Building Blazing Fast Websites with Next.js and Static Site Generation (SSG)

In today’s fast-paced world, users expect websites to load quickly and perform seamlessly. One of the best ways to ensure this performance is by building static websites. But manually creating static files and managing them can become cumbersome as your site grows. This is where Next.js comes in, offering powerful tools like Static Site Generation (SSG) to automate the process and optimize performance without sacrificing flexibility.

In this article, I’ll guide you through how to build blazing fast websites using Next.js and its SSG capabilities. We’ll cover the basics of SSG, how it works, and how to implement it, along with some advanced tips to further enhance your site’s performance.

What is Static Site Generation (SSG)?

Static Site Generation (SSG) is a method of pre-rendering HTML pages at build time, meaning the pages are generated before a user makes a request. Once generated, the static HTML files can be served instantly, leading to faster load times compared to Server-Side Rendering (SSR), which generates pages on the fly.

With SSG, the pages remain static unless they’re re-built, which makes it ideal for pages that don’t need to change often (e.g., blogs, documentation, landing pages). This approach enhances performance because static files are quicker to serve and can be cached efficiently by CDNs (Content Delivery Networks).

Key Benefits of Using SSG in Next.js:

1. Performance Boost: Since pages are pre-rendered at build time, they can be served almost instantly, reducing time-to-first-byte (TTFB) and overall load time.
2. SEO-friendly: Pre-rendered HTML is fully optimized for search engine crawlers, helping you improve your SEO rankings.
3. Scalability: Static files can be deployed to CDNs, allowing your website to handle large traffic volumes with ease.
4. Security: With no direct interaction with a server for every request, SSG reduces the risk of security vulnerabilities like server-side attacks.

Now that you understand why SSG is beneficial, let’s dive into how to implement it in a Next.js project.

Setting Up Your Next.js Project

If you don’t have a Next.js project yet, start by creating one:

npx create-next-app my-static-site
cd my-static-site
npm run dev

This will create a basic Next.js project. You can access the development server at http://localhost:3000.

Enabling Static Site Generation in Next.js

To generate static pages in Next.js, you need to use the getStaticProps function. This function is called at build time, and it allows you to fetch data, which is then passed to your page as props.

Here’s a basic example of how to create a static blog page:

// pages/blog/[slug].js

export async function getStaticProps({ params }) {
  const blogPost = await fetch(`https://api.example.com/blog/${params.slug}`);
  const postData = await blogPost.json();

  return {
    props: {
      postData,
    },
  };
}

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const posts = await fetch('https://api.example.com/blog');
  const postsData = await posts.json();

  const paths = postsData.map((post) => ({
    params: { slug: post.slug },
  }));

  return {
    paths,
    fallback: false,
  };
}

const BlogPost = ({ postData }) => {
  return (
    <article>
      <h1>{postData.title}</h1>
      <p>{postData.content}</p>
    </article>
  );
};

export default BlogPost;

Breakdown:

1. getStaticProps: This function fetches data at build time and passes it to the component as props.
2. getStaticPaths: This function generates all the possible paths for the dynamic routes (in this case, blog slugs). It ensures that all these pages are statically generated when you build the site.
3. fallback: false: This ensures that any route not returned by getStaticPaths will show a 404 page.

When you run npm run build, Next.js will generate static HTML files for each blog post, which will be served instantly to users.

Optimize Your SSG Setup

To ensure your site is as fast as possible, follow these additional tips:

1. Use Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)

With Next.js, you’re not limited to completely static pages. If you want to periodically update static pages without rebuilding the entire site, you can use Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR).

ISR allows you to update static pages at runtime, regenerating them in the background based on a specified interval.

Here’s how to use ISR:

export async function getStaticProps() {
  const postData = await fetch('https://api.example.com/blog');

  return {
    props: {
      postData,
    },
    revalidate: 60, // Re-generate the page every 60 seconds
  };
}

The revalidate key allows you to define how often the page should be updated in seconds. For example, setting it to 60 means the page will regenerate every 60 seconds if a user requests it.

2. Image Optimization

Next.js provides built-in image optimization, which ensures that images are loaded in the most efficient format and size for the user’s device.

Use the next/image component to add responsive images to your static pages:

import Image from 'next/image';

const BlogPost = ({ postData }) => {
  return (
    <article>
      <h1>{postData.title}</h1>
      <Image
        src={postData.imageUrl}
        alt={postData.title}
        width={800}
        height={600}
      />
      <p>{postData.content}</p>
    </article>
  );
};

Next.js will automatically handle lazy loading, responsive resizing, and format selection for your images, making sure they load quickly and look sharp.

3. Cache Control with CDN

One of the main benefits of static files is that they can be easily cached by a Content Delivery Network (CDN). When you deploy your static Next.js site to platforms like Vercel or Netlify, these platforms automatically handle CDN caching for you, reducing the time it takes to load your pages for users all around the world.

However, if you’re deploying on your own infrastructure, make sure you have proper caching headers set for your static assets.

4. Prefetching Links for Faster Navigation

Next.js automatically prefetches links that are in the viewport, which makes client-side navigation faster. However, you can manually prefetch links if needed:

import Link from 'next/link';

const Blog = ({ posts }) => {
  return (
    <ul>
      {posts.map((post) => (
        <li key={post.id}>
          <Link href={`/blog/${post.slug}`} prefetch={false}>
            {post.title}
          </Link>
        </li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
};

This small optimization improves user experience, especially for pages that may have dynamic content.

Conclusion

With Static Site Generation (SSG) in Next.js, you can create lightning-fast websites that provide a smooth user experience and are optimized for performance out of the box. By combining SSG with Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR), Image Optimization, and CDN caching, you can push your site’s performance to the next level.

If you haven’t already, give SSG a try in your next project. You’ll see how easy it is to implement, and your users will thank you for the fast load times!

For more insights and tips, make sure to follow me on X, where I regularly share coding advice and updates on my projects.

Additional Resources:
Next.js Official Documentation
SSG, SSR & ISR in by Dave Gray

Feel free to drop your questions or comments below—I'm always happy to help others become better at coding with Next.js!