An Introduction to Server-Side Rendering (SSR) with Next.js

What is Server-Side Rendering (SSR)?

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is a rendering technique where the server generates the complete HTML for a web page and sends it to the browser. Unlike Client-Side Rendering (CSR), where JavaScript dynamically generates HTML in the browser, SSR delivers fully-rendered HTML pages, resulting in faster initial load times and improved SEO.

Why Use SSR?

1. SEO Benefits
   Search engine bots often struggle to index content rendered on the client side. SSR ensures that your pages are search-engine friendly by sending complete HTML.

2. Faster Time-to-Interactive
   By pre-rendering the content, SSR reduces the time it takes for users to interact with your app.

3. Dynamic Content
   SSR works well for apps with dynamic data that need to be SEO-friendly, such as e-commerce or news websites.

Next.js and SSR

Next.js is a React framework that simplifies the implementation of SSR. It provides an intuitive way to build SSR apps with minimal configuration.

Key Features of SSR in Next.js

1. Automatic Code Splitting
   Only the JavaScript required for the current page is loaded.

2. Static and Dynamic Rendering
   Next.js allows a mix of SSR and Static Site Generation (SSG) for different pages.

3. API Integration
   Fetching data from APIs on the server and rendering the results dynamically is seamless with Next.js.

How to Implement SSR in Next.js

1. Set Up Your Next.js Project

    npx create-next-app@latest my-ssr-app
    cd my-ssr-app
    npm run dev
   

2. Create an SSR Page
   Use the getServerSideProps function to fetch data at request time.

    export async function getServerSideProps() {
        const res = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
        const data = await res.json();
   
        return {
            props: { data }, // Pass data to the page via props
        };
    }
   
    export default function SSRPage({ data }) {
        return (
            <div>
                <h1>Server-Side Rendered Page</h1>
                <pre>{JSON.stringify(data, null, 2)}</pre>
            </div>
        );
    }
   

3. Deploy Your SSR App
   Deploy on platforms like Vercel, which natively supports Next.js SSR.

When to Use SSR?

1. SEO-Dependent Pages
   Pages like blogs, landing pages, and e-commerce product pages benefit from SSR.

2. Frequent Data Updates
   SSR is ideal for pages with dynamic data that change frequently and need to be indexed quickly.

SSR vs. SSG vs. CSR

Challenges with SSR

1. Server Load
   SSR increases server workload since HTML is generated on every request.

2. Caching
   Implementing caching for SSR responses requires careful planning.

Conclusion

SSR bridges the gap between fast, SEO-friendly web pages and dynamic, data-driven React applications. Next.js makes SSR implementation straightforward, helping developers create modern web apps with robust performance. Start exploring SSR with Next.js today to unlock its full potential!