Why I Use Next.js for Every Small Business Website

Most Okanagan businesses that come to me are running WordPress sites — slow, bloated with plugins, and costing $20-50/month for hosting that still delivers mediocre performance.

I build everything with Next.js, and here's why it matters for your business:

Speed matters more than you think. Google ranks faster sites higher. A Next.js site on Vercel loads in under 1 second. Your WordPress site with 15 plugins? Probably 3-5 seconds. That's the difference between page 1 and page 3.

Free hosting on Vercel. Most small business sites fit comfortably in Vercel's free tier. That's $0/month instead of $20-50 for WordPress hosting. Over 3 years, that's $720-$1,800 saved.

No plugin hell. WordPress sites break when plugins conflict, get hacked through outdated plugins, and slow down with every addition. A Next.js site has no plugins — everything is custom code that does exactly what you need and nothing more.

Better SEO out of the box. Next.js generates static HTML at build time, which search engines love. Combined with proper metadata and structured data (which I include on every site), you're set up for success.

The tradeoff? You need a developer for changes. But if your site doesn't change often — and most small business sites don't — this is a non-issue. And when you do need a change, I charge $100/hr instead of the $50/month you'd pay for a WordPress maintenance plan that doesn't actually do anything.

For Okanagan businesses, the math is simple: pay once for a fast, secure, modern site, or keep paying monthly for something that needs constant maintenance.