With the ability to combine static and dynamic content through integrated features like Server Side Rendering, Static Site Generation, and Incremental Static Regeneration, Next.js offers great flexibility for developers, marketers and business owners, but that’s not all.
Next.js is a comprehensive solution for modern web development. It helps boost SEO, deliver great UX, and reduce development time, making it ideal for a diverse range of use cases—from multi-user platforms to e-commerce sites and real-time web portals.
Are you ready to start development with Next.js?
Read More
- What is Next.js?
- Pros and Cons of Next.js
- How To Use Next.js as a Static Site Generator
- Next.js vs Gatsby.js – Which One To Choose?
- Next.js vs Create-React-App
- What is Jamstack? A Guide For Business People