The Benefits of Server-Side Rendering with Next.js

One of the primary benefits of SSR is faster initial page loads. With client-side rendering, the browser needs to download, parse, and execute JavaScript before rendering the content. In contrast, SSR sends a fully rendered HTML page to the client, allowing users to see and interact with the content more quickly.

Next.js optimizes this process further by automatically code-splitting your application and only sending the necessary JavaScript for each page. This means that even complex applications can have fast initial load times, providing a better user experience, especially for users on slower connections or less powerful devices.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for many websites, and SSR provides a significant advantage in this area. Search engine crawlers can more easily index server-rendered pages because the content is immediately available in the initial HTML response.

With Next.js, you can ensure that each page of your application is fully rendered on the server, including any dynamic content. This means that search engines can see and index all of your content, potentially improving your search rankings and driving more organic traffic to your site.

SSR can significantly improve the performance of your application on low-power devices or in situations with poor network connectivity. By doing the heavy lifting on the server, you reduce the amount of work that needs to be done on the client-side.

Next.js takes this a step further by allowing you to choose between SSR, Static Site Generation (SSG), and Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) on a per-page basis. This flexibility enables you to optimize the rendering strategy for each part of your application, ensuring the best possible performance across all devices and network conditions.

Time to Interactive (TTI) is a crucial metric that measures how long it takes for a page to become fully interactive. With SSR, the initial content is rendered quickly, and the page becomes interactive as soon as the minimal JavaScript has loaded and executed.

Next.js optimizes this process by automatically code-splitting your application and prefetching JavaScript for other routes. This means that not only does the initial page load quickly, but subsequent navigation within your application is also fast and smooth.

SSR ensures that the content search engines see is the same as what users see. This consistency is crucial for SEO, as it helps avoid potential issues with cloaking or varying content that could negatively impact your search rankings.

Next.js makes it easy to implement SSR consistently across your entire application. You can use getServerSideProps to fetch data on each request, ensuring that both users and search engines always see the most up-to-date content.

export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/data`)
  const data = await res.json()

  return {
    props: { data }, // will be passed to the page component as props
  }
}