DEV Community: Shashwat Maurya

Why Your Next.js Website Isn't Ranking on Google (And the 7 Fixes That Actually Work in 2026)

Shashwat Maurya — Fri, 22 May 2026 06:10:23 +0000

If you have built a beautiful Next.js application and it is getting zero
organic traffic, you are not alone. This is one of the most common problems
we solve at Synor for clients across India.

Here is the short answer: Next.js is architecturally excellent for SEO —
but only when configured correctly. Most developers ship with the wrong
rendering mode for key pages, missing metadata, no structured data, and
images outside the next/image component. Each of these individually
suppresses rankings. Together, they make your website effectively invisible
to Google.

Here are the 7 most impactful fixes:

1. Check your rendering mode — disable JavaScript and view source

The fastest audit you can run: open each key page in your browser,
disable JavaScript (DevTools > Settings > Disable JavaScript), and
refresh. If your content disappears, that page is client-side rendered
and Google is likely not indexing it correctly.

Fix: Migrate to SSG using generateStaticParams for all indexable pages.

2. Confirm metadata is in the raw HTML — not set by JavaScript

Open your page source (Ctrl+U, not DevTools inspector). Is your title
tag in the raw HTML or is it the default? If title tags are being set
via document.title in a useEffect, Google may be reading your default
title instead of your keyword-targeted one.

Fix: Migrate all metadata to Next.js Metadata API in layout.tsx or
page.tsx.

3. Add structured data to every page type

Most Next.js sites have zero JSON-LD schema. This costs you rich results
— FAQ expandable entries, article bylines, star ratings — that double
click-through rates for eligible pages.

Fix: Add at minimum — Article schema on blog posts, LocalBusiness on
homepage, FAQPage on any page with Q&A sections, Service schema on
service pages.

4. Move all images to next/image with explicit dimensions

Standard tags bypass Next.js's optimisation layer — no WebP/AVIF
conversion, no lazy loading, no layout shift prevention. This kills your
LCP and CLS scores.

Fix: Replace every with from 'next/image'. Add priority
prop to above-the-fold images.

5. Add explicit canonical tags to every page

Without explicit canonicals, Next.js often generates the same content
accessible at multiple URLs — /blog/post and /blog/post/, www and non-www,
staging domain leakage. Google splits your ranking signals across variants.

Fix: Set alternates.canonical in every page's metadata export.

6. Generate your XML sitemap dynamically

A static sitemap goes stale the moment you publish new content. Google
discovers new pages slower than it should.

Fix: Create a sitemap.ts file in the App Router that queries your CMS
or database and returns all indexable URLs with lastModified,
changeFrequency, and priority.

7. Optimise Time to First Byte on server-rendered routes

Slow TTFB on SSR routes creates crawl budget waste and affects LCP scores.

Fix: Use Promise.all for parallel data fetching in getServerSideProps
or Server Components. Add Redis caching for frequently-read data. Set
appropriate Cache-Control headers.

At Synor we build every client website with these technical SEO standards
baked into the architecture from day one — not retrofitted after launch.

If your Next.js website is live but not ranking, we offer technical SEO
audits and implementation: synor.in/digital-marketing

nextjs #seo #webdevelopment #technical-seo

how synor has implemented ISR in A Website

Shashwat Maurya — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:05:04 +0000

My client have a problem his hosting is very slow so whenever google comes for crawling it just waits for laoding google have limited crawl budget so for solving that we had implemened ISR which automatically makes a dynamic page into a hard coded page thsi is feature of NExt js Best Web Devlopment agency in varanasi

How I Built a Local SEO Optimised Next.js Website That Ranked on Google in 45 Days

Shashwat Maurya — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 08:19:19 +0000

I run a small web development agency called Best Web Devlopment agency in varanasi
based in Varanasi, India. This is a technical breakdown of how I built
and optimised a Next.js website that started ranking on Google within
45 days — covering the exact implementation decisions that made the
difference.

The Stack

Framework:     Next.js 14 (App Router)
Hosting:       Vercel
CMS:           Custom MongoDB + Node.js API
Styling:       Tailwind CSS
Analytics:     Google Analytics 4
SEO:           next-sitemap + custom schema

1. App Router Metadata Implementation

The biggest SEO win in Next.js 14 is the new Metadata API.
Static metadata on every page is no longer optional.

// app/layout.js
export const metadata = {
  metadataBase: new URL('https://synor.in'),
  title: {
    default: 'Synor — Web Development Agency Varanasi',
    template: '%s | Synor'
  },
  description: 'Professional web development and digital marketing agency in Varanasi.',
  openGraph: {
    type: 'website',
    locale: 'en_IN',
    url: 'https://synor.in',
    siteName: 'Synor',
  },
  robots: {
    index: true,
    follow: true,
    googleBot: {
      index: true,
      follow: true,
    }
  }
}

For dynamic blog pages I generate metadata per post:

// app/blog/[slug]/page.js
export async function generateMetadata({ params }) {
  const post = await getPost(params.slug)
  return {
    title: post.seoTitle,
    description: post.seoDescription,
    keywords: post.seoKeywords,
    openGraph: {
      title: post.seoTitle,
      description: post.seoDescription,
      images: [{ url: post.featuredImage }],
    }
  }
}

2. LocalBusiness Schema Markup

This was the single biggest ranking factor for local keywords.
I inject schema directly in the root layout:

// components/LocalBusinessSchema.js
export default function LocalBusinessSchema() {
  const schema = {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "LocalBusiness",
    "name": "Synor",
    "description": "Web development and digital marketing agency in Varanasi",
    "url": "https://synor.in",
    "telephone": "+919125258698",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "streetAddress": "Awas Vikas Colony, Pandeypur",
      "addressLocality": "Varanasi",
      "addressRegion": "Uttar Pradesh",
      "postalCode": "221002",
      "addressCountry": "IN"
    },
    "geo": {
      "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
      "latitude": "25.3176",
      "longitude": "82.9739"
    },
    "openingHours": "Mo-Sa 09:00-18:00",
    "priceRange": "₹₹",
    "areaServed": {
      "@type": "City",
      "name": "Varanasi"
    },
    "sameAs": [
      "https://www.linkedin.com/company/synor",
      "https://github.com/synor"
    ]
  }

  return (

  )
}

3. ISR for Blog Pages

Static generation for every blog post with 1 hour revalidation.
This gives you static page speed with dynamic content freshness:

// app/blog/[slug]/page.js
export const revalidate = 3600 // 1 hour

export async function generateStaticParams() {
  const posts = await getAllPostSlugs()
  return posts.map(post => ({
    slug: post.slug
  }))
}

Result — blog pages consistently score 95+ on PageSpeed Insights
because they serve as static HTML with no server render delay.

4. Dynamic Sitemap Generation

// app/sitemap.js
export default async function sitemap() {
  const blogs = await getAllBlogs()
  const caseStudies = await getAllCaseStudies()

  const blogUrls = blogs.map(blog => ({
    url: `https://synor.in/blog/${blog.slug}`,
    lastModified: blog.updatedAt,
    changeFrequency: 'weekly',
    priority: 0.8,
  }))

  const caseStudyUrls = caseStudies.map(cs => ({
    url: `https://synor.in/case-studies/${cs.slug}`,
    lastModified: cs.updatedAt,
    changeFrequency: 'monthly',
    priority: 0.9,
  }))

  return [
    {
      url: 'https://synor.in',
      lastModified: new Date(),
      changeFrequency: 'weekly',
      priority: 1,
    },
    {
      url: 'https://synor.in/services',
      lastModified: new Date(),
      changeFrequency: 'monthly',
      priority: 0.9,
    },
    ...blogUrls,
    ...caseStudyUrls,
  ]
}

This auto-updates every time a new blog or case study is published
from the CMS — no manual sitemap management needed.

5. FAQ Schema on Blog Posts

Every blog has an FAQ section. Adding FAQ schema gets you
featured snippets on Google — the answer box above all results:

// components/FAQSchema.js
export default function FAQSchema({ faqs }) {
  const schema = {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "FAQPage",
    "mainEntity": faqs.map(faq => ({
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": faq.question,
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": faq.answer
      }
    }))
  }

  return (

  )
}

6. Image Optimization

Next.js Image component with WebP conversion and lazy loading
on every image across the site:

import Image from 'next/image'

// Every image on the site uses this pattern

The alt text pattern ${post.title} — Synor Web Development
naturally includes target keywords on every image without
keyword stuffing.

7. Core Web Vitals Fixes That Moved the Needle

Three specific fixes that improved PageSpeed from 67 to 91 on mobile:

Fix 1 — Font preloading

// app/layout.js

Fix 2 — Above fold image priority

// Hero image gets priority={true} — loads before anything else

Fix 3 — Suspense boundaries for dynamic content

}>

This prevents the entire page from blocking on data fetching —
users see the layout instantly while content loads.

Results After 45 Days

Page moved from position 90+ to position 85 on target keyword
23 out of 40 pages indexed within first 30 days
Mobile PageSpeed consistently 88 to 92
Core Web Vitals all green in Search Console
First organic traffic from Google within 3 weeks of launch

Still climbing — will post a follow-up at the 90 day mark.

What I Would Do Differently

Add schema markup from day 1 — I added it in week 2 which delayed indexing by about a week
Submit sitemap manually on launch day — do not wait for Google to discover it
Request indexing manually for every page in Search Console immediately after publishing — this alone cut indexing time from weeks to days

If you are building a local business website in Next.js and want
to rank on Google, the technical fundamentals above are the
non-negotiables. Content and backlinks matter — but broken
technical SEO kills everything else you do.

Happy to answer questions about any specific implementation
in the comments.

— Shashwat, Synor


markdown

Building backend infrastructure solo is harder than frontend 😅

Shashwat Maurya — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:39:53 +0000

I’ve been working on backend systems for startups recently, and one thing I’ve realized:
Frontend problems are visible.
Backend problems are silent… until everything breaks.
Scaling APIs, handling traffic spikes, optimizing media delivery — all of this becomes critical once users grow.
Curious how other developers here approach backend scalability early on. Do you overbuild from the start or scale later?
Visit Our website https://synor.in