JavaScript SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques used on websites that use JavaScript code.
Websites with JavaScript-heavy user interfaces often have difficulty being indexed by search engine crawlers due to the complexity of the code. For example, many modern websites use AJAX calls to load content dynamically. Unfortunately, crawlers cannot read these dynamic pages without additional help from developers. As such, it is important for webmasters to optimize their sites for crawlers in order for them to be properly indexed by search engines.
At its core, JavaScript SEO is a way to improve the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves making sure that the contents of a webpage can be crawled and indexed by search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This means that when someone searches for something related to your business on a search engine, they will have a higher chance of being able to see your site and click on it.
When Google crawls a website, it looks at the HTML code and any other scripts running to determine what content should appear on a search result page. This means that if you have any content dependent on JavaScript, then Google won't be able to see it. This can have serious implications for your ranking. Google needs to read all parts of your website to properly determine where it should appear in search results.
The goal of JavaScript SEO is to make sure that all of your website’s content can be read by search engine crawlers. It's the only way they can index your site correctly and rank it accordingly.
To do this, developers must ensure that the site’s HTML code is optimized for crawling and indexing. They must also make sure that any dynamic content—such as AJAX requests or single-page applications—is properly optimized for crawling and indexing.
There are various tools available that allow developers to easily optimize their sites for crawler visibility. Some popular ones include Prerender.io and SEO4Ajax.
JavaScript SEO is increasingly becoming more important as search engines continue to evolve.
As technology becomes more complex and sophisticated, so too do the algorithms used by search engines to determine what web pages should appear first in their SERPs. As such, it’s essential that businesses stay ahead of the curve. Make sure your websites are optimized with JavaScript SEO techniques in order to stand out from the competition.
Furthermore, if you don’t take advantage of these techniques, you may find yourself falling behind in terms of organic rankings.
There are several benefits associated with using JavaScript optimization techniques on your website.
To understand how JavaScript can affect SEO, you need to know what happens when GoogleBot crawls your web page.
Step 1: Googlebot crawls your URLs page by page in its queue.
Step 2: Google renders the page’s main content. Often, the static HTML is crawled primarily before any linked JS or CSS files. That’s because Googlebot discovered about 130 trillion web pages, as per Google Webmasters. And rendering JavaScript websites at this scale would be costly.
Step 3: Google indexes any rendered HTML once JavaScript is executed.
JavaScript SEO is essential for e-commerce sites because it ensures that their websites are properly indexed by Google and appear correctly on SERPs. Without proper indexing, potential customers may not be able to find your site or see the products you offer when they are searching online.
Since most modern websites use some form of JavaScript coding, using JavaScript SEO techniques will ensure that your website remains up-to-date and competitive with other e-commerce businesses.
Using JavaScript SEO techniques requires a thorough understanding of how Google crawls and indexes different types of websites.
If you do not have a lot of technical SEO knowledge (web development and programming languages such as HTML or CSS), then it might be a good idea to hire an experienced SEO company that specializes in implementing these types of techniques. SEOLeverage can help you set up effective strategies to optimize your e-commerce site for better visibility on SERPs.
1. Check for issues
Here are three tests to run on your site’s page templates:
2. Implement dynamic rendering (server-side rendering and client-side rendering)
3. Properly route your URLs
4. Follow the internal linking protocol
5. Use pagination
6. Lazy loading your images
7. Let bots crawl JavaScript
8. Audit your JavaScript code using Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Chrom Dev Tools, and SEO crawlers
Combatting the common challenge of optimizing JavaScript sites for search engine bots can be daunting. But it's usually less stressful when tackled at first build. So consider incorporating JavaScript SEO best practices into your web architecture from day one to ensure that crawlers have full access to all the fancy features you've created.
JavaScript SEO has become an essential aspect of modern-day web development and digital marketing strategies. Leverage the power of JavaScript optimization techniques. That way, you can enhance your website's performance while also increasing its visibility on SERPs like Google or Bing. This can lead to increased organic traffic, which translates into more conversions. And ultimately, more sales for your business!
Learn more about JavaScript SEO today! Check out Google’s official documentation and troubleshooting guide.
