SSR, SSG and ISR

Three ways of producing a web page: server-side rendering builds it per request, static site generation builds it once at deploy time, and incremental static regeneration serves a static page but rebuilds it periodically in the background.

Static is fastest and cheapest — the page is a file, servable from a CDN edge close to the visitor, and it cannot be slowed by a database. It suits anything that doesn't change per visitor: marketing pages, blog posts, service and location pages.

Server rendering is for content that genuinely differs per request — a logged-in dashboard, a personalised feed. It costs a server round trip on every view.

ISR is the pragmatic middle: static speed with content that refreshes on a schedule. It suits catalogues and blogs where minutes-old content is fine.

Why it matters

The choice sets both speed and hosting cost. A brochure site rendered per request is paying server cost for zero benefit — a common finding when a slow site is audited.

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Related terms

Time to First Byte (TTFB)TTFB measures how long from requesting a page until the first byte of response arrives. It captures server processing, database queries and network di…CDN (Content Delivery Network)A CDN is a network of servers distributed worldwide that cache copies of a site's files and serve each visitor from the location nearest them, cutting…Headless CMSA headless CMS stores and edits content but doesn't render the website. Content is delivered over an API to whatever front end you build, so the same …

More in Web & Performance

Core Web VitalsLargest Contentful Paint (LCP)Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)Time to First Byte (TTFB)CDN (Content Delivery Network)Headless CMSProgressive EnhancementWeb ApplicationTechnical Debt

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