Next.js development and migration

Next.js development and migration is building fast, indexable front ends with the Next.js App Router, and moving existing ones onto it: single-page React apps, sites on the Pages Router or an old major version, and server-rendered PHP templates. Existing URLs keep working through one-hop redirects, and your current backend stays where it is. It is for teams whose pages are invisible to search engines and AI crawlers, or slow on phones.

This site is the worked example: Next.js, rendered to static pages, with Lighthouse and bundle budgets checked on every build.

An inventory comes first: every URL, template and data source, and what ranks and converts today, from Search Console and your analytics. From that I write a route map, the rendering choice for each page type (static, server-rendered on request, or client-side where interaction needs it) and the redirect map. The fixed quote follows the inventory.

Migrations run in slices, one page type at a time on the same domain. The App Router and the older pages directory can run side by side in one app, so routes move over a group at a time instead of in one risky release.

Each page gets its metadata, canonical URL, structured data and share image. The redirect map is tested in CI against the full list of old URLs, so a missing redirect fails the build instead of losing traffic. Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse budgets run in CI too, and before-and-after measurements of speed and indexing are part of the handover.

The reason for server rendering is practical. Google's own guidance is that server-side or pre-rendering is still a good idea because it is faster for users and crawlers and not all bots can run JavaScript; many AI crawlers read only the HTML they're sent.

It is not native mobile apps, and it is not the right choice for a site a hosted website builder already serves well. It is also not a backend rewrite: the new front end talks to your existing Laravel, Node.js or Python API.