Working to improve your SEO profile? As you start to do a bit of research, you’re quickly going to realise one thing – web development trends turn days-old wisdom on its head again and again. Few things stay constant, but the need to show up a bit higher in the search engine results is always going to be key. While building a good SEO profile is the way to make that happen, the knowledge to do so certainly won’t come easy thanks to changing strategies and shifting ideas about best practices. Some believe the only way to make this happen is through server-side rendering, but many others believe that is no longer necessary.
A Little Background
Since search engines were created, they’ve been analysing websites by reading HTML. While the term server side rendering (or SSR, as it’s commonly called) is new, the idea behind it isn’t. It was once just called rendering, and it was the only way you would ever see a web page. Since the early days, though, the web has grown and changed quite a bit. Nearly every site you see today has to be interactive and dynamic, and one of the ways that happens is by creating HTML with JavaScript. That creates a more flexible client-side rendering (or CSR) technique, and the results are beautiful – reliable sites that are completely scalable to meet a viewer’s needs. They can be dynamic and beautiful.
The problem with CSR, previously, though has been that search engine crawler bots couldn’t run JavaScript, and they didn’t support client-side rendering. For years, SEO through server-side rendering was the only thing that was possible. To get around it, many sites went with server side rendering on the content, then switched over to CSR to handle the page after loading. That could create some real load time issues, though, and has for many. Bots that crawl CSR-generated websites, therefore, became necessary, and today, the biggest search engines all support CSR in their bots. Given that many companies already rely so heavily on search engine marketing as a key factor, it’s tough to move to the idea that you can complete solid SEO without server-side rendering. After all, anything that has worked in the past must work now because switching routes could have a significant impact on a company’s success. Asking any company to make the leap is a huge concern, but it is really possible to create a good SEO profile even if you just move forward with client-side rendering.
Why Isn’t SSR Necessary Anymore
SSR is still effective. There’s not really any concern that it doesn’t work. The problem, though, is that you have to set aside quite a bit of additional money to make it happen as well as added time. So the bigger question isn’t whether it works, it’s whether or not it’s worth it for your company to continue to use an outdated process that may no longer be necessary. Most companies will tell you that you have to implement SSR because of its past history, especially with regard to SEO performance. The reality, though, is that today’s thought leaders in web development are actively discouraging SSR because if it’s poorly implemented, it can reduce a site’s performance and its ranking. More than that, though, is that there are risks of code duplication because cross-platform SSR means you have to implement your experience in two different places, and that can create some real issues.
Moving Forward Without SSR
Your company can save quite a bit of money if you shift your focus to SEO without server-side rendering techniques. If you’re looking for a way forward that will put you at the top of the search engine rankings without costing you more money, it’s time to think about leaving SSR behind and moving forward with the latest thoughts that say CSR is the only way to avoid the extra money and hassle. You’ll be surprised at the savings and your improved rankings.
Reposition can help with the latest SEO for CSR and more. To find out what we can do, reach out to us today for a solution that meets the needs of your company.
