Understanding Server-Side Rendering (SSR) & Static Site Generation (SSG)

In modern web development, delivering fast, SEO-friendly, and dynamic content is crucial. Two popular approaches—Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG)—play a key role in improving web performance and user experience. Understanding their differences, benefits, and use-cases can help developers choose the right approach for their projects.

What is Server-Side Rendering (SSR)?

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is a technique where a web page is generated on the server for each request. When a user visits a website, the server builds the HTML on-the-fly and sends it to the client browser. This ensures that the page content is immediately visible to both users and search engines.

Key Features of SSR:

• Pages are rendered dynamically on the server.

• Ideal for frequently updated content, such as news sites, dashboards, or e-commerce platforms.

• Improves SEO, as search engines can crawl fully rendered HTML.

• Can slightly increase server load since pages are generated per request.

Popular Frameworks Supporting SSR:
Next.js, Nuxt.js, Angular Universal, Express.js with templating engines.

hat is Static Site Generation (SSG)?

Static Site Generation (SSG) is a technique where HTML pages are pre-rendered at build time. Instead of generating pages on each request, SSG generates all the pages ahead of time and stores them as static files, ready to be served quickly to users.

Key Features of SSG:

• Pages are rendered once during the build process and served as static files.

• Extremely fast page load times and better performance.

• Ideal for blogs, documentation sites, and marketing websites.

• Limited support for real-time dynamic content unless combined with client-side rendering or APIs.

Popular Frameworks Supporting SSG:
Gatsby, Next.js (static export), Hugo, Jekyll, Nuxt.js (static mode).

Benefits of SSR & SSG

• SSR:

  • Provides up-to-date content for every user request.

  • Improves SEO for dynamic pages.

  • Enhances user experience for content-rich, frequently updated sites.

• SSG:

  • Delivers lightning-fast performance with static files.

  • Reduces server costs and load.

  • Perfect for sites with content that doesn’t change often.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can SSR and SSG be combined?
Yes! Modern frameworks like Next.js allow hybrid rendering. You can pre-render most pages with SSG and use SSR for pages that require real-time data.

2. Which is better for SEO, SSR or SSG?
Both are SEO-friendly. SSR ensures fresh data for dynamic pages, while SSG provides pre-rendered HTML for faster crawling.

3. Does SSR increase server costs?
Potentially, yes. SSR generates pages on-demand, which can increase server processing compared to static files.

4. Can SSG handle dynamic content?
SSG can handle dynamic content using client-side JavaScript or by fetching data from APIs during runtime, but it won’t be as seamless as SSR.

5. Which approach should I choose for my blog?
For a blog with mostly static content, SSG is ideal. If your blog has frequently changing data (like live stock prices or user dashboards), SSR might be better.

6. How do frameworks like Next.js support both SSR and SSG?
Next.js allows developers to choose per-page rendering. You can define getStaticProps for static pages and getServerSideProps for dynamic pages.