PROJECT DETAILS
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, delivering content swiftly and efficiently is crucial for online news platforms. To meet this need, I developed bilintihaber.com, a server-side rendered (SSR) news website built with Next.js. This approach ensures optimal SEO performance, rapid initial page loads, and a seamless user experience across devices. In this article, I'll discuss the development process, the technologies employed, and the architectural decisions made. Technology Stack and Architecture The platform was designed using a modern and scalable technology stack suitable for content-intensive applications: Next.js: Provides server-side rendering and dynamic routing capabilities for enhanced SEO performance and faster content delivery. Node.js: Powers backend services, managing requests and controlling server logic. Express.js: Serves as the primary HTTP server, routing API calls and delivering the frontend application. MongoDB: Stores dynamic content such as news articles, categories, authors, and user data with a flexible schema structure. Key Features and Functionality Server-Side Rendering (SSR) Ensures fast page loading times and improves SEO by delivering fully rendered HTML to search engines and users. Enhances content visibility and ranking in search engines through dynamic meta tags and structured data integration. Content Management and API Design Articles and categories are dynamically fetched via Express-based APIs and rendered server-side using Next.js data fetching methods. Administrative users can create and manage content directly through a secure backend interface integrated with MongoDB. Challenges and Solutions SEO Optimization: Dynamic '<meta>' generation and Open Graph tags were implemented for better discoverability on search and social platforms. Data Fetching Strategy: Hybrid rendering methods such as 'getServerSideProps' and 'getStaticProps' were applied based on page type and update frequency. Database Configuration: A flexible MongoDB schema was designed to handle rich content types, multimedia attachments, and editorial metadata. Conclusion Building bilintihaber.com was a rewarding experience that combined performance-oriented frontend applications with a reliable backend. The SSR architecture significantly improved SEO, making the site more competitive in organic search results.