What is Next.js and why to use it?

In the world of continuous evolution, nobody wants to stay behind. The importance of evolving is much higher when we talk about the digital world. The race to get aware of the latest updates and adapt to the changes are very high. 

In modern times, what we like the most about the digital world is its flexibility. We are free to try and test our ideas irrespective of the results. Even if the idea wouldn't work, we are free to add new features, react to rapid changes instantly and stay competitive in the digital world.

We have become much more choosy when it comes to the online world. The instant delivery of virtual things has made us impatient. We have become more demanding when it comes to the page loading speed of websites.

All the big companies want to create a great UI experience for their users. For this, companies trust modern technologies like React.js. In pursuit of creating a better user experience (UX), companies and big names are looking for advanced tools, and next.js is a big evolution in it.

What is next.js?

Next.js is a React-based framework. Next.js is a great tool for creating web applications and side-server rendering. React.js helps build a fast and user-friendly website and applications using react.

All the big companies understand the usefulness of next.js, and they are making efforts to shift themselves to the Next.js platform.

React.js is the fastest-growing React framework and works perfectly with static sites.

What is next.js used for?

Next.js is a javascript framework developing a single-page javascript framework. Next.js provides several benefits, but the top benefit of adding next.js to your operation is its faster speed and high performance. 

The other features of next.js are:

Server-Side Rendering: 

React components that make up the user-facing part of the website are all initially rendered on the server-side. It means that once the HTML has been delivered to the client (its browser) successfully, no extra work needs to be done for the user to read the content.

The other top benefit of SSR is it makes the website indexable and crawlable, which is essential for Search Engine Optimization. As the client-side javascript does not need to execute to see the page content.

Automatic Code Splitting

Next.js is a next-generation tool, it is smart enough to load only the Javascript or CSS that require for the given page. Eventually, it increases the loading speed as it doesn't load unnecessary CSS or Javascript. 

Hot Module Replacement 

This is not that important for the user, but it is damn important for the developer. It allows developers to see all the changes made during development. HMR allows the feature to reload only that section that has changes, unlike the traditional "live reload" method.

If we summarize the benefits of Next.js are: 

• ● Improved development process


• ● Improved performance


• ● Improved Search Engine Optimization.

As we have talked about the features of Next.js, here we understand some of the benefits of next.js.

Better User Experience 

Next.js allows you to create a front-end that aligns with your business goals and company's vision. Next.js makes the user experience great and unique.

Enhance Organic Traffic 

Next.js impacts the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the website.  It increases the loading time of a website. It makes the website faster, lighter, and easy to scan. Ultimately, resulting in a higher ranking of your web pages.

Better Conversion rate 

High page loading speed, great user experience, and high accessibility convert into a higher conversion. If the user is happy with the experience he receives, they will most probably stay on your website and will return next time. 

Closing Thoughts

It doesn't matter how big your website is, nor does it matters how growing your webshop on Shopify. If you are not evolving with time, your competitor will overtake you. No matter how hard you are making efforts. 

Next.js is a need for the hour, you should know what is next.js, and you can't win the race ignoring it. It improves your website's loading speed, SEO, and user experience. Next.js makes your website much cleaner, better and user-centric. It is better to grow and improve with time.

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