Jamstack SEO Guide for Website Owners and Developers

The Jamstack SEO guide is a game-changer for website owners and developers looking to boost their online presence.

To start, let's talk about the benefits of using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). By serving static assets from a CDN, you can reduce latency and improve page load times, which is a key ranking factor for search engines. This can be achieved by integrating a CDN into your Jamstack site, as discussed in the "Optimizing Static Assets" section.

A well-structured URL is essential for SEO, and Jamstack sites can take advantage of this with URL rewrites. By using a plugin like Next.js or Gatsby, you can rewrite URLs to be more descriptive and user-friendly, making it easier for search engines to understand your site's structure.

In addition to URL rewrites, Jamstack sites can also benefit from using page-level metadata. This includes things like titles, descriptions, and keywords, which can be added to individual pages using a plugin like MDX or Markdown. By including this metadata, you can provide search engines with more context about each page on your site.

The Jamstack is a modern web development approach that's all about speed, security, and scalability. It's built on a combination of static site generation, client-side rendering, and a content delivery network (CDN).

At its core, the Jamstack is centered around pre-built, pre-rendered web pages that are served directly from a CDN. This eliminates the need for server-side rendering and databases, making it faster and more efficient.

By using a static site generator like Jekyll or Hugo, developers can create fast, secure, and scalable websites that are easy to maintain.

The web has come a long way since its early days, and with it, the way we build websites has undergone significant changes.

In the beginning, developers wrote HTML by hand and served static sites to their visitors, a practice that's still seen in Jamstack concepts today.

Server-side solutions eventually became popular, with projects like WordPress offering a content management system (CMS) that could be installed on a server and up and running quickly.

However, serverful solutions came with a price: more moving pieces and maintenance than developers were comfortable with.

Static site generators and hosting solutions like AWS S3 emerged as a more performant alternative, allowing developers to deliver entire websites statically.

Platforms like Netlify and Vercel made this process even easier, adding features to improve the web development process.

The Jamstack has come a long way since its early days in 2015, when static sites were making a comeback from the web's early years.

In 2016, a small group of developers coined the term "Jamstack" and started promoting its principles in modern dev circles.

The year 2017 marked a significant turning point for the Jamstack, as it started to gain traction and gave developers the features they needed to build "hyper-dynamic" sites and apps.

Sequoia Capital, Mailchimp, and Red Bull were among the first big enterprises to build Jamstack projects that year.

By 2018, the Jamstack had made a mainstream breakthrough, with more and more people talking about it and substantial funding being announced for tools like Gatsby and Netlify.

The first JAMstack_conf took place that year, marking a significant milestone in the Jamstack's growth.

In 2019, the Jamstack became more accessible to less technical users with the rise of tools like Stackbit, and serverless functions brought more backend functionalities to frontend-centric projects.

By 2020, the Jamstack had gained the attention of big web tech players like WordPress, sparking criticism and debate in the community.

The community continued to grow strong and open the door to tackling new challenges that year.

In 2021, the concept of "Full Stack Jamstack" solutions like RedwoodJS and Blitz.js started to emerge, but there was also some confusion about what the Jamstack really means.

By 2022, new tools like Astro were redefining what it means to build static websites with the Jamstack, using a more lightweight approach that favors less JavaScript.

The Jamstack offers a range of benefits that make it an attractive choice for developers and businesses alike.

Jamstack web apps are fast, reliable, scalable, and usually pretty cheap. They hit all of the 5 AWS Well-Architected pillars out of the box.

By delivering an app from a static hosting platform, you're limiting the number of moving pieces required to deliver that app, exposing fewer attack surfaces for bad actors, providing an app that will infinitely scale, suffering from less downtime, delivering the website fast as it's mostly static files, and spending less money on hosting.

Frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby allow you to build a new web app in 1 minute, and deploy that website from a GitHub repository to Netlify or Vercel in 1 additional minute.

The Jamstack also offers a fantastic developer experience, with tools like Stackbit and Builder.io taking care of the end-to-end process.

Here are the 5 benefits of Jamstack web apps:

To get started with the Jamstack, you'll need to understand the tooling and architecture behind it. The Jamstack is built on top of static HTML, JavaScript, and UI frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte, which make web development fun and relatively easy.

To effectively use the Jamstack, you'll need knowledge of client-side JavaScript, APIs, and Markup languages like HTML. You'll also need access to Static Site Generators (SSGs) like Next.js, Gatsby, Hugo, and Jekyll to convert your markup into static content.

Some popular UI frameworks for building the frontend of a Jamstack app include React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte. You can also use Static Site Generators like Gatsby, Next.js, and SvelteKit to manage content and render pages out to static files.

Here are some popular tools and frameworks for building a Jamstack app:

Building the app frontend is where the magic happens. You'll be using a combination of static site generators and UI frameworks to bring your app to life.

The core of a Jamstack website is static HTML, but JavaScript and UI frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular make it interactive. These frameworks help developers build applications with modular components that render to HTML with JavaScript in the browser.

You'll also want to use static site generators like Gatsby, Next.js, or Hugo to manage your content and render pages to static files. This approach provides a faster web app experience.

Some popular UI frameworks for building the frontend of your Jamstack app include:

Static site generators and web frameworks like Gatsby, Next.js, and SvelteKit provide a range of tools to help you build and deploy your app. These tools include features like automatic builds and deployment, as well as integrations with popular services like Netlify and Vercel.

Transitioning or migrating to the Jamstack doesn't have to be a daunting task. There’s no such thing as a negligible migration, but thanks to the flexibility of the Jamstack, you can take existing infrastructure and use it to take a step in the Jamstack direction.

Any new WordPress project automatically ships with a REST API, allowing you to grab your website’s content. This means you can start leveraging the benefits of the Jamstack right away.

Projects like WPGraphQL are working to expand this into a GraphQL interface, allowing more complex querying for your data. This will enable you to use WordPress as a headless CMS.

While there’s going to be an inevitable cost associated with the transition process, you can maintain the core business logic in your backend while taking advantage of the Jamstack benefits with your frontend.

Content management is a crucial aspect of any website, and the Jamstack offers a range of solutions to make it easier. Tools like Strapi, Contentful, and DatoCMS provide a central point to manage content and access it with an API integration. These services can bring many challenges, but they also offer a lot of flexibility.

Some popular content management systems (CMS) for Jamstack apps include Strapi, Contentful, and DatoCMS. You can also consider headless WordPress or other options like Forestry, Ghost, and NetlifyCMS.

When it comes to deploying your Jamstack app, you have a range of options. Tools like Netlify and Vercel offer automated DevOps, deploying your website or application automatically any time changes are merged into the main branch. This includes features like deploy previews, which give you a unique URL to preview your changes.

Here are some hosting and deployment options available for developers:

Duplicate content can be a problem for search engines, making it hard to decide which page is more relevant for a search query.

Having the same or slightly different content on multiple pages or websites can be considered duplicate content. This can happen when you have a single page accessible by multiple URLs or when you share your original post on other platforms.

The practice of duplicate content varies and depends on search engines to interpret it. For example, in eCommerce websites, you're bound to have the same content on multiple item pages, but that content is rarely labeled as duplicated.

You're making it hard for search engines to decide which page is more relevant if you don't explicitly tell Google which URL is original or canonical.

Setting up a 301 redirect from the duplicate page to the original page is a way to deal with duplicated content. This helps inform search engines of the changes you make to your website structure.

You can also use the rel=canonical attribute in your link tag to point search engines to the original canonical version of the page. This means the page being crawled should be treated as a copy of a specified URL.

Using the rel=canonical attribute as a self-referential link to the existing page ensures that the right page or preferred version of the page is indexed.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing websites' technical configuration, content relevance, and link popularity to make their information easily findable and more relevant to fulfill users' search needs.

SEO's purpose is to help your content rank better in search engines for desired/targeted keywords and get under the spotlight of your potential audience. In practice, you're trying to get your content in the top 5 spots of the first page as they get 67.6% of all the clicks coming from that search result page.

SEO today goes beyond page optimization, and it can be broadly divided into two parts: technical SEO and content SEO.

Relying on the nature of static sites is a poor excuse for a healthy SEO strategy, as it fails to consider other factors such as mobile traffic, site URLs, and navigation.

You must create sitemaps when working with static sites as the content is already accessible and ready for organization. Site mapping is not an issue with JAMstack sites.

JAMstack sets your site for achieving all SEO goals you can possibly imagine, laying the groundwork for you to work on improving your development project.

There are five versatile ways to optimize your JAMstack website for search and ensure it always gives you the excellent performance it is expected to deliver.

A robots.txt file provides search bots with information about the files and/or folders you want or don't want them to crawl, and a sitemap helps search engine crawlers index your pages faster.

Having a clear URL and website structure, internal linking, and navigation influences how your website is perceived from users' and crawlers' points of view.

Google suggests that the fewer clicks it takes to get to a page from your homepage, the better it is for your website.

Planning your website structure alongside keyword research can help you increase your website's authority and spread it efficiently and evenly over your pages.

A clear website menu with links to your categories, keywords, and main pages is a must, and be mindful of internal linking, i.e., link only to topic-related posts in topic-related paragraphs.

Use shorter, keyword-oriented URLs with hyphens to break up words for readability, and keep in mind that the URL should describe the content of the page as clearly as possible.

Correct implementation of structured data might not influence your ranking directly, but it'll give you a fighting chance for appearance in around 30 different types of rich results that are powered by schema markup.

Making appropriate structure data is pretty straightforward, and you can use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to guide you through the coding process.

The use of structured data helps the most with the search queries related to ecommerce, recipes, and jobs, for example, i.e., queries for which search results show more than just title and description.

Structured data is another element that contributes to SEO and is made possible with JAMstack, allowing data to be categorized similarly to the traditional JSON.

Adding JSON-LD is a simple process in static sites, and developers can add it in the build stage itself without having to embellish the server-rendered content specifically for the bots.

A well-formatted site that is easy to navigate is beneficial from both user experience and SEO perspectives, and you must consider a proper site hierarchy.

Using the right keyword in the URL can pretty much convince your target audience to click on your link and land on your website, and static URLs are obviously more SEO and user-friendly because they clearly state what the web page is about.

Web performance is the speed at which web pages are downloaded and displayed on the user's web browser, and it's become increasingly important since mobile internet use surpassed desktop in 2016. Google values users' behavior, so they introduced Page Experience signals and Core Web Vitals to measure UX and performance.

Having a fast-loading website is essential to provide a great user search experience, and Google found a way to mix and measure UX and performance. Page Experience is a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its content.

Mobile-friendly design is a necessity, and Google's Mobile-Friendly Test or Google Search Console can help identify problems. With mobile-first indexing for all websites starting in March 2021, your website needs to be shown perfectly on multiple screens and have an easily accessible mobile version.

Safe-browsing is crucial, and scanning website files to remove malicious software is a must. Regularly updating website parts, especially for WordPress users, is essential to prevent server security issues. Google Search Console's Security & Manual Actions can help identify safe-browsing issues.

HTTPS helps prevent tampering with the communication between your website and users' browsers, and it's already a ranking signal since 2014. Enabling HTTPS on your server and using tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs can help ensure correct redirects from HTTP to HTTPS.

Intrusive interstitials can negatively impact user experience, so it's essential to use them responsibly. Pop-ups and interstitials should not block website content, cause layout shifts, or appear annoyingly on every action a user makes.

Core Web Vitals measure Real User Experience/Metrics (RUM) and provide sound, measurable proxies for improving website performance and UX. The three factors are loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability, measured by LCP, FID, and CLS metrics.

To improve Core Web Vitals, consider the following:

Improving Core Web Vitals depends on your website stack, but general tips can be found in various articles. For example, optimizing images, minifying HTML and CSS, and compressing JavaScript can improve performance.

Jamstack websites have better performance due to prebuilt HTML files served over the CDN, providing faster DOM-ready and full-page load times. According to Web Almanac 2020: Jamstack, top-five Jamstack static site generators have impressive Core Web Vitals statistics.

A clear URL and website structure is crucial for both users and search engine crawlers. This is because it influences how your website is perceived, and the importance of website structure grows with the size of your website.

Google suggests that the fewer clicks it takes to get to a page from your homepage, the better it is for your website. This means that a well-organized website structure is essential for a good user experience.

A clear website menu with links to your categories, keywords, and main pages is a must. This helps users navigate your website easily.

Internal linking is also crucial, as it helps distribute your website's authority evenly. Link only to topic-related posts in topic-related paragraphs to avoid confusing users.

Orphaned pages that aren't linked from any other page of your website should be avoided. This can lead to a poor user experience and negatively impact your website's authority.

Using shorter, keyword-oriented URLs with hyphens can improve readability and make it easier for search engines to understand your content.

Reducing JavaScript on your website can significantly impact its performance, particularly in the new Core Web Vitals world. The amount of actual execution time of your JS influences First Input Delay (FID) the most.

Delaying or removing third-party scripts can improve your JS performance, and deferring non-critical scripts is also a good practice. Keeping JS code below your main content won't degrade the user experience.

Optimizing images is another crucial aspect of page load speed, with lazy loading being a significant savings. Using WebP or AVIF image formats can also create images that are better optimized and reduced in file size than JPGs or PNGs.

JavaScript can significantly impact your website's performance, so it's essential to reduce the amount of JavaScript on your site.

Having too much JavaScript can take a toll on your website's performance, depending on how much you use it.

The amount of actual execution time of your JavaScript influences First Input Delay (FID) the most in the new Core Web Vitals world.

Delay or remove third-party scripts to improve your website's performance.

You can defer non-critical scripts when possible to further enhance your JavaScript performance.

Keeping your JavaScript code below your main content won't degrade the user experience.

Optimizing images can lead to significant savings in overall page size and page load speed.

Lazy loading is a technique that can be utilized to improve page speed. This involves loading images only when they come into view.

Using WebP or AVIF image formats can create images that are better optimized and reduced in file size than JPGs or PNGs.

These formats are designed to make images faster to load, which in turn makes for a faster website.

Optimizing and compressing images can help improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores by serving images from CDNs.

Keyword research is the cornerstone of your content and digital marketing strategy. It provides you with information about what, how many, and how people are searching for in your area of interest. You can start by making a list of important, relevant keywords and topics based on what you know about your business and/or goals you are trying to achieve.

To find strategic keywords, you'll use a combination of free and paid tools, including Google search results, auto-suggest, similar searches, Answer the Public, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz. These tools will help you tap into what's already going on in your industry and get a clear picture of what your target audience is searching for.

You'll use these tools to understand your competition and analyze their keyword, content, and backlink profile strategies. Remember, your business competitors and your content competitors might not be the same in search results. The answer is in the search results.

To build quality links, you need to consider the domain industry affiliation and authority, anchor text, and content quality and link place. A link from a trustworthy source in your industry, like searchenginejournal.com, is more valuable than a link from a generic site. You should aim to have a mix of anchor texts, but links with your desired keyword or phrase are the most valuable.

Keyword research is the cornerstone of your content and digital marketing strategy. It helps you find out what people are searching for in your area of interest and how they expect to get that information.

To start, make a list of important and relevant keywords and topics based on your business and goals. If you already know them, check the competition and see what they've been doing. If not, use tools like Google search results, auto-suggest, and similar searches to find them.

Google is your best friend at this point, along with free and paid keyword discovery tools like Answer the Public, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz. These tools will help you tap into what's already going on in your industry and get a clear picture of what your target audience is searching for.

You'll use these tools to analyze the competition, understand their keyword, content, and backlink profile strategies, and identify what will it take to rank for those keywords. Keep in mind that your business competitors and content competitors might not be the same in search results.

Here are some tools you can use for keyword research:

When using paid tools, you'll notice a metric labeled as keyword difficulty (KD), which provides a rough sense of how difficult it is to rank for a specific keyword. However, don't rely entirely on KD, and always check search results manually to judge real-world keyword difficulty and search intent.

A quality link is not just about getting any link, but about getting a link that carries weight. This weight comes from the domain industry affiliation and authority, such as a link from searchenginejournal.com, which is a trustworthy source in the industry.

The anchor text of a link is also crucial, as it's desirable to have many different anchors in your backlinks portfolio. But, you still get the most out of links that link to you with your desired keyword or a phrase.

The quality of the content where the link is placed matters, too. Being linked within a fantastic piece of content in your industry is more valuable than being linked in a mediocre one. And, links that show up higher in the main content hold more value.

Here are the key factors that determine the quality of a link:

Mobile friendliness is no longer a secondary concern, especially since mobile internet usage surpassed desktop users way back in 2014. Google now prioritizes mobile responsiveness in search rankings.

Many static site generators apply responsive web design practices, allowing you to easily adapt to different screen sizes using CSS media queries.

Ignoring mobile visitors will definitely backfire on your brand, so it's essential to prioritize mobile-friendliness.

HTTPS usage is also a crucial factor in site security and search engine rankings, as Google has been giving a boost in rankings to pages with secure HTTPS/SSL certifications since 2014.

Google has been giving a boost in rankings to pages with secure HTTPS/SSL certifications since 2014. This is a clear indication that HTTPS usage is now a crucial factor in site security.

HTTPS is an internet communications protocol that protects the confidentiality and integrity of data between the user's computer and website. This means website visitors can expect a secure and private browsing experience.

You can't ignore HTTPS usage anymore if you take site security seriously. Google's emphasis on HTTPS is a strong reason to prioritize it.

Having a secure HTTPS/SSL certification is essential for a safe and private browsing experience. It's no longer a luxury, but a necessity for any website.

Mobile friendliness is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for any website. In 2014, mobile internet usage surpassed desktop users, making it a significant factor for ranking sites.

Ignoring your mobile site visitors will definitely backfire on your brand. Many static site generators apply responsive web design practices.

You can quickly conform to devices with different screen sizes by defining results for various screen sizes using CSS media queries. This allows your website to adapt to desktops, tablets, or mobile phones.

Google has made mobile responsiveness a significant factor for ranking sites.