Choosing the right rendering method for your website is a crucial decision. 

Between Client-Side Rendering (CSR) and Server-Side Rendering (SSR), there are lots of differences involved. 

Let’s go one by one and find out which is the best SEO practice. 

What is Client-Side Rendering (CSR)?

Client-side rendering is a technique, where most of the rendering process occurs on the user’s browser.

In CSR, the web server sends a bare-bones HTML file to the client, which includes JavaScript files. 

Once the browser receives this initial HTML, it loads the JavaScript, which, in turn, fetches data and renders the final page.

What is Server-Side Rendering (SSR)?

Server-side rendering, on the other hand, handles most of the rendering process on the web server itself. 

It doesn’t ask for the client’s help.

Let’s say when a user requests a page, the server generates a fully-formed HTML document with the necessary data and sends it directly to the client’s browser

Use Cases of CSR and SSR

1. Client-Side Rendering (CSR):

• Single Page Applications (SPAs): CSR is ideal for SPAs, where the user interacts with the application without needing to reload the entire page. Popular JavaScript libraries and frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular are often used for building SPAs.

• Real-time Updates: When real-time data updates are crucial, CSR shines. For instance, social media feeds or stock market dashboards can benefit from CSR as data can be continuously fetched and displayed without page refreshes.

• Interactive Web Apps: Applications requiring high interactivity, like online games or collaborative tools, benefit from CSR as it provides a seamless user experience.

2. Server-Side Rendering (SSR):

• Content-Heavy Websites: SSR is excellent for content-driven websites, blogs, and e-commerce platforms. It ensures that search engines can easily crawl and index the content since the server sends a complete HTML page.

• SEO Optimization: SSR is favoured for SEO purposes because search engines, like Google, can quickly read fully-rendered HTML content. This leads to better indexing and potentially higher search rankings.

• Improved Performance on Low-End Devices: SSR is kinder to devices with limited processing power, as it reduces the burden on the client’s browser.

Which is Best for SEO Practice and why?

When it comes to SEO, Server-Side Rendering (SSR) holds a distinct advantage. Here’s why:

• Indexability: Search engines rely on crawling and indexing to understand the content of a website. SSR provides a complete HTML page from the server, making it easier for search engine bots to read and index the content accurately.

• Page Load Speed: While CSR can provide a fast, dynamic user experience after the initial load, SSR, on the other side, delivers fast first-page load times. Since page speed is a critical factor in SEO, SSR is the favourite choice here. 

• Mobile Friendliness: Optimising your website for mobile devices is crucial for SEO. Server-side rendering (SSR), which does all the work on the server, is more forgiving for mobile devices with limited resources. It ensures a smoother experience for users on mobile phones and tablets.

In conclusion, while Client-Side Rendering (CSR) is fantastic for interactive and real-time applications, Server-Side Rendering (SSR) is the preferred choice when you consider SEO best practices. 

As we have seen earlier, it has several advantages like indexability, page load speed, and mobile-friendliness. 

However, the choice ultimately depends on your specific website’s goals and requirements.

Well, we have seen enough. There are also other ways of fetching data, such as static site generation and hybrid rendering, yet this blog is only about SSR versus CSR, I ignore that.