NEXTJS SEO: How to Get Things Going With Tiny, Incremental Improvements
If you’re wondering how Nextjs can improve your search engine results, you’re in the right place. In this article, you’re going to learn why Nextjs can be a great tool you can use to improve the SEO ranking of your page today.
Keep in mind, that if you need any further assistance or information on the subject, you get a free consultation with one of our extremely-talented specialists who know everything about Nextjs, SEO, and Google ranking specifically.
Roles of nextJS, Google, and SEO in the Success of Your Website
Google gets over 4 times more monthly visits than Facebook
Yeah, people use Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and other search engines, obviously. But let me show you how massive the Google search engine really is.
Google is the biggest web page on the internet by far. It gets around 45.41 billion total monthly visits, placing it far ahead of any other website. If you thought that other search engines, like Yahoo or other gigantic services like Facebook or Amazon, would at least be somewhere near, you’d be as wrong as I was.
In fact, it’s not even close. After Google’s mind-boggling 45 billion monthly visits you get Youtube with 13 billion, and Facebook with 11. It’s not even the same league.
How NEXTJS Could Help You Reach the Next Level of Search Engine Optimization?
Next.js, React, Vue – there are so many great technology stacks to choose from. With dozens of different stacks out there, how do you choose the one that is best optimized for search engines and benefits your digital business the most?
NEXTJS & SEO – It’s All About the Little Things
The fight for the top spots on search engines is all about little things like having the right meta tags, such as the title and description of your page.
Next.js gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to tags on the code level, as well as enables you to perform a lot of other small improvements. But more on that soon.
Since people tap that ‘search’ button some 45 billion times every month it’s important to have all of our stats maxed out and have our content as visible as possible to a potential client.
The 80/20 Principle in Search Engine Optimization
You’ve probably heard about the 80/20 principle before, but let me just remind quickly remind you how it works. According to Wikipedia, the 80/20 principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.
Google Search is 80/20 On Steroids
This rule, by all accounts, applies to Google rank. When it comes to the first page alone, the first five organic results account for 67.60% of all clicks, and the first result gets a whopping 31.7%.
Just think about the millions of results for each Google search that go unnoticed because they’d failed to optimize the meta tags for their page!
Build your new project with Next.js
How Nextjs can help your SEO
Load speed is one of the most important factors when it comes to SEO and Google ranking, and with Next.js, you’re simply faster.
What makes Next.js stand out against other popular frameworks, is that it renders the HTML on the server (server-side), rather than in the browser (client-side).
We use this JavaScript web framework for building server-rendered static-generated React apps and websites.
What differentiates it from traditional React Single Page Applications is that it allows web crawlers to readily discover pages that are built in it. And being easily found is always good news when it comes to SEO.
“As CTO, I’ve observed firsthand how Next.js directly contributes to improving our customers’ website SEO. Leveraging its server-side rendering and static generation capabilities, Next.js ensures quicker load times, a critical factor for Google’s rankings.
In the world of web technologies, being at the top of Google searches isn’t just an aspiration—it’s a clear indicator of success. Next.js is an essential tool in our stack, making this achievable through technical excellence and advanced optimization strategies.”
Jakub Dakowicz, CTO at Pagepro
Server-Side Rendering vs. Client-Side Rendering
Since data is rendered server-side rather than client-side, and because apps are already rendered before reaching the client, the load speed is faster even on older, slower devices.
That in turn translates into greater accessibility for all users, no matter what devices they use. A small tweak in load speed can often make the difference between being placed on page one and page two on Google search.
Read this article to learn more about Next.js.
NEXTJS Head, Meta Tags, and SEO
One thing that really makes Next.js different from any other React-based JavaScript framework is that it stores its Head component within the content. making sure we can readily provide the browser with all the metadata it needs, like title, meta name (description), or even images and icons.
What’s more, you can also import this head element to any page within your app and set up metadata for any number of pages, making each of them more visible to search engines.
By making those little tweaks to your metatags, not only do you optimize for Google but for other search engines as well. Get those tags right!
Key NEXTJS Features for Better SEO
Next.js is a leading React-powered JavaScript framework used in building highly-responsive static websites and web apps and it can give you quite a few perks search engine-wise:
- Increased flexibility in designing the UX of your website – you get to craft your front end pretty much any way you want. No more limiting templates, themes, or plugins.
- Jamstack compatibility – As of today, Next.js is one of the most widely used React.js development services for building SEO-friendly Jamstack-based static websites. Combine it with a headless CMS or an eCommerce platform of your choice, you’re guaranteed to boost and improve your results.
- Automatic Static Optimization – Next.js can help you build hybrid apps containing server-rendered and statically-generated pages thanks to automatic static optimization, making them more performant, thus improving Google rank.
- Fast static websites – Reap the benefits of improved response and load speed of static websites and improve your SEO rank
- Improved data security – Disconnect your back-end from your front-end and keep your websites safer. Since your static pages don’t have databases, they are a safer option against the popular Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) or SQL database injection attacks.
- Adaptability and responsiveness – With Next.js, you can get your apps and websites to display on any device more readily.
Quick poll
Which advantage of Next.js is the most important to you?
Nextjs, SEO, and Small Incremental Improvements
Your competitors probably already know this.
If you’re competing in the world’s greatest league, you can’t afford to throw away any potential advantages. If you do, you’re already behind. After all, the tools you use might determine your overall position in the race. If you want to place high in the SEO game, you have to make sure you’ve got the best tools.
Think of it this way: to improve the overall SEO rank of your page, you need to apply multiple tiny, incremental changes before making a huge difference. One of those steps is certainly the load speed of your site.
To achieve an improved load speed, you must consider details like metadata, client-side rendering, vs. server-side rendering, HTML & JavaScript code readability, or even the size of the images and other content you put on your site.
Next.js can be considered one of those small steps that will give your page the tiny tweaks it needs to achieve a better SEO result in the future. How does it compare to some the other React apps?
What Do Search Engine Optimization and Cycling Have in Common?
In 2003, the British Cycling Organization hired Dave Brailsford as its performance director. Prior to that, the British team had only won a single gold medal over one hundred years. What’s more, no British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France, the most important cycling event of all.
Fast-forward to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, under the lead of Mr. Brailsford, the British team won 60% of gold medals. That means, they went from absolute nothing to dominating in the span of 5 years.
The Effects of the New Approach
At the 2012 London Olympic Games, they set nine Olympic and seven world records. That year also marked the first-ever British victory in Tour De France. But hold on, that’s not all.
Bradley Wiggins, who won that Tour de France, was then followed by his teammate Chris Froome, who not only won the competition the following year, but went on to win three consecutive races in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
That makes five British Tour de France victories in a span of 6 years! Not too bad considering they had won exactly zero in the past 110 years.
How Did That Happen and What Does It Have to Do With My Website’s SEO Performance?
What happened was Dave Brailsford’s team made hundreds, if not thousands of small tweaks.
They adjusted bike seats, rubbed alcohol on the tires to improve the grip, had their outdoor cyclists wear, as it turned out, more aerodynamic and lighter indoor racing suits. They even hired a specialist who would teach each rider the best way of caring for their hygiene so that they could avoid catching colds!
What does it have to do with Next.js and the SEO of my site?
Your website can be thought of as a sports team, too. After all, SEO optimization is a competition in which you need to outperform your opponents to get a good position and win a potential client and Google is the most competitive league when it comes to fighting for leads, clicks, clients.
If you’re competing in the SEO game, you’re also going to have to make numerous small tweaks that are going to give you an edge over the competition. Next.js is one of the steps in the right direction.
In summary: what SEO IMPROVEMENTS do you get by using nextjs?
Optimizing your website’s performance for improved SEO performance can be analogous to optimizing a cycling team. Let’s take a look at what you get by using Next.js
Improved UX of your site
The user experience of your website is one of those things that can be easily omitted when thinking of SEO.
Good UX helps your potential clients find their way around your website more easily. That enables them to get the most out of it and reach the end of the sales funnel more quicker.
The speed and performance of your website are something that Google takes into consideration when ranking your website. Next.js gives you more control over the UI and the UX allowing you to make those small 1% adjustments and benefit from the marginal gains.
Better-optimized web pages
The majority of web traffic is now generated through mobile devices and Google continues to focus on its mobile version for ranking and indexing websites. With Next.js, your content is optimized for pretty much any device, giving you far more flexibility when it comes to improving your technical SEO.
Enhanced performance through server-side rendering
This part is likely the most influential when it comes to SEO optimization.
According to pingdom.com, the average bounce rate for pages loading within 2 seconds is 9%, while for pages that take over 3 seconds, it’s… 38%!
Next.js improves your TBT (total blocking time) and makes sure not to freeze your browser by downloading and executing JS code all at once. It splits the code into smaller bundles, which allows it to parse, compile & execute less JS and download only the code that it needs, and search engines seem to really dig it.
What’s more, each bundle of code can be cached individually, resulting in a much speedier initial page load. It also optimizes images so that they’re lighter and load quicker.
Next.js also lets you decide on the right rendering mode, giving you more control of your platform and allowing you to fully optimize it for better performance that you can turn into more leads and clients.
Better Safety & Security of Your Page
Since you’re running static pages, you pretty much don’t have to worry about your website’s safety nearly as much.
Because they have no databases, no data is collected, and there are no session tokens or any possible breach points. This makes them a far safer option against XSS or SQL database injection attacks.
Moreover, static pages don’t rely on CMS the often outdated and vulnerable third-party plugins and all of the dynamic functions are done through APIs and JavaScript.
Open Graph Customization
With the Open Graph Protocol, you can turn websites into graph objects by adding basic metadata to them.
This is used to make your social media links look far more attractive and clickable.
Next.js allows you to programmatically edit all open graph meta names for each page. That in turn improves the SEO of your website and gives you full control over how you want your content to display on social media.
Let’s Wrap This Up: Why Use Nextjs for improving SEO positioning
When we consider the 80/20 principle and the fact that only the top search results actually get clicks, we have to conclude, that in order to be able to compete for the top spots, we must go a step further when optimizing our website or app.
With Next.js you’re able to apply small, incremental changes that can help you grow your online presence.
In conclusion, Next.js offers numerous gradual improvements that can greatly improve your SEO.
Build your new project with Next.js
FAQ
How does Next.js improve SEO?
Next.js enhances SEO through server-side rendering and static generation, which improve page load speeds and content visibility for search engines, crucial for ranking higher on Google.
What is server-side rendering in Next.js?
Server-side rendering (SSR) in Next.js means HTML is generated on the server for each request, improving load times and SEO by presenting content to search engines more efficiently.
Can Next.js automatically optimize images for better performance?
Yes, Next.js includes automatic image optimization that adjusts image sizes for different devices, improving load times and contributing positively to SEO.
How does Next.js handle metadata for SEO?
Next.js allows for the dynamic insertion of metadata like titles and descriptions into pages, enabling better indexing and ranking by search engines.
Is Next.js good for building static websites?
Absolutely, Next.js is ideal for creating static websites with its static site generation feature, leading to faster, more secure sites that rank well on search engines.
READ MORE
18 Great Examples of Next JS websites
How Can Next JS Improve UX in eCommerce
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