React JS and Next JS developer
React is the tool I have spent the most time in, and Next.js is what I reach for when those components have to be found by Google as well as used by people. Built with TypeScript where it earns its keep, styled with Tailwind or CSS Modules, and measured against Core Web Vitals rather than a designer's screenshot.
React work that survives its second year
Most React projects do not fail at launch. They fail six months in, when a small change means touching nine files and nobody remembers why the state lives where it does. What keeps that from happening:
- Components with one job. A card renders a card. It does not also fetch, sort and decide what a card is.
- State kept close to where it is used. Global stores are for things that are genuinely global, not for whatever was inconvenient to pass down.
- Loading, empty and error states built with the happy path, so they exist before a client discovers they do not.
- TypeScript where the data is complex. Not as ceremony, but as the thing that catches the rename you forgot about.
- Accessibility in the markup: real buttons, real headings, keyboard focus that goes where you expect.
Next.js when the pages have to rank
A standard React app sends the browser an empty page and builds it with JavaScript. That costs you on the first paint and on anything that reads your HTML: search engines, link previews, screen readers.
Next.js renders the HTML on the server first, then hydrates. In practice that means faster Largest Contentful Paint, metadata and structured data per route, image optimisation, and pages that are already complete when a crawler arrives. For a marketing site, a blog or a store, that is the difference between existing in search results and not.
Speed treated as a feature
Fast is not a nice-to-have when Core Web Vitals sit in the ranking signals and a slow page loses visitors before it renders. On every build I look at the same list: image formats and sizing, font loading strategy, what is actually in the JavaScript bundle, layout shift from anything that arrives late, and how much work the main thread does before the page becomes interactive.
This portfolio itself is a React build carrying GSAP scroll work, video previews and 3D. The point is that heavy visuals and good performance are a matter of engineering, not a choice between them.
Live work you can open right now
Screenshots prove nothing. These are production sites, so open them and check the source yourself.
- Hierys A multi-service agency site where the range had to feel focused rather than scattered. Scroll-driven, component-built, fast. React · Vite · Tailwind · GSAP ScrollTrigger
- Inner Beast A UK brand on Next.js with a Node, Express and MongoDB backend. The MERN pattern, server-rendered for search. Next.js · MongoDB · Express.js · Node.js
- ABET Global React front end sitting on an existing ASP.NET backend: proof that new interfaces do not require rebuilding the server. React · JavaScript · ASP.NET · Bootstrap
- PECO Engineering Corporate engineering site built in React components, so the content sections stay consistent as pages are added. React · JavaScript · CSS3
- MindReach React on the front, Laravel on the back. The pattern for a marketing surface that needs a serious admin behind it. React · Laravel · PHP · Bootstrap
Frequently asked questions
Should I use React or Next.js for my project?
If the pages need to be found in search, a marketing site, a blog, a store, use Next.js for server-rendered HTML. If it is an internal tool or a product behind a login, plain React is lighter and perfectly appropriate. Both use the same components, so the decision is about rendering, not about rewriting.
Can you convert an existing design into a React front end?
Yes. Figma, XD, a PDF or a live site you want rebuilt. I turn it into responsive React components and flag anything in the design that will not survive contact with real content or a narrow screen.
Do you use TypeScript?
Yes, on anything with non-trivial data flowing through it. For a small marketing site plain JavaScript is often the pragmatic choice, and I will say so rather than adding a build step you do not need.
Can you improve the speed of my existing React site?
Yes. A performance audit covers bundle size, image handling, font loading, layout shift and third-party scripts, and comes back with the specific fixes ranked by what they will actually move. Not a generic Lighthouse screenshot.
Do you integrate React with a backend or CMS?
Regularly. React with Laravel, with a Node and Express API, with WordPress as a headless CMS, or against an existing backend such as ASP.NET. ABET Global is a React front end on exactly that setup.
Need a React or Next.js build?
Send the design, the repository or just the idea. You get a straight read on scope, the right rendering approach and a fixed quote.