Server-Side Rendering (SSR)

Server-Side Rendering (SSR)With Server-Side Rendering (SSR), the server generates the finished HTML before delivering the page to the browser or crawler. Content is therefore present in the source immediately.Open glossary entry → means the server builds and delivers the complete HTMLHyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the markup language for web pages. It defines the structure and content of a page, such as headings, paragraphs, links and images.Open glossary entry → per request. Crawlers and AI systems see core content without a renderingJavaScript rendering is the process by which a browser or crawler executes JavaScript code to build the final, visible page. Content that is not already in the delivered HTML only appears after this step.Open glossary entry → step of their own.

This makes SSR a robust solution for search engine optimisationSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) covers all measures that help a website become more visible in unpaid (organic) search results.Open glossary entry →, because:

• content is in the HTML immediately,
• title, meta descriptionThe meta description is an HTML element in the page that briefly summarises the page's content. Google can display it as the description in the search result.Open glossary entry → and canonical are directly available,
• internal linksInternal linking refers to links that connect pages within the same website. They control how search engines and users find and thematically classify content.Open glossary entry → are crawlableCrawling is the process by which a search engine bot fetches a URL and downloads its content. It is the first step before a page can be indexed.Open glossary entry → as real <a href> elements,
• structured dataSchema markup is code that describes a page's content in a structured way, so search engines understand it not just as text but as clearly classified information.Open glossary entry → can be output server-side.

SSR is especially useful for dynamic, frequently updated pages such as shops, product and category pages or important landing pages. For content that rarely changes, static site generation is often the simpler choice. Modern frameworks frequently combine SSR with hydrationHydration is the process of making server-delivered HTML interactive in the browser via JavaScript. The markup already exists; JavaScript only adds the behaviour.Open glossary entry → so the server-delivered page becomes interactive in the browser.