Is using REACT SEO friendly?

[martin1970]

Hi Guys

Is REACT SEO friendly? Has anyone used REACT and what was the results? Or do you recommend something else that is better suited for SEO?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Cheers

Martin

[Tanusri14]

@martin1970 said in Is using REACT SEO friendly?:

Is REACT SEO friendly? Has anyone used REACT and what was the results? Or do you recommend something else that is better suited for SEO?

React itself isn't inherently bad for SEO, but extra care must be taken with regards to optimizing its use for search. Many successful websites use React, yet SEO optimization remains essential.

Consider frameworks such as Next.js, which handles server-side rendering for SEO-friendly development. For ultimate efficiency, however, a static site generator might be better.

If you're interested in SEO, you can join a digital marketing course in Kolkata!

[PraveenTanikella]

@martin1970 said in Is using REACT SEO friendly?:

Is REACT SEO friendly? Has anyone used REACT and what was the results? Or do you recommend something else that is better suited for SEO?

React can be SEO-friendly, but there are considerations to keep in mind due to its default client-side rendering. When search engines crawl websites, they traditionally expect server-rendered HTML for indexing. React applications often render content on the client side, which can pose challenges for search engine optimization (SEO).

To address this issue, there are a few strategies:

1. Server-Side Rendering (SSR):

   • SSR involves rendering React components on the server before sending HTML to the client. This ensures that search engines receive fully rendered HTML, making content easily indexable.
   • Tools like Next.js, a React framework, support SSR, providing a smoother SEO experience.

2. Static Site Generation (SSG):

   • SSG generates static HTML files during the build process. This approach ensures that content is pre-rendered, enhancing SEO performance.
   • Next.js also supports SSG, making it a versatile choice for projects requiring strong SEO.

3. Prerendering:

   • Prerendering involves generating static HTML for specific pages at build time. This approach combines the benefits of SSR and SSG, allowing developers to target critical pages for SEO optimization.

Several companies and developers have successfully implemented React with SEO in mind. By using SSR or SSG, they've achieved positive results in search engine rankings and overall visibility.

It's essential to note that while React can be SEO-friendly, other frameworks like Angular or Vue.js may also offer SEO solutions. The choice depends on the project's specific requirements and the developer's familiarity with the framework.

In summary, React can be made SEO-friendly through practices like SSR, SSG, or prerendering. Many developers have experienced success in maintaining good SEO performance with React, especially when using tools like Next.js. However, the decision should be based on the project's needs, available resources, and the development team's expertise. Always ensure that your chosen approach aligns with current SEO best practices to achieve optimal results.

[wrhong7]

I have doing some research on this issue since there are lots of mixed opinion on this. Per my friends who work on this matter closely, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo should all be able to fetch the React based single page applications.

Custom Mat Board (which cuts customized mat boards for any Amazon or IKEA picture frames) is a React based application, and it works well. Please check out Fetch as Google and note if there are any major difference between what Google bot sees and what humans can see. If there are significant differences, you should do something about it. But per my experience, Google bots and humans do see the same thing.

PM me if you have any questions. Cheers!

WJ

[sb1030]

Thanks for discussing this, Martijn.

Aside from Google, is there any concern that other search engines would have issues rendering a JS website, whether the site uses React, Angular or another framework?

Thanks

-SB

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi Martin,

It can be, that's the actual answer. As React is using JavaScript to load its pages and load the content in most cases. Google and other search engines are able to read the content but it's always required in these cases to check what the actual result is. I've worked with many sites using React and it depends if they're using server or client-side rendering. Start there, to figure out what you can be using for your client/company. Some teams are really drawn to the client side rendering which is a little bit more dangerous as not always can Google see the actual content. In case of server-side rendering, I've seen it go well for most of these.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, happy to answer them!

Martijn.