Definition

Dynamic rendering is a setup in which a server detects the requesting user agent and returns server-rendered HTML to search engine crawlers while returning the original JavaScript-driven page to browsers. Google describes it as a workaround rather than a long-term recommendation.

Dynamic rendering emerged as a way to make JavaScript-heavy sites indexable when crawlers struggled to execute scripts. Google states that it was a workaround and not a long-term solution, and now recommends server-side rendering, static rendering or hydration instead. When implemented, dynamic rendering must serve content that matches what users see; serving substantially different content to crawlers can be treated as cloaking. The technique adds operational complexity because it requires a separate rendering pipeline for bots.

Examples

• Ecommerce site with JavaScript-rendered product pages

  A retailer uses a prerender service that returns static HTML snapshots when the user agent matches Googlebot or Bingbot, while normal visitors receive the React-driven page from the same URL.

• Google's guidance on long-term direction

  Google's documentation notes that dynamic rendering was a workaround and points teams toward server-side rendering, static rendering or hydration for new builds.

Sources

• Google Search Central — Dynamic rendering

Related terms

• JavaScript SEO
  The practice of making JavaScript-powered websites crawlable, renderable and indexable by search engines.
• Server-Side Rendering
  A rendering strategy in which the server generates a page's full HTML on each request, rather than leaving the browser to build it with client-side JavaScript.
• Indexing
  The process by which a search engine analyses a fetched page and stores information about it so the page can later be returned in search results.
• Googlebot
  The generic name for Google's web crawlers — the automated software that discovers and fetches pages for inclusion in Google Search.

Where QueryCatch uses this

• SEO Audit
• Crawling & Indexing