RankSmith builds premium Next.js websites for South African brands that want to outrank WordPress on Google and get cited inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot. Schema on every page. LCP under 1.5 seconds. No exceptions.
Built on
The numbers we hold ourselves to
LCP target on every site we ship
INP target on every interaction
AI engines we optimise for
Schema coverage across key pages
The honest comparison
The left column is what we measured on twelve typical WordPress business sites in Gauteng during 2025. The right column is what we ship on every RankSmith Next.js build, verified on this very page with Vercel Speed Insights.
Typical WordPress site
measured Feb 2026, 12 sites
RankSmith Next.js build
measured on this very page
What RankSmith does
The ranking landscape fragmented into six places at once: Google, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot. Each takes a different approach. We handle all of them on one stack.
Recent work
One stack, six destinations
We write every page answer first, ship Schema.org on every entity, and give each AI crawler an explicit lane through robots.txt and llms.txt. One content pass, six places you show up.
The RankSmith method
Three principles run through every engagement. Each is a verifiable behaviour, not a slogan, and each is the reason our sites outrank the WordPress status quo in Gauteng.
Principle 01
Every claim we make about speed is a number we can show you. This page runs Vercel Speed Insights. If the numbers slip, we find out before you do.
target 1.5 s
target 100 ms
target 0.05
Principle 02
Discovery, design, build, and launch typically runs four to six weeks. Indexing and first citations follow on a predictable curve.
Principle 03
We write answer first so large language models can lift a clean citation from any heading on any page. Like this one.
## How long does it take to rank a Next.js site in South Africa?
A RankSmith Next.js site typically ranks for its primary commercial keyword within 60 to 90 days in Google and appears as a citation in ChatGPT and Perplexity within 14 days of launch.
The RankSmith stack
App Router and React Server Components on the edge.
Type safety across the full stack, nothing untyped ships.
Zero runtime, atomic, and audit friendly.
Motion that respects prefers reduced motion.
Accessible Radix primitives we own and can tune.
Edge network, Speed Insights, zero ops.
Structured data on every entity, every page.
Long form content that ships as React components.
What RankSmith believes
These are the beliefs that shape every RankSmith engagement. They are not borrowed quotes from clients we do not have. They are the lines we hold when pressure tests arrive.
Principle 01
Every plugin, every theme, every TTFB hit is a tax. We stopped paying it in 2022 and we have never looked back.
Principle 02
Organization, Service, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Article. Schema is not a nice to have. It is the API AI engines read.
Principle 03
AI engines cite paragraphs, not pages. Write answer first, lead with the fact, expand with specifics. Get quoted.
Principle 04
LCP under 1.5 seconds. INP under 100 milliseconds. CLS under 0.05. If we cannot hold the budget, we do not ship.
Principle 05
There is no Google only strategy anymore. Six engines matter. Either your content is citable in all of them, or you are losing share.
Pricing in ZAR
Every RankSmith engagement is priced as a once off setup fee plus a monthly hosting and care retainer. The retainer covers uptime, security updates, dependency patches, and a pool of free update hours every month. Pricing is in South African Rand.
A beautiful five page Next.js website, shipped and cared for. Hosting only retainer.
A ten page site with a blog, bundled with the Base ranking retainer at a steep discount.
A flagship site bundled with the Climb ranking retainer at a steep discount.
Frequently asked questions
Real questions from South African founders, marketing leads, and in house developers, answered the same way a RankSmith lead would answer them on a first call.
RankSmith is a South African digital agency that builds premium Next.js websites and runs ranking programmes across SEO, AEO, GEO, SXO, and AIO. Every engagement pairs a hand crafted Next.js 15 build with the structured data, content strategy, and crawler configuration needed to rank in Google and to be cited inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Bing Copilot.
Ready when you are
Book a thirty minute strategy call with a RankSmith lead. We will walk through your current site, your current rankings in Google and in AI engines, and the fastest wins we can ship in the next sixty days.
