Server-side rendering (SSR) has become an increasingly popular technique in web development. It helps improve your website's performance, ensures better user experiences, and provides significant advantages in terms of better SEO outcomes that result in higher visibility for your website and your overall business.

However, successfully implementing server-side rendering requires in-depth knowledge of relevant frameworks and tools. In this blog post, we will dive into Next.js and Sitecore XM Cloud to provide a comprehensive overview of all the associated benefits of server-side rendering.

Understanding NextJS and Sitecore XM Cloud

NextJS is an open-source JavaScript framework used to build server-side rendered applications. It uses React and NodeJS, making it an ideal fit for server-side rendering. It provides several features that are out of the box, including dynamic routing, serverless deployment, and SEO optimization.

On the other hand, Sitecore XM Cloud is a cloud-based Content Management System (CMS), that affords several benefits, including enhanced scalability, flexibility, and higher reliability. Sitecore XM Cloud also enables users to implement personalized content and interactions that can enhance user experiences.

Benefits of Server-side Rendering

Server-side rendering has become a prevalent technique in the world of web development because of its many benefits, including:

1. Improved Performance and Faster Loading Times

Server-side rendering has proven to be an effective way to improve your website's performance by reducing the time it takes to load pages. With client-side rendering, all JavaScript is executed in the browser, which can lead to longer loading times. However, with SSR, the server renders the initial HTML, which means that the user can see the page faster, thereby ensuring a marked improvement in the website's overall performance.

2. Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Outcomes

Search engines rely on HTML content to crawl and index your website's pages. With client-side rendering, search engines have a harder time crawling your website because they need to wait for all the JavaScript to load before rendering the content. However, with SSR, the initial HTML is presented to search engine crawlers, which means your website's content is easier to index, and your website receives better SEO benefits.

3. Enhanced User Experience and Interactivity

With the implementation of Server-side rendering, users can expect their websites to be interactive and engaging. User interactivity improves because the initial HTML loads faster signaling that users can interact with your site sooner. SSR also enables personalization and the creation of dynamic content so that relevant content may be shown to each user based on their preferences and interactions, thereby leading to enhanced user experiences.

4. Integrating NextJS with Sitecore XM Cloud

NextJs is known for its ease of integration with various backends and APIs, and the same is true for Sitecore XM Cloud. Sitecore XM Cloud provides a RESTful API, allowing developers to retrieve and deliver personalized content by identifying user contexts and retrieving relevant product recommendations.

Setting up and configuring SSR takes a bit of work. However, NextJs provides a straightforward configuration file that automates many of the steps.

First, you will need to set up your NextJs project using NodeJs and npm. Next, install the required dependencies using npm. These dependencies may include NextJs, React, and others that you require for your project.

Finally, configure your NextJs project to be server-side renderable and integrate it with Sitecore XM Cloud. This integration will involve connecting to Sitecore XM Cloud's API and, if required, building custom API extensions.

Deep Dive into Server-side Rendering Implementation with Next.JS

Now that we have an overview of NextJs and the Sitecore XM Cloud architecture, let us take a closer look into server-side rendering with NextJs. When using NextJs, server-side data fetching happens at build time rather than runtime. This means that the server fetches the data for each webpage at build time and the resulting HTML files are stored for each page. When a user accesses a specific page, the pre-built HTML file is served from the server, which provides a faster response time.

One way of using SSR in NextJs is by utilizing the 'getStaticProps' function. This function is used to pre-build each page's required data at build time. At build time, this data is passed to each page as a JSON object. When the page is accessed by a user, the pre-built JSON object is used to render the page's HTML and provides faster page loading times.

Some Real-world Practical Applications

Implementing Server-side Rendering with NextJS and Sitecore XM Cloud has quite a bit of real-world relevance and application for enhancing user experience, performance, and SEO. Here are a few examples:

• E-Commerce Websites: For e-commerce websites, personalized product recommendations are an effective way to promote sales. With server-side rendering, relevant products can be fetched from the Sitecore XM Cloud API and rendered directly on the page, leading to a better user experience. Additionally, with the faster load times, users are more likely to stay and browse your product offerings.


• News and Content Sites: For content publishers, such as online newspapers, showing the latest stories and personalized content to users is crucial. With server-side rendering using NextJS, personalized content can be dynamically loaded onto the page, resulting in a more engaging and interactive experience for users.


• Travel and Tourism Websites: For travel and tourism sites, integrating maps, reviews, and other real-time information can be complicated. However, with server-side rendering using Next.js, these features can be easily integrated into your website to enable a faster and more engaging user experience.

Best Practices and Tips for Implementing Server-side Rendering with NextJS and Sitecore XM Cloud

When it comes to implementing SSR with NextJS and various Sitecore XM Cloud components, there are several best practices and tips to bear in mind:

• Make sure to optimize the server-side rendering performance by caching data on the server, using a CDN, and optimizing image delivery.


• Handle dynamic content and personalized experiences using Sitecore XM Cloud's API and by building custom extensions.


• Make sure to use dynamic routing to generate localized URLs for every different language version of your website. This allows users to switch between languages while keeping the URL structure consistent and search engine friendly.


• Always ensure that proper ‘hreflang’ tags and language-specific meta tags are used for multilingual websites.

Conclusion

Server-side rendering is an effective way to improve your website performance, its SEO outcomes for improved visibility, and overall interactivity and user experiences. With NextJs and Sitecore XM Cloud, implementing SSR has become a much easier and faster process thereby affording the creation of faster and more engaging digital applications that provide optimized user experiences and drive better business results.

If you are curious or wish to implement server-side rendering using NextJS for your Sitecore XM Cloud website, then reach out to us for complete implementation assistance. Our team of Sitecore experts and MVPs spread across the globe, can help you tailor your digital transformation journey to suit the specific needs and desired outcomes for your business.