Next.js, Strapi Portfolio Starter

Overview

Next.js, Strapi Portfolio is a modern, high-performance starter template for developers, freelancers, and agencies to showcase their skills, projects, and achievements. By leveraging Next.js for the frontend and Strapi CMS for content management, this project delivers a seamless, statically generated website with optimal performance and SEO capabilities. This approach sets it apart from traditional portfolio templates by offering a flexible and maintainable platform for professional online presence.

Many portfolio websites struggle with poor performance and inadequate SEO optimization, leading to suboptimal user experience and reduced visibility in search results. Next.js, Strapi Portfolio addresses these challenges by implementing a Static Site Generation (SSG) architecture coupled with a powerful headless CMS. This approach solves common problems like slow page loads and poor search engine rankings. The result is a lightning-fast, easily manageable portfolio site that achieves outstanding PageSpeed scores across both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring maximum visibility and engagement for professionals showcasing their work online.

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Key features

Core functionality

• Quick setup with optional demo
• Comprehensive home page with sections for hero, about, skills/services, experience, projects, testimonials, blog posts, FAQs, and call-to-action
• Projects page: View all published projects with dynamic sorting
• Detailed project pages: Includes in-depth info, SEO metadata, and syntax highlighting for code
• Blog page: Displays posts in reverse chronological order
• Detailed post pages: Includes rich content, SEO metadata, and syntax highlighting for code
• Contact page: Secure form with spam protection
• Privacy page: Displays policy information

Performance & optimization

• Static site generation (SSG) for faster loading
• Image optimization
• CSS inlining for quicker rendering

SEO & accessibility

• Semantic HTML structure for better accessibility
• Automated XML sitemap generation
• Canonical tags for all pages
• JSON-LD schemas for improved search engine understanding
• OpenGraph metadata for better social media sharing

Security & spam protection

• Strong spam protection measures
• Email and phone obfuscation techniques
• Rate limiting middleware for security
• API validation using Zod

Developer experience

• Centralized API logic for easy maintenance
• Reusable component library
• Tailwind CSS integration for seamless styling

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Visuals

PageSpeed Insights mobile results

Outstanding PageSpeed Insights scores on mobile: 98/100/100/100 for Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. Captured on May 8, 2025.

Contact form

Secure contact form with validation and spam protection, integrated with backend lead management.

Project details

Detailed view of a single project. The sidebar features direct links to the live project, source code, and design file for quick access. It also showcases the full scope of work and toolset as clouds.

Projects listing

Two-column projects grid. Display order is managed in the backend using a numeric "Order" field. The "Is Featured" field controls inclusion in the homepage carousel.

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Conclusion

Developing the Next.js, Strapi Portfolio starter has deepened my understanding of modern web development practices. I've gained valuable insights into:

• Static site generation (SSG) architecture
• Headless CMS integration using Strapi
• Optimizing websites for performance and SEO

This project has reinforced the importance of creating accessible, fast-loading, and easily maintainable websites that cater to both developers and end-users. Additionally, I expanded my knowledge in areas like Next.js 15 features (e.g., server components), Tailwind CSS integration for styling efficiency, and JSON-LD implementation to enhance search engine visibility.

Interested in learning more about my work? Explore other projects or connect with me on LinkedIn. Let’s discuss how my skills can contribute to your team!