The technology behind the site matters
Most business owners do not care what their website is built with, and they should not have to. What they care about is whether it loads fast, ranks on Google, looks good, is easy to update, and keeps working as the business grows. But the technology behind a website has a big effect on all of those things.
That is why most of our websites are custom coded with Next.js. Here is what it is, in plain terms, and why it is a good fit for many business websites.
What Next.js is, in plain terms
Next.js is a framework for building websites and web applications using React, one of the most widely used tools for building interfaces on the web. It handles a lot of the hard technical work that makes websites fast and search-friendly, such as preparing pages in advance so they appear almost instantly, loading only what each page needs, and optimising images automatically.
It is open source, widely used by companies of every size, and supported by a large community of developers, which means it is well maintained and not tied to a single agency.
The advantages for a business website
Speed. Next.js can prepare pages ahead of time and serve them very quickly, and it loads only what each page needs. Fast pages keep visitors on your site and help with search rankings. We explain why speed matters so much in why your website is slow.
Search visibility. Because pages are delivered as complete HTML, search engines and AI assistants can read them easily. Titles, descriptions, structured data, and sitemaps can be handled cleanly for every page.
Design freedom. With custom code, the design is not limited by a theme or template. Your website can look and behave exactly the way your brand needs.
Grows with you. A Next.js site can start as a simple marketing website and later grow into something more, such as a customer portal, a booking system, or a web app, without starting from scratch. Our guide on whether you need a website or a web app explores this.
Security. Without the dozens of plugins common on some platforms, there are fewer moving parts to keep patched, which reduces common security risks.
Easy content editing. Next.js sites can be connected to a content management system, so your team can update text, images, and pages without touching code. We explain how in what a headless CMS changes.
When a builder is the better choice
Next.js is not the right answer for every project. When a visual editor matters most and your team wants to change layouts themselves, Webflow or Framer can be a better fit. When you are mainly selling products and need a reliable commerce platform, Shopify often makes more sense. The right choice depends on what your team needs to manage after launch. Our guide on how to choose a CMS can help you think it through.
What this means for you as a client
You do not need to understand any of the technology. What you should notice is a website that loads quickly on phones, shows up properly in search, looks distinctive, and is easy for your team to update. You should also own everything: the code, the domain, and the hosting accounts, set up in your name.
Websites at Outlier Labs
At Outlier Labs, most of our websites are custom coded, using Next.js, TypeScript, the MERN stack, and whatever else suits the project. When a visual editor or commerce features matter more, we build on Framer, Webflow, or Shopify instead. We recommend what fits based on what your team needs after launch, not what is easiest for us.
If you are planning a new website, tell us what you need and we will recommend the right approach.
