by the side of vs next to

by the side of

next to

adv
  • Almost; nearly, well-nigh. 

prep
  • Beside, alongside, by, adjacent to, or near. 

  • Compared to, in comparison with. 

  • Immediately after, in choice or consideration; aside from. 

How often have the words by the side of and next to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )