Optimizing app performance is crucial for a seamless user experience in today’s modern world. The same can be applied to the Next.js app, which makes it imperative for businesses to improve the performance of web applications. Organizations need to optimize the Next.js app performance to ensure successful outcomes. Well! In this article, we will provide the best tips and tricks to optimize Next.js app performance.
NextJS is a popular React framework for building modern, scalable web applications. The framework is best known for its awesome features and functionality, which makes Next.js an ideal choice for front-end development. Dedicated app developers are responsible for ensuring their app is fully optimized for speed and delivers the best results at maximum performance. Businesses need to hire skilled app developers with a proven track record of delivering high-performance Next.js applications.
If you are a business or entrepreneur looking to optimize Next.js app performance and streamline user experiences, you have come to the right place. Let’s dive right into the best practices to optimize Next.js app performance.
Before we dive deeper, let’s start with a basic definition of Next.js.
What is Next.js?
Next.js is an open-source React web app development framework for developing high-performance, robust, and SEO-friendly web applications. Vercel (formerly Zeit) developed Next.js, the framework that leverages server-side rendering, and static site generation, and offers awesome features, including image optimization, automatic code splitting, and CSS support.
These features and functionality make Next.js a perfect choice for modern web applications. Thanks to the emerging framework, Next.js – it is now possible to build static and dynamic websites, which makes it a go-to option for various use cases, including but not limited to simple blogs to complex web applications.
How to optimize Next.js app performance
Optimizing Next.js app performance is crucial in today’s modern world where users expect faster experiences. To remain competitive in this digital landscape, it is crucial to speed up your web app performance.
Here are the best practices for optimizing Next.js app performance:
1. Optimize third-party scripts
It’s important to take a large amount of memory from the main thread, such as third-party scripts, like Google reCAPTCHA or Google Analytics. It is possible to experience blocked render-critical components due to these third-party scripts. Next.js offers next/script components that enable you to focus on core things when loading these scripts.
The <Script /> component accepts multiple additional properties, which accept props, such as beforeInteractive. You can then implement afterInteractive strategy into the HTML client-side, causing load after some (or all) hydration occurs on the page. To achieve this, use the code script below:
import Script from ‘next/script’
export default function Page() {
return (
<>
<Script src=”<https://google.com/TagManagerScript.js>” strategy=”afterInteractive” />
</>
)
}
Google Analytics and Tag Managers are some of the best examples of scripts that look good candidates for afterInteractive.
2. Optimize images using Next Image
Use a built-in next component (next/image) to optimize images more efficiently. It is crucial to serve images in next-generation formats (like WebP) and avoid loading larger images in smaller viewports. For instance,
import Image from ‘next/image’
import profilePic from ‘../public/profile.png’
function Home() {
return (
<>
<h1>My Homepage</h1>
<Image src={profilePic} alt=”Picture of the author” />
<p>Welcome to Blog Page!</p>
</>
)
}
export default Home
There are basically three types of methods to optimize image sizes, which are as follows:
a) Next.js image component offers out-of-the-box features, which allow you to resize images when it comes to responsive images.
b) To provide the images in the right size based on the users’ bandwidth and resources. Optimize your images with the Image component automatically.
c) Utilize placeholders until images load to avoid cumulative layout shifts.
3. Use built-in optimization feature
Next.js offers several built-in optimizations to improve and optimize the web app performance. You can find various optimization options and using these features is quite easy to implement, resulting in improved web app performance.
Image: Nextjs expands the traditional <img> element in HTML, resulting in reduced image size. It’s recommended to use the <Image /> component to optimize image size.
Font: You can then use next/font to optimize font files and remove or delete external network requests to enhance next.js app performance. With next/font, you can self-host any Google Font without sending any request to Google by the browser.
4. Code splitting
Code splitting works like a buffet for your app, allowing you to load necessary things only. Code splitting is a great way to make things loaded that are necessary instead of loading everything simultaneously. This way, you can lower the overall time it takes to load the page and optimize Next.js app performance more efficiently.
Suppose you have a complex chart component, and you want to load it only when the user accesses the “Dashboard” page. Here’s how you can use dynamic imports to achieve this:
import dynamic from ‘next/dynamic’;
const DynamicChart = dynamic(() => import(‘../components/ChartComponent’), {
loading: () => <p>Loading Chart…</p>,
});
With dynamic imports, you will see the chart component loading when visiting the “Dashboard” page only.
5. Use CDNs for Faster Content Delivery
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) work like local stores used to carry and deliver your products and services or content from the nearest server to visitors. The main function of a CDN is to distribute your website assets across different servers and deliver content faster.
As a result, it will reduce latency and accelerate content delivery to visitors while providing a seamless user experience. Furthermore, it is pretty easy to integrate CDNs with Next.js, following the path below:
<img src=”https://cdn.example.com/image.jpg” alt=”Image” />
Therefore, CDN is a perfect way to make your web app load faster and quicker than ever for users from any corner of the world.
6. Server-Side Rendering
Server-side rendering (SSR) is yet another way to optimize the overall performance of your Next.js app performance. This is the most unique technique used for rendering the initial HTML of a webpage on the server before making it available and accessible to the browser. For example, you can use the code below to implement SSR to fetch data on the server side:
export async function getServerSideProps() {
const data = await fetchData();
return {
props: { data },
};
}
Moreover, app developers should always consider implementing server-side rendering to minimize the overall time to render the first page on the client side, enabling content to be delivered faster to end-users. So, don’t forget to implement server-side rendering to enhance the Next.js app performance.
Conclusion
In the bottom line, you can always find room for improvements when it comes to optimizing Next.js app performance. To enhance your web app performance, it’s important to perform continuous monitoring and improvement.
There are several ways in which you can improve Next.js app performance, but following the above tips can help you accelerate the performance, SEO, and overall user experience of your Next.js application.
Are you a business in need of web app speed optimization services that make your Next.js app faster to load across multiple devices and platforms, contact a reliable app development agency for professional assistance.
Crest Infosystems is a preeminent software development firm specializing in custom app development and optimization, web app development and speed optimization, CRM development, ERP development, POS development, cloud development, AI/ML solutions, and on-demand app development.
FAQs
Does Next.js Offer Integration With PostgreSQL?
Yes, you can seamlessly integrate Next.js with PostgreSQL for backend data management. All you need to use libraries like Prisma or pg to integrate and connect your Next.js app with a PostgreSQL database.
How Does Next.js Differ From a Regular React Website?
Next.js offers is popular a web app development framework that offers various awesome features that you can’t find in a standard React app, such as server-side rendering, static site generation, automatic code splitting, and image optimization. These awesome features make Next.js a go-to option for developing reliable, SEO-friendly, high-performance websites and web applications more efficiently.
Does Next.js Support Mobile App Development?
Yes, Next.js is compatible with mobile app development and can be used to develop mobile-optimized, modern web apps. Next.js offers powerful features like performance optimization and a mobile-first approach that allows dedicated app developers to build highly scalable, robust, user-friendly web applications that work across multiple devices and platforms.
