Next.js is a popular React-based web framework that has been a popular and growing community in recent years. It is a powerful tool for building fast and SEO-friendly web applications with dynamic pages that perform well on mobile devices.
Due to the complexity of building uniform programs, Next.js SEO can be a difficult topic to get your head around. Especially if you are leaving traditional React apps and relying solely on documents.
Single-page applications can be more efficient for applications that will need to be more efficient. While Google has made a few changes to how their crawler handles single-page applications, we still lack SEO results.
Applications rendered on the server side can have higher SEO results in the search engine and still maintain pretty satisfactory performance
Many server-side applications were developed with the release of some amazing JavaScript frameworks like Next and Gatsby. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why single-page apps aren’t ideal for certain cases, especially for applications that may rely heavily on SEO
What is SEO and why is it important?
SEO is all about making sure your website shows up higher in search engine results. It’s like making your storefront more visible on a busy street so more people notice it.
There are lots of tricks and techniques involved, like using the right words and formatting on your website so search engines like Google can easily find and understand it.
Search engines play a crucial role in understanding and showcasing your website’s content to users. SEO, or search engine optimization, is vital for maximizing your website’s visibility and attracting more traffic.
When people search online, they might be looking for your business or the content you offer. Increasing traffic to your website translates to greater success for your business.
However, search engines rely on the information you provide and how you present it. If your website is a single-page application (SPA), it can be challenging for search engines to crawl and gather sufficient information from just one page.
This limitation could lead to missed opportunities for your business. That’s why having robust SEO practices in place is essential for ensuring your website ranks well and attracts potential customers.
What is Next.JS?
Next.js is a tool that helps you build websites using React, a popular programming language. It sounds like you have a great tool to make building websites easier and more efficient.
Next.js and you get a bunch of cool features like automatic code splitting and easy scheduling for production. It has become very popular among startups, Reactjs development companies, and IT consultants as it helps to build applications with SSR
One of the best things about Next.js is that it helps with SEO right out of the box. When you create a new website with Next.js, you automatically configure things to be friendly to search engines. This means your site will show up more in search results without having to do much extra work.
To get started with Next.js you can just use a command like “npx create-next-app” and it will fix everything for you.
Adding a new page to your app is super simple. Just make a new file inside the “pages” folder and create a new React component in it. That’s all it takes to create a new route for your app!
The Problem with single page applications (SPA)
Before you choose to build a single-page application or a server-side rendered application, there are some points to consider that you may want to visualize
A Single Page Application (SPA) is a type of application that is not loaded from a new HTML page every time new content needs to be rendered, but is run by JavaScript in a dynamic way that makes changes to the DOM
The problem with SEO in SPA is that the application cannot be indexed by search engines separate from the server-side rendered application.
SPA only serves HTML files so that search engines can’t index content because on a page application, you have JavaScript that generates new HTML every time something changes though SPA has many other advantages like performance, time and bandwidth saving, responsiveness good on mobile devices, and slow internet
Using server-side applications, especially Next.Js, you can build a functional application and generate good SEO at the same time.
How Next.Js helps to improve SEO?
1. Static site generation
Static site is a form of pre-rendering which is a process of rendering a website at rendering time. The HTML is statistically generated at build time and the build page is cached and reused for each request
For static site generation, you need to run the command next build to build the app and next export, which makes your app available as static files in the out directory. The output includes a bunch of static files including HTML files and different assets like JavaScript and CSS.
A form of static site pre-rendering is the method of rendering websites during rendering. The HTML is generated mathematically during the build process and is used to save the page storage and reuse for queries any
Ideally, when a request is made, the browser receives a basic HTML page with little text in it from the server in response.
This HTML page then inserts a script to load the requested data from the server. This process is called hydration. Thanks to this search engine, robots search through all the content, and your website can rank first.
For static site generation, you need to run the next build command to build the app with the next export, which makes your app a static file in the out directory. It includes HTML files and static files with properties such as JavaScript and CSS
Here you can find out more information about static site generation.
2. Pre-rendering
Next.js offers two types of pre-rendering: Static Generation (SG) and Server-side Rendering (SSR).
With Static Generation, pages are generated at build time and serve as static HTML files, which can significantly improve SEO by providing search engines with readily available content to index.
SSR, as mentioned earlier, renders pages on the server dynamically, allowing for personalized content and dynamic data while still benefiting from SEO advantages.
3. Automatic Code Splitting
Next.js automatically splits JavaScript bundles, so each page only loads the code necessary for that specific page.
This results in faster loading times, which is crucial for SEO since page speed is a ranking factor.
Faster-loading pages tend to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and provide a better user experience, which can reduce bounce rates and improve overall SEO performance.
4. SEO-friendly Metadata
Next.js simplifies the management of metadata (such as title tags, meta descriptions, and canonical URLs) through its Head component and the Next.js router.
Developers can easily set custom metadata for each page, optimizing them for specific keywords and providing search engines with valuable information about the content of the page.
This helps improve click-through rates and overall SEO performance. Next-SEO is popular SEO library that we can use with the Next.js
5. Dynamic Routes and Data Fetching
Next.js allows for dynamic route generation and data fetching, making it easy to create SEO-friendly URLs with meaningful keywords.
Additionally, Next.js provides efficient data fetching methods, such as getStaticProps and getServerSideProps, which enable developers to fetch data at build time or request time, respectively.
This flexibility ensures that search engines can crawl and index dynamic content effectively, enhancing SEO visibility.
6. Image Optimization
Next.js offers built-in support for optimizing images through its Image component.
By automatically serving responsive images in modern formats like WebP, Next.js helps improve page load times and overall performance, which are key factors for SEO success.
Next.js provides a powerful set of tools and features that can significantly enhance a website’s SEO performance.
From server-side rendering and pre-rendering to automatic code splitting and metadata management, Next.js enables developers to create fast, dynamic, and SEO-friendly web experiences that are well-suited for ranking higher in search engine results.
What Next.js rendering method is best for SEO?
Next.js offers four ways to show your website’s content: Server-Side Rendering (SSR), Static Site Generation (SSG), Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR), and Client-Side Rendering (CSR).
Out of these options, Client Side Rendering (CSR) isn’t ideal for SEO, according to the Next.js team. It’s better suited for parts of a website that don’t need search engines to index them, like dashboards or internal tools.
When it comes to SEO, SSR and SSG are the top picks among developers. SSG, for example, creates fully built pages when you make your site, so search engines can easily read and understand them. This makes your site load faster, too.
But here’s the catch with SSG: every time you update your content, you have to rebuild your whole site. For sites with a lot of updates, that can be a headache.
SSR and ISR offer similar SEO benefits to SSG. SSR builds pages when someone requests them, which helps avoid the updating problem SSG faces. And ISR is like an upgrade to SSG, letting you refresh pages at set intervals to keep content up to date.
Wrapping up
This article has explored how Next.js enhances SEO through its built-in features. These are fundamental aspects to keep in mind when focusing on SEO.
Additionally, various practices such as sitemaps, internal linking, backlinking, image optimization, and page speed optimization further contribute to improving your website’s ranking.
