IONICWEBCREATOR
Next.js Development

Next.js used as more than a React wrapper

Most Next.js codebases we inherit are client-side React applications wearing a server framework. Everything is a client component, data is fetched in effects, and the app is slower than the SPA it replaced. Used properly, Next.js moves work to the server, caches it, and ships a fraction of the JavaScript.

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  • Server-first by default
  • Cached deliberately
  • Core Web Vitals budgeted

The App Router asks you to decide, per route, where rendering happens and how long a result stays valid. Those are two of the highest-leverage decisions in a web application, and they are usually made by accident.

What we do

We start at the boundary: what is genuinely interactive, and what is just markup that was rendered in the browser out of habit. Pushing that boundary down usually removes most of a bundle without changing a single pixel.

Then caching. Static where the data allows, incrementally revalidated where it changes on a schedule, and dynamic only where it must be — with tag-based invalidation so a CMS edit refreshes exactly the pages it affects and nothing else.

Typical outcomes

  • Large reductions in shipped JavaScript, with no loss of interactivity
  • Content updates that go live in seconds without a rebuild
  • Core Web Vitals that pass on real devices, not just on a laptop
Problems we solve

What this work is for

The situations teams are usually in when they bring us this problem.

  • Everything is a client component

    One `use client` at the top of the tree and the server framework is doing nothing for you. We redraw the boundary.

  • No caching strategy

    Every request hits the database because nobody decided otherwise. Caching is a design decision, not a default.

  • Poor Core Web Vitals

    Slow on the devices your customers actually use. We measure with field data and enforce budgets in CI.

Our approach

How the work runs

The same sequence on every engagement, so there are no surprises in week three.

  1. Measure

    Field data, bundle analysis, and a route-by-route render audit. We find out what is actually slow before touching anything.

  2. Redraw the boundary

    Server components by default, client components where interactivity earns them. This is where most of the win is.

  3. Cache deliberately

    A rendering and revalidation strategy per route, with tag-based invalidation wired to your content sources.

  4. Hold the line

    Performance budgets in the pipeline, so the regression that would have crept back in fails the build instead.

What's included

What you get

Concrete deliverables — all of it yours to keep, run, and hand to another team.

  • Render audit

    A route-by-route view of where rendering happens and what it costs.

  • Server-first refactor

    The component boundary redrawn, with the bundle savings measured.

  • Caching and revalidation

    Static, ISR and dynamic routes chosen deliberately, with tag invalidation.

  • Performance budgets

    Enforced in CI against real-device targets, so gains do not decay.

  • SEO foundation

    Metadata, structured data, sitemap and canonical handling done at the framework level.

Technology

What we build it with

Chosen for the problem, not for novelty.

We are not tied to any of these. If your team already runs something that works, we build with it.

Framework

The App Router's server components are the point of the framework — everything else follows from using them.

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Server Actions
Data

Typed data access at the server boundary, so a component cannot request something the API cannot give it.

  • Prisma
  • PostgreSQL
  • Zod
  • Fetch cache
Delivery

Edge caching and preview deploys, so every pull request is reviewable as a running site.

  • Vercel
  • Docker
  • GitHub Actions
  • Lighthouse CI
Questions

Before you get in touch

The questions that come up in almost every first conversation.

Can you fix an existing Next.js app?

That is most of this work. We audit the render and caching strategy, redraw the client boundary, and usually deliver a substantially faster application without a rewrite.

Pages Router or App Router?

New work goes on the App Router. Existing Pages Router applications can migrate route by route — the two coexist, so there is no need for a big-bang cutover.

Do we have to host on Vercel?

No. Vercel is the smoothest path, but we deploy Next.js in Docker on AWS and elsewhere regularly. We will tell you what you give up either way.

Tell us what you're building.

Bring the problem, not a spec. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right team and outline a concrete first step — no obligation, no sales theatre.

Book a Discovery Callsupport@ionicwebcreator.com