React Developer vs. Next.js Developer: What Actually Changes in Production
React developer vs. Next.js developer explained through production concerns: rendering, routing, caching, SEO, deployment, CMS data, and debugging.
Articles
Next.js, page 2 of 4
Next.js is an open‑source React framework created by Vercel. It is used to build fast, scalable websites and web applications, combining React with routing, data fetching, API routes, automatic code splitting, TypeScript support, server‑side rendering (SSR), and static site generation (SSG).
Below you will find a subset of articles from my blog specifically about Next.js as well as Next.js platform consulting. This is an area I have worked with for many years, and it has been a regular subject in my writing. There are fifty‑six articles collected together for you below.
React Developer vs. Next.js Developer: What Actually Changes in Production. 
Next.js Site Broke After Deploy: A Production Triage Checklist. Next.js Site Broke After Deploy: A Production Triage Checklist
A Next.js production triage checklist for broken deploys, covering rollback decisions, logs, environment drift, routes, auth, CMS data, and cache.
Next.js Proxy Replaces Middleware: What Changes in Practice. Next.js Proxy Replaces Middleware: What Changes in Practice
Next.js Proxy replaces Middleware in v16. See what changed, how to migrate to proxy.ts, and when request‑time interception still belongs in production.
CMS Content Not Updating in Next.js. CMS Content Not Updating in Next.js
A production runbook for stale CMS content in Next.js, covering webhooks, route dependencies, ISR, cache boundaries, preview and editor trust.
Handling API Routes in Next.js: When to Use Server Actions vs. API Routes. Handling API Routes in Next.js: When to Use Server Actions vs. API Routes
Next.js gives us two ways to handle back‑end logic: API Routes and Server Actions. Here, I clearly explain when to choose each approach for the best results.
Technical SEO Launch Criteria for a Next.js Migration. Technical SEO Launch Criteria for a Next.js Migration
Technical SEO launch criteria for Next.js migrations, covering URLs, redirects, canonicals, metadata, rendered HTML, schema, sitemaps, and recovery.
Caching Strategies in React. Caching Strategies in React
React performance work is often about avoiding repeated effort. This guide looks at memoisation, browser caching, and smarter data‑fetching choices.
Traffic Dropped After a WordPress to Next.js Migration: What to Check First. Traffic Dropped After a WordPress to Next.js Migration: What to Check First
How to diagnose traffic loss after a WordPress to Next.js migration by checking redirects, rendered HTML, metadata, canonicals and tracking noise.
WordPress to Next.js Migration Checklist for Content, Preview and SEO. WordPress to Next.js Migration Checklist for Content, Preview and SEO
A WordPress to Next.js migration checklist for URLs, content models, media, preview, redirects, metadata, schema, sitemaps, SEO, and launch checks.
Next.js Sitemap, Robots and Crawlability Debugging Checklist. Next.js Sitemap, Robots and Crawlability Debugging Checklist
A Next.js crawlability checklist for debugging sitemaps, robots.txt, canonicals, route generation, redirects, staging leaks, missing pages, and indexation.
React SPA to Next.js Migration Checklist for SEO and Indexing. React SPA to Next.js Migration Checklist for SEO and Indexing
A React SPA to Next.js SEO migration checklist for preserving indexing, redirects, metadata, rendered HTML, internal links, crawl paths, and launch confidence.
Why Next.js Middleware Might Be Unavailable with Pages Router. Why Next.js Middleware Might Be Unavailable with Pages Router
Optimising Next.js Performance with Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR). Optimising Next.js Performance with Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)
How ISR improves Next.js performance by mixing static speed with controlled freshness, and where it fits best over fully dynamic rendering for changing content.
Building a Headless CMS‑Powered Site with Next.js. Building a Headless CMS‑Powered Site with Next.js
Build a headless CMS‑powered Next.js site with content modelling, fetch layers, mapped front‑end shapes, preview, rendering choices, and scale cleanly.
Building Multi‑Tenant Applications with Next.js. Building Multi‑Tenant Applications with Next.js
Multi‑tenant applications serve multiple customers from a single codebase. Here, I walk through building a scalable multi‑tenant web application using Next.js.
From Netlify Deploys to Vercel Pipelines. From Netlify Deploys to Vercel Pipelines
How deployment expectations moved from simple Netlify static deploys towards Vercel pipelines, previews, framework builds, observability, and rollback.
Redirect a Default Vercel Subdomain to Your Custom Domain. Redirect a Default Vercel Subdomain to Your Custom Domain
When you set up a custom domain in Vercel, the default `vercel.app` subdomain still serves your site, which can lead to duplicate content. Here's how to fix it.
Using Middleware in Next.js for Route Protection. Using Middleware in Next.js for Route Protection
Middleware in Next.js provides a straightforward way to protect routes and manage user authentication. Here, I show how to implement effective route protection.