React and the Benefits to Building your Website within React Framework

Before 2015, developers used to use build websites with scripting and rendering. HTML, CSS, and PHP were popular back then but limited in functionality, optimization, speed, and versatility. After a while, Javascript took over, and many developers started using it to build client-side Single Page Apps (SPAs). Developers started building websites without using PHP or bothering with servers. But the Javascript frameworks and libraries back then were still limited because they were not so fast. Until a social media software engineer had the vision for a better framework, later to be known as React.

In 2015, Jordan Walke, a former software engineer at Facebook, took the initiative to create a Javascript framework. His end goal was to make the development of user interfaces (UI) easier. The Javascript framework is known as React. Now, developers can build dynamic websites using Virtual DOM and server-side rendering (SSR) and building SPAs. These concepts make the development process significantly faster than before. React allows developers to use SSR only when necessary, allowing client-side rendering and SPA navigation.

How React is Better for Your Website

React is one of the favorite options among developers for the right reasons. Facebook and Netflix are some of the big tech companies that use React. React helps them build fast and is generally easier for developers. But React is not only beneficial to developers, it is also beneficial to business owners. We will highlight some of the benefits of using React to build your website.

React Can Boost SEO

Benefits of React include fast rendering of UI which increases loading speed, and the reduced disruption of UI components. Another important benefit of React worth mentioning is that it also improves SEO directly.

Regular client-side rendering and SPA navigation that comes with other JavaScript libraries are not fully supported by the Google algorithm. A web UI that renders only on the client-side cannot serve HTML to search engine crawlers. Something like this affects SEO adversely. There was an update a few years ago that allows GoogleBot to index client-side rendered pages by using JavaScript. However it is not a reliable approach.

On the other hand, React can use SSR, which makes it easier for web crawlers. As a result, React is better for SEO.

React Supports Custom Components

One of the ways a business can stand out from the competition is its uniqueness in the industry. In the eCommerce industry, your website should stand out from the rest, and it should have its unique touch that will be known as part of your brand. To create a unique website with a custom UI, your website needs custom components with distinct behavior and appearance. Standard components don’t make that possible.

Most of the frameworks available to build a website do not support custom components fully. Not to mention that it can be hard to build custom components that work well on browsers. React makes it easy for developers to create new web UI from scratch with the help of a React extension called JSX. JSX is compatible with all browsers and supports HTML, and this gives developers the freedom to build custom components that can make websites stand out in the competition.

Fast Rendering thanks to React

Before React became an option for developers, websites used to have challenges such as prolonged lag time and a poor display of website resources, especially for dynamic and complex websites. All this UI/UX pain was a result of the HTML’s Document Object Model (DOM) rendering, which allows website components to interact according to their hierarchical structure. One element update will cause the browser to update all the website UI components. Users used to have to wait for a long refresh of websites’ UI after every click. This was a pain nobody needed.

React uses a virtual DOM instead of the HTML DOM. React’s virtual DOM makes updating more seamless because only the updated elements on the website refresh without affecting the other components or elements on the website. As a result, users will keep enjoying their time using the website even though a particular element has been updated. This just makes users’ interaction with the website more enjoyable without the frustration of waiting for all the components on the website to reload every time an element is updated.

Better Code Stability

Many JavaScript-based view models have bi-directional data flow, which creates a cohesive code structure of sort such that if the developer changes something in the child element, it can affect the parent element. As a result, other child elements from the same parent element can be affected as well. This can lead to a disruption in the UI components of your website, which will make the user experience challenging until the developer fixes the bug.

React uses a single direction data flow system from parent to child, such that if the developer changes something in the child element, it doesn’t affect the parent element. The parent element will still have its default properties, and no other child element will be affected.

Rich User Interface

One of the reasons why React is popular among developers is because it enables them to build rich and complex UI from scratch. React is also flexible and allows developers to build rich UI whether it’s a web app, virtual reality app, website, or mobile app. Being able to build a rich user interface is useless if it doesn’t render seamlessly when users engage it. UI has to be responsive at all times, and this is what React offers, a full experience for the developer and users interacting with the UI.

React rendering is almost automated, hence, developers can build leaner and neater codes without bothering about code debugging since React codes will not be complicated. As a result, React will allow you to create an impressive, unique, complex, and creative web UI that will run smoothly.

Conclusion

React is arguably the best option for building rich frontend UI because it is efficient, fast, simple, and clean, especially if you have a dynamic UI with interactive elements. It allows you to release updates quicker. React is very flexible, so if you’re wondering if you can use React to build your product or project, the answer is most likely yes. Here are some examples of what you can build with React:

• eCommerce websites
• Company websites
• Job boards
• Memberships websites
• Nonprofit websites
• Wikis
• Q&A websites, for example, Quora
• Portfolios
• Blogs
• Galleries
• Dashboards
• Forums
• Mediacentric websites, for example, YouTube
• eLearning Modules
• Directories
• Coupon Websites
• Social networks, for example, Facebook
• Cross-platform mobile apps