Why Companies Are Choosing Jamstack Websites

Why are companies talking about Jamstack? Is it just some hyped-up fad that developers are discussing amongst themselves? Or is it the new and upcoming technology that will simplify and speed up the whole development process? In fact, it’s neither. Jamstack is not a fad, and it’s not new; the term was coined back in 2015 by Mathias Biilmann, CEO of Netlify, and it has evolved and become popularized within the development community. Jamstack is technically not a stack but rather a framework with a set of principles that can create fast and high-performance sites that bring many benefits when put together. The stack refers to how these combined technologies enhance the end-user experience.

Jamstack stands for:

• J for JavaScript - The programming language used by web applications to support dynamic components and talk to APIs.
• A for APIs - Reusable APIs that handle all the server-side functions and database actions.
• M for Markup - A prebuilt frontend code that provides formatting information to browsers that can live directly on a globally distributed network.

As you can see, none of these are new concepts, and you would be hard-pressed to find someone in web development unfamiliar with these terms. So why all the buzz? Because Jamstack allows these existing and established technologies to work together to build fast, secure, and scalable websites that give developers more flexibility.

So, what is Jamstack?

Jamstack doesn’t require a backend server; instead, it uses third-party APIs and compliments serverless technologies. Jamstack decouples the backend applications and databases from the frontend user interface, which means that the frontend can be deployed directly to Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) all over the world. Because the files are already pre-rendered onto CDNs, it removes the numerous queries made on the database each time someone loads the site, which, unsurprisingly, speeds up the loading process.

What makes Jamstack unique from other frameworks is that it is both static and dynamic. Its architecture and use of modern tools allow developers to serve pre-rendered HTML content to a CDN and then make it dynamic through APIs and serverless functions.

Jamstack is both easy to use and engaging with your end-user. It allows developers to create stacks using only the necessary tools in their preferred environment while removing the bloated add-ons used in a pre-defined framework. When making changes or modifications, they don’t have to worry about potentially disrupting other website components, which is one of its significant advantages.

Why Companies Choose Jamstack

Building using a Jamstack approach allows companies to address and solve some of the common issues and problems they face, such as: 

• A slow website that affects conversion rates.
• A rigid platform that forces users to employ third party solutions, adding more weight to their system.
• Vulnerable to security breaches.
• High fees for hosting infrastructure.

The Jamstack approach holds numerous benefits in making a website engaging and flexible for both end-users and companies alike. Some of these benefits include:

Improved Speed Performance - By removing the backend architecture, sites no longer need to query the database each time someone loads it. This results in a high-speed website as the HTML is generated at build time and is served via CDNs.

Enhanced Security - Without needing to handle databases and traditional servers, no back-end maintenance is required, lowering the risk of code breaches. APIs handle all the dynamic functions, so that frontend developers can rely on these third-party vendors to address any security issues.

Greater Flexibility - By separating the frontend from the backend, developers have the flexibility to customize and use their preferred tools, allowing them to upgrade or remove any services without disrupting anything else in their stack.

Scalable - No one likes when their website goes down because of an overload. When it comes to scalability, it is difficult to beat a Jamstack architecture. Since the end-user accesses static HTML that is served via CDNs and not through databases and servers, it makes for a very stable architecture. There is always the possibility that a third-party API that drives dynamic features goes down; however, it won’t render your website unusable.

Good for SEO - Since Jamstack allows you to take complete control over your website structure and content, you can easily make your site SEO-friendly by optimizing page titles, alt text, meta descriptions, and much more. Jamstack’s high performance and lightning-fast loading speed are also a significant advantage for SEO since search engines rank loading speed as a core web vital.

So, is Jamstack the real deal? Absolutely. It’s not just a buzzword that will fade into obscurity, and big-name brands like Peloton and Louis Vuitton have all adopted the Jamstack approach for building their site.

But what’s most important about getting onboard with Jamstack architecture is its ability to speed and scale and the flexibility it offers developers in creating an out-of-the-box, powerful and modern architecture at a lower operating cost. Without investing huge amounts into your web projects, you can create a solid, scalable, and secure site without worrying about what is happening in the backend. Now that you know more about what Jamstack is and what it can do for your business, we encourage you to build your next web project the Jamstack way! Ask us more