Modern Web Performance: Beyond the Basics

Performance is a Feature

In an age of instant gratification, performance isn't just a technical metric—it's a competitive advantage. Studies consistently show that faster websites have higher conversion rates, better SEO rankings, and improved user satisfaction.

Core Web Vitals

Google's Core Web Vitals have made performance a ranking factor. Focus on these three metrics:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — How quickly the main content loads

First Input Delay (FID) — How responsive the page is to user interaction

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — How stable the page layout is

Server-Side Rendering Strategies

Modern frameworks offer multiple rendering strategies:

Static Site Generation (SSG)

Pre-render pages at build time for maximum performance. Ideal for content that doesn't change frequently.

Server-Side Rendering (SSR)

Render pages on-demand for dynamic content. Use streaming SSR to start sending HTML before the entire page is ready.

Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)

The best of both worlds—static pages that can be updated without a full rebuild.

Edge Computing

Move computation closer to your users:

Deploy serverless functions at edge locations

Use edge caching for API responses

Implement edge-side includes for personalized content

JavaScript Optimization

JavaScript is often the biggest performance bottleneck:

Code Splitting — Only load the JavaScript needed for each page

Tree Shaking — Remove unused code from your bundles

Lazy Loading — Defer loading of non-critical components

Web Workers — Move heavy computation off the main thread

Asset Optimization

Use modern image formats (WebP, AVIF)

Implement responsive images with srcset

Preload critical assets

Use font-display: swap for web fonts

Measuring Performance

Use these tools to measure and monitor performance:

Lighthouse for automated audits

Web Vitals library for real user metrics

Performance API for custom measurements