Optimizing Dynamic
Websites for SEO by Ken Colborn
About Portent
Ian Lurie started Portent in 1995, back when the entire internet fit on a small thumb drive. The goal then and now: Help companies grow and improve
communications through great marketing.
The definition of “Portent” is the forecast of
something big on the horizon. We approach search, social, analytics and content with that in
mind – what’s coming next.
We temper that with long-time knowledge of basic
marketing disciplines that never change: Human behavior, copywriting, creative thinking and great
execution. Then, we combine the two to create truly future-proof marketing.
We appreciate the chance to tell you our story and to hear yours.
Greetings from the #smithtower
Ahead of The Horizon
7+ Years of SEO 16+ Working on Websites Loves all things Analytics Rides a Unicycle
Ken Colborn
(illustration by @flashmurphy)
SEO Team Lead at Portent @kejaco
Optimizing Dynamic Websites for SEO
Optimizing Dynamic Websites for SEO
Why?
What is a Dynamic Website?
Initial Page Load
The HTML of the page is loaded into the browser
What is a Dynamic Website?
Initial Page Load
JavaScript loads additional content onto the page
What is a Dynamic Website?
There are a variety of JavaScript frameworks that you can use
What can you do with it?
Only 69 Lines of Code No content in the source code
Infinite Scrolling
Only the first 24 pins are in the source code
Single Page Application (SPA)
Updates the page without a refresh
How do robots view your site?
But…..can’t Google read JavaScript now?
Yes, but it still has problems
Don’t forget
Bing
& Yahoo
Don’t forget
Bing
& Yahoo
Bing doesn’t do as well with dynamic content
Don’t forget
Bing
& Yahoo
You really don’t want to lose
25% of your traffic
Here’s an example
After removing AJAX from product pages
+13% Google traffic
After removing AJAX from product pages
+106% Bing traffic
After removing AJAX from product pages
+72% Yahoo traffic
What’s the problem?
What the search engines see
Don’t match what we see
The main content is gone
Also, the navigation is missing
Web Apps Require Input Search engines can’t get to the content on their own
Web Apps Require Input Search engines can’t get to the content on their own
“What do I do with this?” - The Search Engine
There is no way a search engine would be able to do that
Not so good for navigation
Not so good for navigation
Often has problems finding all the pages
Not so good for navigation
Often has problems finding all the pages
Some pages are not indexed or rankings fall
Not so good for navigation
Even if these pages are not dynamic
Often has problems finding all the pages
Some pages are not indexed or rankings fall
What happened to my rankings?
Where did our customers go?
It’s not that bad
It’s not that bad
We can fix this
What can you do?
Follow the best practices
Make sure no files are blocked
Use Fetch as Google
Make sure no files are blocked
Tells you what is blocked
Make sure no files are blocked
Use HTML Snapshots It’s a best practice (for now)
Use HTML Snapshots There are services that make the snapshots for you
Makes it simple
Create browsable pathways
Create browsable pathways
Create browsable pathways
Create browsable pathways
Create browsable pathways
What about the not-so-popular cities?
Create XML Sitemaps
Help search engines find all the pages
Create XML Sitemaps
Help search engines find all the pages
This is NOT a replacement for internal linking
Use dynamic functionality sparingly
Does your
page title and meta description REALLY need to be loaded dynamically?
DON’T
Use it as a Band-Aid
The End Questions?
@kejaco
[email protected]