JavaScript is a Must-Have - With a Cost

There are hundreds of Javascript frameworks. JS has become a cornerstone of modern web development. Without it, web pages look flat and uninteresting.

However, using it carries the risk of your website being buried by Google. Here’s what you can do about it.

Prerender® Your JS

Prerender® Your Ember

What is Ember.JS?

Ember is an open-source JavaScript library used for more ambitious web development projects like creating reusable and maintainable JavaScript web applications. Companies that use it include Netflix, Square, Microsoft, and LinkedIn.

One of Ember’s defining features is that it’s built on the Glimmer engine, one of the fastest rendering technologies out there. Ember’s page load speed is lightning fast for users and bots alike.

Ember is designed to have more functionality straight out of the box so developers can get to work without using a lot of other plugins or add-ons.

Ember SEO Considerations

Ember has challenges similar to other SPA (single page application) frameworks such as Angular or React, like getting its pages indexed quickly by Google.

Plugins such as FastBoot render your Ember app server-side for search engine crawlers, then revert back to client-side rendering once the required content is downloaded and available.

However, FastBoot has a limited number of supported compatible applications and requires you to run a full DOM when you use JQuery.

Prerender® is compatible with Ember and requires no extra development time!

Prerender® Your Backbone

What is Backbone.JS?

Backbone is a JavaScript library that gives structure to your web applications in the same way that a spine provides structure for the body – hence the name.

It’s a light framework that lets you structure your JavaScript with a Model-View-Presenter format. Backbone organizes and breaks down your code into semantically meaningful fields and has plenty of useful documentation to guide you.

However, Backbone can be confusing for those who aren’t highly proficient in JavaScript and, of course, has some SEO challenges.

Backbone SEO Challenges

Backbone uses AJAX to make a RESTful JSON request.

Rather than creating unique URLs for each page, Backbone encodes each individual URL with a # map. Google Webmasters provides some documentation to help solve this problem, but it’s a complicated process and takes time to fiddle around with Google Search Console.

You could do that, or you could use Prerender® to properly format your URLs for you. You can use Backbone to its fullest potential without having to worry about whether Google will read your URLs properly.

You just make sure your Backbone web app is working, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Frequently-Asked Questions

Is AJAX Bad for SEO?

Google claims it can effectively crawl AJAX sites, but there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary. Single page web applications (SPAs) that use AJAX frameworks have a reputation for being problematic for SEO because they tend to cause issues with crawling, broken navigation or missing links and, at times, even cloaking. Instead of implementing complicated workarounds to fix these issues, you can implement Prerender® for a much simpler, cost-effective solution.

How Can Dynamic Rendering Help Ember JS Sites?

Dynamic Rendering allows search engine bots to be served a static HTML version of a web page without needing to execute JavaScript. This SEO-friendly process allows for more effective crawling, indexing and (ideally) ranking. It’s good for your human visitors, too, because they’ll benefit from a better browsing experience that allows for the use of interactive elements.

Can Prerender® Help Improve a Site’s Load Time?

Faster page speed can lead to better Google rankings and more site conversions, and Prerender® can help improve yours. With many JavaScript frameworks, loading speed is slowed by the need to process JavaScript and CSS scripts that affect how quickly pages can load and be displayed. With Prerender®, your site will be optimized to score as high as possible on every speed test, which can offer you an advantage in Google’s algorithm. Prerendering enhances your website’s core vitals and helps you interact with users effectively.