What Are the Drawbacks of Client-Side Rendering? | LinkedIn Q&A | Search Off the Record

TL;DR

Client-side rendering has no inherent indexing problem for Google, but it can be more brittle because JavaScript, network requests, or API responses may fail. Google renders JavaScript and can index the resulting content, while moving content into HTML can remove some potential failure points. Read on for the Search Off the Record team’s nuanced answers about rendering, crawl rate, HTTP response codes, and Web3 hosting.

Transcript

hello and welcome to another episode of search of the record a podcast coming to you from the Google search team discussing all things search and having some fun along the way my name is Martin and I'm joined today by John and Gary from the search relations team of which I'm also part of also thanks to everyone listening out there we have just pass... Read More

Key Insights

• Client-side rendering can slow down indexing speed due to JavaScript execution requirements.
• JavaScript failures in client-side rendering can lead to content not being indexed.
• Server-side rendering avoids many of the pitfalls of client-side rendering by delivering content directly in HTML.
• Google does render JavaScript, but issues can arise if JavaScript fails or is too resource-intensive.
• Rendering failures can cause delays in content updates being reflected in search indexes.
• Search Console treats 410 and 404 response codes similarly, reflecting Google's backend processing.
• Web3 hosting often uses non-standard top-level domains, making it difficult for search engines to crawl.
• Google Search has learned about user behavior through navigational queries and year-in-review trends.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the drawbacks of client-side rendering?

Client-side rendering can introduce extra failure points because JavaScript must execute and may make network requests to APIs before generating HTML. If the JavaScript or an API request fails, some content might not appear for search engines, making the setup slightly more brittle.

Q: Can Google render and index JavaScript-generated content?

Yes, Google renders JavaScript, and the generated content can appear and be indexed. Problems arise when the JavaScript, network requests, or other parts of the rendering process fail.

Q: Does client-side rendering affect Google’s crawl rate?

The speakers do not identify an inherent crawl-rate impact from client-side rendering. They distinguish crawl rate from the possible delays and failures involved in executing JavaScript and fetching additional resources.

Q: Why can client-side rendering require extra requests?

The initial HTML can contain JavaScript that must be fetched and executed. That JavaScript may then request an API, receive JSON, and generate HTML from the response, adding one or several requests depending on the API structure.

Q: Is server-side rendering always immune to rendering failures?

No. A server-side system can also return incomplete HTML if a component such as a database connection fails, so moving rendering to the server does not eliminate every possible problem.

Q: Why can delivering content directly in HTML be more reliable?

Placing the content in HTML removes the need for client-side JavaScript and additional API requests to generate that content. This avoids several potential failure points and can make content visibility and indexing more reliable.

Q: How does Google Search Console treat 404 and 410 response codes?

Google Search Console treats 404 and 410 response codes similarly because Google processes them in a similar way. Both indicate that a page is not found.

Q: Why can Web3 hosting create search-indexing challenges?

Web3 hosting may use non-standard top-level domains such as .eth that traditional DNS systems do not recognize. That can make the hosted content difficult for search engines to crawl and index.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Client-side rendering involves JavaScript execution to generate content, which can lead to slower indexing and potential content visibility issues if JavaScript fails. Google does render JavaScript, but server-side rendering is often more reliable.

• Search Console treats 410 and 404 HTTP response codes similarly, as Google processes them in a similar way. Web3 hosting can be challenging for search engines due to non-standard domains.

• Google's search data reveals user behavior trends, such as the prevalence of navigational queries. The podcast discusses how a different search engine might incorporate social signals for improved results.