SEO checklist

This is the React InstantSearch v7 documentation. If you’re upgrading from v6, see the upgrade guide. If you were using React InstantSearch Hooks, this v7 documentation applies—just check for necessary changes. To continue using v6, you can find the archived documentation.

For your website to appear in a search engine’s results, the search engine needs to be able to discover, crawl, parse, and render the key pages of your site. When building your search experience with client-side JavaScript, you may worry that search engines can’t crawl or render your URLs and that this may hurt your ranking. While some search engines are getting better at processing sites with client-side JavaScript search, you can also do a lot to optimize your website for search engines without sacrificing the user experience.

Your search result pages are directly accessible through a URL

As users interact with your search interface, the URL should dynamically update and reflect the options they’ve selected and their actions. This allows them to share links to your website, enhancing the overall usability of your search and encouraging backlinking.

Reflect the search query and selected refinements in your URL

Open CodeSandbox

Run and edit the SEO-friendly routing example in CodeSandbox.

Explore source code

Browse the SEO-friendly routing example on GitHub.

This approach has clear benefits for the user experience, but you might be concerned about content duplication. Isn’t this creating too many pages returning the same content? Aren’t dynamic URLs bad for SEO? Many websites use dynamic URLs. Even though they’re harder to index than static URLs, most search engines can remove query parameters and trace back to the primary page. Dynamic URLs can be SEO-friendly if well-structured and supported with canonical tags. For more information, see:

Your widgets use `a` tags with `href` attributes

This section is only relevant if you have customized the markup of at least one of your widgets. The default markup implements anchor tags with plain URLs. Search engines follow the links they find on a page. They should be able to crawl every page of your website by going from link to link. For example, if you customized the pagination widget then make sure each page button is an <a> tag with an href attribute. It shouldn’t be a button with an event listener. This especially applies to discovery-related widgets, such as:

JavaScript and Vue
React

Dos and don’ts

Do this:

HTML

<a href="https://example.com">
<a href="/relative/path/file">

Not this:

HTML

<a routerLink="some/path">
<span href="https://example.com">
<a onclick="goto('https://example.com')">

Your URLs are readable

Your URLs must be logical and readable. It’s better to use full words than identifiers or abbreviations. For every InstantSearch flavor, the basic routing configuration injects every search refinement into the URL as a query string parameter. These parameters are inferred from uiState.

https://mywebsite.com/?menu[categories]=Cell Phone Accessories&refinementList[brand][0]=Apple&query=case

The default InstantSearch routing adds unnecessary URL information. You should configure the routing to only preserve important and readable keywords.

https://mywebsite.com/Cell-Phone-Accessories/?brands=Apple&query=case

For example, if someone searches for “red dresses” in a search engine, your website should show up on the results page as https://mywebsite.com/red-dresses/ rather than https://mywebsite.com/?c=red%20dresses.

Dos and don’ts

Do this:

https://mywebsite.com/Car-Equipment/
https://mywebsite.com/Car-Equipment/?page=3
https://mywebsite.com/Computers+%26+Tablets/?page=2&brands=Apple

Not this:

https://mywebsite.com/98907/?q=879065
https://mywebsite.com/search/?c=Car%20Equipement&s=asc&p=3

For more information, see Keep a simple URL structure.

Your URLs reflect the structure of your website

Search engines can use your URL structure to infer the architecture of your website, understand the context of a page, and enhance its relevance for a particular search query.

Use well-structured URLs for better search results

Well-structured URLs give your users immediate insight into a page’s topic and its location within the website. For example, if a website has categories and sub-categories, each category should be reachable through https://mywebsite.com/<category>/ and each sub-category through https://mywebsite.com/<category>/<sub-category>.

Dos and don’ts

Do this:

https://mywebsite.com/Car-Equipment/
https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/

Not this:

https://mywebsite.com/search?category=Cars-Equipement
https://mywebsite.com/search?categorylvl1=Clothing&categoryLvl2=T-shirts

For more information, see Better presentation of URLs in search results

Your `robots.txt` file

If you use canonical URLs and a sitemap, you don’t have to change your robots.txt file.

You use canonical URLs to indicate primary content

A canonical URL is the most representative page from a set of duplicate pages on your site. When users search for “women t-shirts” in a search engine, you want them to find https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/ rather than:

https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?query=tshirts&free-shipping=true&page=4

Here, all three pages have similar content. As a result, you need to tell search engine bots which URL to reference as the primary page (canonical URL). To do this, add a rel="canonical" link that points to the canonical URL on all possible duplicate pages. In the following example, all links need to have a link element pointing to the primary page.

https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?page=42
https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?brand=lacoste
https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?query=round%20Collar

HTML

<head>
  <!-- ... -->
  <link rel="canonical" href="https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/" />
</head>

Are mobile pages duplicates?

Yes, the mobile version of a page counts as duplicate content. Make sure your mobile pages have a canonical link in their head, indicating the desktop page as the primary page. You can also reference the mobile page from the primary page with the following tag:

HTML

<head>
  <!-- ... -->
  <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)">
</head>

Paginated content

If you’re using the pagination widget or the “show more” button of the infinite hits widget, make sure that:

Your widget uses <a> tags with an href attribute:

HTML

<!-- Pagination -->
<ul>
  <li><a href="https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?page=1">1</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?page=2">2</a></li>
  <!-- ... -->
</ul>

<!-- "Show more" button -->
<a href="https://mywebsite.com/Women-Clothing/T-Shirts/?page=2">Show more</a>

Each page can be accessed directly through a URL.
Each page URL has a canonical link to its primary page.

If your pagination occurs on scroll (as is the case with the infinite hits widget), make sure you still provide a “show more” link that uses plain URLs. Some search engines use the HTML link elements with attributes rel="next" and rel="prev" in the <head> of your page to infer the relationship between component URLs in a paginated series. These elements help but not all search engines use them for indexing. For more information, see:

Your category URLs are referenced in a sitemap

A sitemap is an XML file that tells search engine crawlers which pages are central to your site. Having a sitemap is particularly recommended for large websites with many unrelated pages. When deciding which pages to put in your sitemap, a good rule is to include only your canonical pages. If you’re not using a content management system (CMS) that automatically generates a sitemap for you, you can generate one based on your Algolia indices. For more information, see:

Your canonical pages have unique titles and descriptions

The title and description meta tags give search engine users important insight into the content of a search result and its relevance. This information often determines which search engine result a person clicks on, so it’s crucial to use high-quality titles and descriptions when you build your web pages.

Algolia doesn’t add meta tags to your pages. You have to do that yourself using the tools you use to build your website.

InstantSearch widgets provide a default semantic markup that should cover most cases, but if you’re using connectors to customize your UI, make sure to properly use markup according to its meaning and purpose. For example, use heading elements (h1 to h6) for headings, paragraph elements (p) for paragraphs, list elements (ul, ol, or dl) for lists, and tables (table) for data tables. Semantic markup helps search engines identify and categorize your content with minimal effort.

Dos and don’ts

Do this:

HTML

<h1>Heading</h1>
<p>Body text.</p>
<p>More body text.</p>

Not this:

HTML

<p class="heading">Heading</p>
Body text.<br><br>
More body text.

Because your site’s are unique, you need to customize the markup template for the hits or infinite hits widgets. Here’s a possible template for a product search result on an ecommerce website:

HTML

<article>
  <header>
    <h2>Google Chromecast Ultra</h2>
    <p>TV and home theater</p>
  </header>
  <div>
    <img src="https://cdn-demo.algolia.com/bestbuy-0118/4397400_sb.jpg" width="220" height="146" alt="Google Chromecast Ultra" />
    <p>Enjoy all your favorite movies, shows, games, and music plus the latest 4K content with Chromecast Ultra, a streaming device that…</p>
  </div>
  <footer>
    <p>
      <span>$</span> <strong>69</strong>
      <span>Rating: 4/5</span>
    </p>
  </footer>
</article>

While Algolia uses semantic markup (the content is isolated in an article element, a header section with the product name in an h2 element, a product image with an alt attribute, and the main description in a p element), you’re missing some information details that could be useful for a search engine (“TV and home theater” is the product category, “69” is its price). You can solve this by using structured data.

Structured data

Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying its content. With structured data, you can give search engines insight into the meaning of your pages. Here’s how to add structured data to the previous example:

HTML

<article itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Product">
  <header>
    <h2 itemprop="name">Google Chromecast Ultra</h2>
    <p itemprop="category">TV and home theater</p>
    <meta itemprop="brand" content="Google" />
    <meta itemprop="gtin12" content="GA3A00403A14" />
  </header>
  <div>
    <img itemprop="image" src="https://cdn-demo.algolia.com/bestbuy-0118/4397400_sb.jpg" width="220" height="146" alt="Google Chromecast Ultra" />
    <p itemprop="description">Enjoy all your favorite movies, shows, games, and music plus the latest 4K content with Chromecast Ultra, a streaming device that…</p>
  </div>
  <footer>
    <p>
      <span itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Offer">
        <span itemprop="priceCurrency" content="USD">$</span> <strong itemprop="price" content="69.00">69</strong>
        <link itemprop="url" href="https://www.amazon.com/Google-Chromecast-Ultra/dp/B0157OY5EA/" />
        <meta itemprop="availability" content="https://schema.org/InStock" />
        <meta itemprop="priceValidUntil" content="2021-11-05" />
      </span>
      <span itemprop="aggregateRating" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
        Rating: <span itemprop="ratingValue">4</span>/<span itemprop="bestRating">5</span>
        <meta itemprop="reviewCount" content="89" />
      </span>
    </p>
    <meta itemprop="sku" content="0446310786" />
  </footer>
</article>

This markup is now much more complete: it explicitly references what the content represents (product name, category, price, rating). You have also added content for search engines using link and meta tags. Here are some examples of templates with structured data for InstantSearch widgets:

<ol itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList">
  <li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem">
    <a itemtype="https://schema.org/Thing" itemprop="item" href="https://example.com/">
      <span itemprop="name">Home</span>
    </a>
    <meta itemprop="position" content="1">
  </li>

  <li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem">
    <a itemprop="item" itemtype="https://schema.org/Thing" href="https://example.com/cameras-and-camcorders">
      <span itemprop="name">Cameras &amp; Camcorders</span>
    </a>
    <meta itemprop="position" content="2">
  </li>
  <li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem">
    <span itemprop="name">Digital Cameras</span>
    <meta itemprop="item" itemtype="https://schema.org/Thing"
          content="https://example.com/cameras-and-camcorders/digital-cameras">
    <meta itemprop="position" content="3">
  </li>
</ol>

<ul itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement">
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Appliances">
      <span itemprop="name">Appliances</span> (4306)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Audio">
      <span itemprop="name">Audio</span> (1570)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders">
      <span itemprop="name">Cameras &amp; Camcorders</span> (1369)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Car-Electronics-and-GPS">
      <span itemprop="name">Car Electronics &amp; GPS</span> (1208)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cell-Phones">
      <span itemprop="name">Cell Phones</span> (3291)
    </a>
  </li>
</ul>

<ul itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement">
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Appliances">
      <span itemprop="name">Appliances</span> (4306)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Audio">
      <span itemprop="name">Audio</span> (1570)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders">
      <span itemprop="name">Cameras &amp; Camcorders</span> (1369)
    </a>
    <ul>
      <li>
        <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Binoculars">
          <span itemprop="name">Binoculars</span> (20)
        </a>
      </li>
      <li>
        <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Camcorder-Accessories">
          <span itemprop="name">Camcorder Accessories</span> (173)
        </a>
      </li>
      <li>
        <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Camcorders">
          <span itemprop="name">Camcorders</span> (50)
        </a>
      </li>
      <li>
        <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Digital-Camera-Accessories">
          <span itemprop="name">Digital Camera Accessories</span> (804)
        </a>
      </li>
      <li>
        <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras">
          <span itemprop="name">Digital Cameras</span> (170)
        </a>
        <ul>
          <li>
            <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Digital-SLR-Cameras">
              <span itemprop="name">Digital SLR Cameras</span> (44)
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Mirrorless-Cameras">
              <span itemprop="name">Mirrorless Cameras</span> (29)
            </a>
          </li>
          <li>
            <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cameras-and-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Point-and-Shoot-Cameras">
              <span itemprop="name">Point &amp; Shoot Cameras</span> (84)
            </a>
          </li>
        </ul>
      </li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Car-Electronics-and-GPS">
      <span itemprop="name">Car Electronics &amp; GPS</span> (1208)
    </a>
  </li>
  <li>
    <a itemprop="url" href="https://example.com/Cell-Phones">
      <span itemprop="name">Cell Phones</span> (3291)
    </a>
  </li>
</ul>

Search engines support a variety of structured data, and you’re encouraged to mark up your content with it. For more information, see:

Your website is mobile-friendly

Due to the large number of users who browse the web on mobile, search engines value mobile-friendly websites and only index content visible on a mobile device. Therefore, your mobile and desktop sites must share the same content, structured data, title, and description meta tags.

Your site is using a pre-rendering technique

Algolia can power a wide array of search experiences, but the most potent implementations often rely on client-side JavaScript. That’s why InstantSearch was built: it’s a suite of search widgets compatible with the most popular frontend frameworks. Not all search engine crawlers can process JavaScript successfully or immediately. Fortunately, there are many ways around it.

Server-side rendering (SSR)

This technique fetches your data and renders a JavaScript website on the server before sending it to the browser. React InstantSearch and Vue InstantSearch support dynamic rendering. For more information, see:

Search and Discovery platform

Optimization and Personalization

AI-powered experiences

Production and scale

Your search result pages are directly accessible through a URL

Open CodeSandbox

Explore source code

Your widgets use `a` tags with `href` attributes

Dos and don’ts

Your URLs are readable

Dos and don’ts

Your URLs reflect the structure of your website

Dos and don’ts

Your `robots.txt` file

You use canonical URLs to indicate primary content

Are mobile pages duplicates?

Paginated content

Your category URLs are referenced in a sitemap

Your canonical pages have unique titles and descriptions

Your widget’s markup is semantic

Dos and don’ts

Structured data

Your website is mobile-friendly

Your site is using a pre-rendering technique

Server-side rendering (SSR)

​Your search result pages are directly accessible through a URL

Open CodeSandbox

Explore source code

​Your widgets use a tags with href attributes

​Dos and don’ts

​Your URLs are readable

​Dos and don’ts

​Your URLs reflect the structure of your website

​Dos and don’ts

​Your robots.txt file

​You use canonical URLs to indicate primary content

​Are mobile pages duplicates?

​Paginated content

​Your category URLs are referenced in a sitemap

​Your canonical pages have unique titles and descriptions

​Your widget’s markup is semantic

​Dos and don’ts

​Structured data

​Your website is mobile-friendly

​Your site is using a pre-rendering technique

​Server-side rendering (SSR)

Your search result pages are directly accessible through a URL

Your widgets use `a` tags with `href` attributes

Dos and don’ts

Your URLs are readable

Dos and don’ts

Your URLs reflect the structure of your website

Dos and don’ts

Your `robots.txt` file

You use canonical URLs to indicate primary content

Are mobile pages duplicates?

Paginated content

Your category URLs are referenced in a sitemap

Your canonical pages have unique titles and descriptions

Your widget’s markup is semantic

Dos and don’ts

Structured data

Your website is mobile-friendly

Your site is using a pre-rendering technique

Server-side rendering (SSR)