JavaScript SEO Issues & Best Practices
- ️@patrickstox
- ️Sat Jan 18 2025
Did you know that while the Ahrefs Blog is powered by WordPress, much of the rest of the site is powered by JavaScript like React?
The reality of the current web is that JavaScript is everywhere. Most websites use some kind of JavaScript to add interactivity and improve user experience.
Yet most of the JavaScript used on so many websites won’t impact SEO at all. If you have a normal WordPress install without a lot of customization, then likely none of the issues will apply to you.
Where you will run into issues is when JavaScript is used to build an entire page, add or take away elements, or change what was already on the page. Some sites use it for menus, pulling in products or prices, grabbing content from multiple sources or, in some cases, for everything on the site. If this sounds like your site, keep reading.
We’re seeing entire systems and apps built with JavaScript frameworks and even some traditional CMSes with a JavaScript flair where they’re headless or decoupled. The CMS is used as the backend source of data, but the frontend presentation is handled by JavaScript.
The web has moved from plain HTML - as an SEO you can embrace that. Learn from JS devs & share SEO knowledge with them. JS’s not going away.
— John … (@JohnMu) August 8, 2017
I’m not saying that SEOs need to go out and learn how to program JavaScript. I actually don’t recommend it because it’s not likely that you will ever touch the code. What SEOs need to know is how Google handles JavaScript and how to troubleshoot issues.
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