Next.js

Next.js is a React framework for building production websites and apps. React on its own only handles the view layer — what a component looks like in the browser — so Next.js wraps it in the rest of what a real website needs: a router, a build step, and a way to render pages on the server or ahead of time. The result is one project that produces fast, indexable HTML instead of a blank page that fills in only after JavaScript loads.

How it works

A Next.js project maps files to URLs. With the modern App Router, a folder structure under app/ becomes your routes, and each route is a React component that, by default, runs on the server. That server step is what makes the difference for search: instead of shipping an empty shell, Next.js can produce finished HTML before it reaches the browser.

It does this in two main ways. Server-side rendering builds the HTML on each request, which suits pages whose content changes per user or per visit. Static rendering builds the HTML once at deploy time and serves it from a CDN, which suits marketing pages that look the same for everyone; with incremental static regeneration those static pages can be refreshed on a schedule without a full rebuild. Most sites mix both. Understanding static vs. dynamic rendering is how you decide, page by page, which one a route should use.

Why it matters for B2B sites

For a B2B or SaaS site, the job is to load fast and be cited correctly by search engines and AI answer engines. Next.js delivers real HTML on first paint, so crawlers and tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity read your content instead of waiting on client-side JavaScript that they may never run.

It also keeps the site maintainable: routing, metadata, structured data, and redirects all live in one typed codebase, which makes index hygiene — clean canonicals, correct trailing-slash behavior, no duplicate URLs — easier to get right than on a sprawling CMS. The Next.js for marketing sites guide covers the setup in full.

FAQ

Is Next.js a framework or a library?

Next.js is a framework; React is the library it builds on. React gives you components and state. Next.js adds the surrounding structure — routing, rendering modes, a build system, image and font handling — so you can ship a complete site rather than assembling those pieces yourself. In short, you write React, and Next.js decides how and where it runs.

Is Next.js good for SEO?

Yes, when used well. Because Next.js can render real HTML on the server or at build time, search engines and AI crawlers receive content immediately instead of an empty page. It also gives you direct control over metadata, canonicals, and redirects. The rendering choice still matters: pick the right mode per page using static vs. dynamic rendering.

Who maintains Next.js?

Next.js is an open-source project maintained by Vercel, with a large community of contributors. It is one of the most widely used React frameworks for production sites, which in practice means long-term support, frequent releases, and a deep pool of documentation and hiring talent.