Improving Web Performance in Next.js Projects (Real Examples)

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.

🚀 1. Optimize Images with next/image

The next/image component is a performance powerhouse, automatically handling:

• Responsive image sizes
• Lazy loading
• WebP format conversion
• Priority loading for above-the-fold visuals

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.

📦 2. Analyze & Split Bundles Smartly

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%.

🧹 3. Remove Unused CSS (Tailwind or Other)

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).

🧠 4. Use Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)

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.

🌍 5. Deploy on Edge with CDN & Global Hosting

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.

⚙️ 6. Optimize Fonts & Reduce Layout Shift

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.

📈 7. Track and Benchmark Continuously

Use these tools:

• Lighthouse: For audits and scoring
• Vercel Analytics: Track Core Web Vitals in real-time
• Sentry or LogRocket: Monitor performance issues in production

Add this to _app.js for vitals reporting:

export function reportWebVitals(metric) {
  console.log(metric);
}

🔐 8. Keep API & Server Responses Lean

Especially for SaaS products:

• Optimize API response payloads (avoid overfetching)
• Use pagination and filters effectively
• Compress responses (GZIP/Brotli)

If using Next.js API routes, ensure you're caching efficiently:

res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 's-maxage=60, stale-while-revalidate');

✅ Final Thoughts

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!