What is Next.js Static Site Generation and How to Use it with Examples

Next.js is a powerful framework for building server-side rendered React applications. One of its key features is static site generation, which can significantly improve the performance and user experience of your website.

In this tutorial, we will cover what static site generation is and how to use it in Next.js. We’ll also provide step-by-step examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

What is Static Site Generation?

Static site generation is the process of generating a complete HTML, CSS, and JavaScript website at build time. This means that every page of your site is pre-rendered into static files, which can be served directly to the client without the need for a server to generate the page on the fly.

Static site generation has several benefits over traditional server-side rendering:

Faster page loads: Since all pages are pre-rendered at build time, there’s no need for the server to generate each page on the fly, which can significantly improve page load times.
Better SEO: Static sites are easier for search engines to crawl and index, which can improve your site’s search engine rankings.
Improved user experience: Static sites can provide a smoother and more seamless user experience, with faster page transitions and fewer loading screens.

Using Static Site Generation in Next.js

Next.js makes it easy to generate static sites using its next export command. Here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Set up a Next.js project

First, you’ll need to set up a Next.js project. You can do this by running the following commands:

npx create-next-app my-static-site
cd my-static-site

Step 2: Create some pages

Next, you’ll need to create some pages for your site. You can do this by creating files in the pages directory. For example, let’s create an index.js file with the following contents:

function HomePage() {
  return <h1>Welcome to my static site!</h1>;
}

export default HomePage;

You can create additional pages by adding more files to the pages directory. For example, let’s create a about.js file:

function AboutPage() {
  return <h1>About Us</h1>;
}

export default AboutPage;

Step 3: Generate the static site

Next, you can generate the static site by running the following command:

npm run build && npm run export

This will generate a set of static files in the out directory, which you can deploy to any static hosting provider, such as Netlify or Vercel.

Step 4: Serve the static site

Finally, you can serve the static site by running the following command:

npx serve out

This will start a server that serves the static files in the out directory. You can now view your static site by navigating to http://localhost:5000.

Conclusion

Static site generation is a powerful feature of Next.js that can greatly improve the performance and user experience of your website. By pre-rendering every page at build time, you can create a faster, smoother, and more SEO-friendly site.

In this tutorial, we covered the basics of static site generation in Next.js, and provided step-by-step examples to help you