In today’s web-driven world, speed isn’t just a metric — it’s a competitive advantage. Whether you're building a personal blog, a portfolio site, or a SaaS product, web performance directly influences user engagement, SEO rankings, and conversion rates.
If you're using Next.js, you already have a solid foundation. But to truly maximize performance, you'll need to apply specific techniques, especially when building scalable, high-impact applications.
In this article, we'll explore actionable strategies to improve web performance in Next.js projects — including real examples from both personal and SaaS use cases.
next/imageThe next/image component is a performance powerhouse, automatically handling:
import Image from 'next/image';
<Image
src="/hero.jpg"
alt="Hero Banner"
width={1200}
height={600}
priority
/>
SaaS Example:
In a form builder SaaS (like PollPe Forms), replacing standard <img> tags with next/image improved First Contentful Paint (FCP) by over 15%, especially on mobile devices.
Large JavaScript bundles increase load time. Use @next/bundle-analyzer to identify oversized dependencies.
npm install @next/bundle-analyzer
Add to next.config.js:
const withBundleAnalyzer = require('@next/bundle-analyzer')({
enabled: process.env.ANALYZE === 'true',
});
module.exports = withBundleAnalyzer({});
Run it:
ANALYZE=true npm run build
Then apply code splitting via dynamic imports:
const Chart = dynamic(() => import('../components/Chart'), {
ssr: false,
loading: () => <Loading />,
});
SaaS Example:
In dashboards of analytics-based SaaS apps, lazy-loading heavy chart libraries (like Chart.js or Recharts) reduced initial bundle size by 40–60%.
Next.js supports purging unused styles, especially when using Tailwind CSS.
In tailwind.config.js:
content: [
'./pages/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}',
'./components/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}',
],
Real Use Case:
On a SaaS marketing site built with Tailwind, this reduced the CSS file from 720KB to 52KB, significantly improving Time to Interactive (TTI).
SaaS products often have content that updates frequently but doesn’t need SSR every time. Use ISR for hybrid performance:
export async function getStaticProps() {
return {
props: {
data: yourData,
},
revalidate: 60, // Revalidate every 60 seconds
};
}
Example:
User case studies, public changelogs, or pricing pages can all benefit from ISR for better cache control and faster delivery.
Whether you’re using Vercel, Fly.io, or Cloudflare, deploying to the edge improves latency for global users.
Real Example:
After deploying a blog + Ghost CMS stack to Fly.io (Singapore region), users in India saw TTFB reduce from 850ms to 220ms.
SaaS dashboards especially benefit from this when user base is global.
Use self-hosted fonts or Google Fonts with font-display: swap to avoid blocking rendering:
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@400;700&display=swap');
Next.js 13+ also supports improved font optimization with the next/font module.
Use these tools:
Add this to _app.js for vitals reporting:
export function reportWebVitals(metric) {
console.log(metric);
}
Especially for SaaS products:
If using Next.js API routes, ensure you're caching efficiently:
res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 's-maxage=60, stale-while-revalidate');
Improving performance in Next.js projects is not just about passing Lighthouse scores — it's about delivering a smoother, more engaging experience for your users and customers.
If you're building a SaaS product, these strategies become even more critical. Fast-loading pages increase trial signups, reduce churn, and give your product a polished, premium feel.
💡 Pro Tip: Use a performance budget per page or module, and review it with each sprint.
Have your own optimization tricks? Let’s discuss on Twitter/X or LinkedIn — or drop a link to your performance-optimized project!