Start by diagnosing what’s working on your site and what isn’t.
Then, apply targeted fixes based on real data. Not hunches.
In this guide, I’m sharing my lessons and strategies from 10+ years in digital marketing.
Plus, I interviewed four leading ecommerce website optimization experts for their best conversion-driving insights:
Leigh McKenzie from UnderFit (also head of SEO @ Backlinko)
Rishi Rawat from Frictionless Commerce
Anna Bolton from Conversion Copy Co.
Kurt Philip from Convertica
Let’s start by identifying the biggest roadblocks standing between you and more revenue.
Phase 1: Analyze and Diagnose Your Site’s Existing Issues
Every effective ecommerce website optimization strategy starts with a solid, data-driven diagnosis.
As economist W. Edwards Deming once said:
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”
Quantitative Research: Finding Patterns in the Numbers
Quantitative research focuses on analyzing data to identify trends and behaviors.
It helps you answer questions about your online store’s performance, such as:
Where are visitors dropping off in the funnel?
What are users actually doing on each page (scrolling, clicking)?
How does behavior differ across traffic segments (e.g., mobile vs. desktop, organic vs. paid)?
The good news:
There are many tools to help you with this analysis.
Google Analytics (GA4)
Google Analytics provides helpful insights into user behavior and website performance.
Including how visitors from different traffic sources behave.
For example, to uncover drop-off points during checkout:
Navigate to Reports > Monetization > Checkout journey.
This lets you examine the flow from checkout to purchase.
And analyze abandonment rates for each stage to identify potential bottlenecks.
For example, a high abandonment rate on the payment page might signal technical issues.
Or trust barriers, such as last-minute doubt about product quality.
Pro tip: There’s no universal definition of a high abandonment rate. It varies by industry, funnel, and goals. Compare it against your historical data to see if there’s a problem.
Hotjar
Hotjar, a heatmap and behavior analytics tool, is incredibly powerful for qualitative research (more on that soon).
It gives you a clear picture of how online shoppers interact with your site.
And lets you uncover friction points that frustrate users.
For example, click tracking reveals where visitors interact with your site.
And which elements get the most engagement.
Scroll heatmaps show you how far users make it down a page. And where they drop off.
And cool colors (like blue) signal lower engagement.
Move heatmaps track how shoppers move their mouse across the page.
This reveals areas of interest and hesitation.
Session replays let you watch real user recordings, showing exactly how visitors navigate your site.
Watch this in action below:
Semrush Site Audit
Semrush’s Site Audit tool uncovers technical issues that affect SEO and the user experience (UX).
For example, it flags crawl errors, which are usually caused by broken links or incorrect redirects.
These dead ends confuse users and make it harder for search engines to crawl your pages.
(And if Google struggles to crawl them, your ranking can take a hit.)
The tool also identifies slow-loading pages that frustrate visitors.
It can also identify code bloat (aka too much JavaScript or unused CSS) that makes pages sluggish.
This can cause delayed interactions that lower conversion rates.
Qualitative Research: Uncover the “Why” Behind the Data
Qualitative research helps you understand why customers behave the way they do.
Including their pain points, motivations, and desires.
It also helps you identify barriers to conversion, such as hesitations about buying.
And learn about other products your web visitors are considering.
Qualitative Research Methods
There are many data sources for qualitative insights.
And each one can reveal different issues and opportunities:
Research Method
What to Look For
Effort level
Recorded sales calls
Patterns in customer questions, objections, or recurring themes
Low
Live chat transcripts
Common pain points, frequently asked questions, or sources of confusion
Low
Customer reviews
Trends in positive and negative feedback. This includes specific phrases or words that highlight desires, frustrations, or expectations
Low
Online surveys
Customer sentiment toward brand messaging and tone and reasons for abandonment
Low to medium
Customer interviews
Insights into customer motivations, needs, anxieties, and desires in their own words
Medium to high
User testing sessions
Usability issues, unexpected user behaviors, or areas where users struggle to complete tasks
High
But you don’t need to go all-in on every qualitative method right off the bat.
Start with the data you already have.
Then, gradually level up as time and resources allow.
Turn Your Research Into Actionable Insights
You’ve got the research.
Now, you need a system to organize it.
As Anna Bolton, chief CRO and conversion copywriter of Conversion Copy Co., says:
The challenge isn’t just gathering research—it’s making sense of it. Whether you’re analyzing heatmaps, surveys, or reviews, you need to turn that data into meaningful insights. This starts with proper analysis to identify key patterns and trends. And then you need to understand that data in context—what it means for your business, audience, and goals. That’s what turns raw data into results.
So, what do you do?
Build a research repository to bring all your insights together in one place.
Think of it as a living database of findings and insights. This way, it’s easier for you to act on data.
But you don’t need anything fancy.
Start with a simple spreadsheet.
Include everything from customer research (interviews, surveys) to conversion rate optimization (CRO) results and survey data.
For example, Anna and I use a spreadsheet like the one below for one-off client projects.
For larger-scale projects, use UX research tools like Aurelius Lab and Dovetail.
These tools offer more advanced ways to store, categorize, and retrieve insights.
Phase 2: Apply Ecommerce Website Optimization Fixes to Increase Conversions
The ecommerce website optimization best practices we’re about to cover are designed to do one thing:
Improve the customer experience.
And when you do that, conversions naturally follow.
Side note: If you’re here for SEO tips, stick around. While I’m focusing on conversion rate optimization, CRO and SEO are becoming increasingly intertwined. Anything you do to make your site better for humans will also make Google happy.
As Leigh McKenzie, head of SEO at Backlinko and owner of UnderFit, says:
“Conversion rate optimization is becoming more and more an SEO responsibility. Google heavily rewards websites that deliver a positive user experience. It’s no longer about just bringing traffic. It’s also about what happens when people get there.”
Begin with the pages that offer the quickest wins, such as product and checkout pages.
This is what Rishi Rawat, product page optimization specialist at Frictionless Commerce, does.
I work exclusively on bestselling product pages because they have the highest impact. My goal is to turn first-time visitors into buyers. Since these pages already drive a big share of the store’s revenue, I don’t spread optimization efforts thin. Instead, I improve the sales pitch and sharpen the product story. And then I make what’s already working even more persuasive.
So, how do you identify your site’s high-impact pages?
These are the pages that attract visitors in the decision and action stages. Such as product pages or the cart page.
But you might also include other pages based on user behavior.
For example, optimize the product and cart pages if your site has high cart abandonment.
This ensures the product page sets the right expectations.
So, when shoppers get to checkout, they feel confident in their choice.
But, if your goal is to boost mobile sales, optimize the mobile experience first.
Want to maximize paid ads conversions? Make product landing pages a priority.
3. Make Navigation and Search Intuitive
Shoppers don’t always leave because they dislike your products.
Sometimes, they leave because they can’t find what they’re looking for.
That’s why navigation plays a big role in ecommerce website optimization.
If your navigation makes users rethink their next step, you’re already losing them.
For example, imagine you’re searching for dog crates on pet company Chewy’s website.
You sort the results by price.
But now, the first products you see are lock latch replacements and crate pans—not dog crates.
That’s a bad user experience.
And it might cost them the sale.
The solution?
Always test filters before launch to ensure they work as expected.
And design navigation to adapt to various browsing behaviors.
Make backtracking easy with breadcrumbs and a “Recently Viewed” section.
Plus, use AI to suggest relevant filters, related categories, and top products.
Navigation also impacts SEO.
As Leigh put it,
Good navigation isn’t just about getting users to a page. It’s about keeping them engaged in the shopping process. Shoppers want to see product variations, compare options, and refine their choices easily. When they do, they stay longer. And that’s what Google values. It favors sites where users engage rather than bounce back to search results. That’s why you want to optimize for getting people deeper into the experience.
Forcing people to create an account is an unnecessary barrier. You can just auto-generate one for them. Let them check out first, and then send them a confirmation email with their details. And a ‘Set Your Password’ option later. That way, the process stays frictionless, and they still get an account without effort.
But consider this:
Your job doesn’t stop when someone adds an item to the cart.
This is your chance to remove any last-minute hesitation and get the sale.
Ridge Wallet, an accessories manufacturer, does this well.
It displays social proof at the top of the checkout page by highlighting its “100K+ 5-star reviews.”
It also includes trust boosters like a risk-free trial and fast shipping.
Outdoor gear company Patagonia highlights its “Ironclad Guarantee” on the checkout page.
This reassures buyers that buying is risk-free.
And it also strengthens Patagonia’s credibility.
Clothing company Everlane also understands the power of timing.
It reminds shoppers of first-time buyer discounts at checkout to encourage them to take advantage of savings.
CRM data (buying history, abandoned carts): Powers retargeting campaigns and perfectly timed offers
Predictive insights: Uses AI to analyze patterns and predict needs
9. A/B Test to Learn. Not Just to Win.
At the heart of ecommerce website optimization is A/B testing.
But here’s the thing:
Your goal isn’t just about finding a “winning variation.”
It’s to learn more about the psychology of your buyers.
As Jonny Longden, chief growth officer at Speero, puts it:
When you run a test, whether it wins or loses is in some ways irrelevant because you can learn something from it. Some of the most successful tests that you will run happen as a result of a test that lost. When you chase winners, you ignore that fact.
For example, if a trust badge increases conversions, the real takeaway isn’t just that the badge works.
It’s that customers need more reassurance before they give you their credit card.
This insight goes beyond checkout.
It suggests that trust signals should be reinforced earlier in the buying journey. On product pages, in the cart, and even in post-purchase messaging.
Why?
If hesitation exists at checkout, it likely started long before.
One more thing.
A/B testing only works if you have enough traffic to reach statistical significance.
Kurt says your test page should receive at least 10,000 visits per month.
This gives you meaningful insights in a reasonable timeframe.
But traffic alone isn’t enough.
What matters is whether you can reach statistical significance. This ensures your results aren’t just due to chance.
Similarweb is powerful for digital intelligence. But like any tool, it has limitations.
You might want deeper insights into your competitors’ content strategies. Or need more reliable data for SEO planning. Or you’re simply looking for a more affordable solution.
I’ve spent months testing and researching the best Similarweb alternatives to see how they compare.
Four tools stand out as replacements.
This guide covers the top options for:
Market trends
Advanced SEO analysis
Ad intelligence
Similarweb Limitations
While Similarweb excels at competitor intelligence, it might not fit everyone.
Here are some key limitations:
Limited SEO and keyword research features: It lacks in-depth keyword rankings, SERP tracking, and backlink analysis, making it less effective for SEO professionals
Limited keyword and backlink databases: Similarweb’s databases are smaller compared to its competitors like Semrush and Ahrefs
Limited traffic source breakdown: It doesn’t show a detailed breakdown of where the website gets traffic from (e.g., organic search, social media, referrals, email, etc.)
No granular audience demographics: Unlike some alternatives, Similarweb lacks detailed demographic breakdowns, such as income level or interests, that could help with audience targeting
Similarweb Alternatives at a Glance
Before I review each tool in detail, here’s a quick comparison of the best Similarweb alternatives:
And you’ll get detailed insights into website traffic and visitor behavior that’ll help you refine your marketing strategy.
Let me show you how to use Traffic Analytics to spy on your competition.
Evaluate On-Site Engagement
Metrics like pages per visit, average visit duration, and bounce rate give you a snapshot of what happens when visitors land on the site.
Here’s what these metrics tell you about your competition:
A high bounce rate means most visitors leave without exploring other pages. This often happens when:
The content doesn’t match what visitors were searching for
Pages take too long to load
The site isn’t mobile-friendly
On the flip side, when you see a high average visit duration and multiple pages per visit, it usually means:
Their content keeps readers engaged
They’ve built effective content funnels
Their site navigation makes it easy to explore more content
Analyze Website Traffic Sources
Go to the “Traffic Journey” tab to understand where your competitors’ website visitors are coming from and which channels are driving the most traffic. For example, organic search, paid search, social, or referrals.
What do these metrics mean?
If you see most of their traffic comes from organic search (like in the screenshot above), you’ve struck gold. This usually means:
They’ve built a solid foundation of SEO-optimized content
They’re targeting the right keywords for your industry
They’re not overly dependent on paid traffic
Pro tip: Pay special attention to competitors maintaining steady organic traffic growth. These are the ones whose SEO strategies you’ll want to study and adapt for your own site.
Map Out the Traffic Journey
The Traffic Journey report is like a GPS for your competitors’ visitors. It tracks their exact path before and after they land on the site.
Here’s what different traffic patterns reveal:
Pattern #1: When you see visitors flowing from Google → Your competitor → Stripe (or other payment processors), you’ve found a winning formula:
Their content matches search intent perfectly (thanks to a solid SEO strategy)
Pattern #2: Notice lots of visitors bouncing back to Google.com? That’s a red flag indicating:
The content isn’t delivering what visitors want
There might be technical issues causing frustration
You’ve spotted a gap you can fill with better content
Discover Top-Performing Pages
Navigate to the “Top Pages” tab to identify which pages on a competitor’s site drive the most traffic.
These top pages reveal what resonates most with their audience. This offers inspiration for your content strategy.
Let’s say you run a personal finance blog. You might discover that NerdWallet’s most-visited pages are their:
Mortgage calculator tools
Credit card comparison guides
Student loan refinancing reviews
This tells you three things:
What type of content your audience want (interactive tools and comparison guides)
Which topics drive the most traffic (mortgages, credit cards, student loans)
Where to focus your content strategy for maximum impact
Market Explorer
Market Explorer helps you evaluate your market size and track up to 100 competitors at once.
The tool shows you who’s leading your industry, who’s growing fast, and detailed insights about your target audience’s demographics and behavior.
Here’s what you can do with Market Explorer:
Get a Market Summary
The Market Summary dashboard shows you a snapshot of your chosen industry.
Let’s say you’re just starting a business in the travel and tourism industry. This dashboard gives you the key metrics to evaluate the market and plan your strategy effectively:
Here’s what the key metrics on this dashboard mean:
Market consolidation: Shows if a few big players dominate your market (high consolidation) or if it’s spread across many smaller sites (low consolidation)
Market domains: How many active websites compete in your space
Market traffic: How many monthly visitors the entire industry gets (and whether it’s growing or shrinking)
Market traffic cost: How much you’d need to spend on ads to get the same traffic volume
Market size: Two key numbers that matter:
Total Addressable Market (TAM): Your maximum possible audience size (example: “all online shoppers”)
Serviceable Available Market (SAM): The audience you can realistically reach (example: “online shoppers in your country”)
Analyze Audience Insights
The Audience section provides a detailed breakdown of your industry’s demographics, socioeconomic data, and behavioral trends.
These insights help you understand your target audience on a deeper level. This will allow you to tailor your marketing strategies to their specific needs and preferences.
Market Explorer even shows detailed audience socioeconomic data. For instance, their employment status, education level, and household income and size.
You’ll also see an overview of your audience’s additional interests. And what social media they use the most.
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
Limitations
Understand where competitors get engagement from (organic search, social media, email, ads)
No mobile app intelligence
Tailored for SEO intelligence as it’s an all-in-one SEO platform
SEOs and content marketers analyzing SEO competition
Market researchers, businesses, or investors analyzing industries
Now, let’s review the key features Ahrefs Site Explorer offers.
View Your Competitors’ Top Pages
Site Explorer lets you identify the highest-value content on your competitor’s website. Plus, the top organic keywords driving that traffic.
Use these insights to replicate their success.
Let’s say you’re running a personal finance blog that competes with NerdWallet. You can analyze their top-performing pages to spot content opportunities.
In this example, the mortgage rates page is one of the most visited. This means that “current mortgage rates” is a high-demand topic worth covering on your website.
Review the Site Structures of Your Competitors
Ahrefs’ Site Structure feature shows a website’s architecture in a tree format with key SEO metrics across each section and subfolder.
This helps you analyze how competitors organize their content and which sections attract the most traffic.
For example, when you analyze one of your competitors, you can see:
Which content categories drive the most organic traffic (e.g., reviews, mortgage guides, or financial calculators)
The traffic performance of individual pages and subfolders
How much organic and paid traffic each section receives, pinpointing opportunities for content optimization
[missing-ss]
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
Limitations
Helps identify high-value content opportunities
Less emphasis on broader market research
Have a look at competitors’ site architecture
No data on your competitors’ audience (age, location, interests, etc)
Then, for each competitor’s domain, you can access detailed insights, such as:
Domain overview report: Get a bird’s-eye view of their SEO performance, including total organic traffic, keyword rankings, and estimated traffic value
Positions and keywords: See exactly which keywords they rank for, what position they’re in, and how these rankings change over time
Top pages: Discover their highest-traffic content and the exact keywords driving visitors to each page (perfect for finding content gaps in your own strategy)
Backlink profile: Analyze where their backlinks come from, which pages get the most links, and how their link profile grows over time
Site audit: Peek under the hood at their technical SEO setup, including site structure, loading speed, and potential technical issues you can learn from
Why do these insights matter?
They let you reverse-engineer your competitors’ success to improve your SEO strategy.
And find high-authority sites linked to your competitors. Then, reach out to these websites for backlink opportunities.
Best for entrepreneurs and marketers needing early trend insights to capitalize on emerging opportunities
Pricing: Free (paid plans start at $39 per month)
Exploding Topics is a market research and trend discovery tool that identifies emerging trends before they peak.
While Similarweb focuses on existing competitors, Exploding Topics helps you spot rising trends before they take off. The tool analyzes search data, social media, and startup activity to identify tomorrow’s opportunities.
Why is Exploding Topics better than Similarweb?
Let’s take a glance:
Exploding Topics
Similarweb
Primary Focus
Trend discovery and market opportunities
Competitor intelligence and market research
Trend Detection
AI-driven trend forecasting
Relies on historical industry data
Keyword Database
Identifies rising search trends
Tracks established search volume
Competitive Analysis
Limited, focused on macro trends
Detailed competitor insights
Who’s It for?
Entrepreneurs, product developers, investors
Market researchers, large enterprises
Here are the key features included in Exploding Topics:
Discover Emerging Trends Before They Peak
Exploding Topics analyzes millions of data points from search engines, social media, online discussions, and startup investments to identify growing trends.
What does this mean for you?
Let’s say you have an affiliate blog selling home technology. You want to see what’s trending to understand which products or keywords have rising demand before they become mainstream.
Using Exploding Topics, you discover that “walking pads,” compact treadmills designed for home offices, are rapidly gaining traction.
This early insight gives you three key advantages:
You can create content while competition is still low
You can rank for keywords before they get expensive
You can establish yourself as an authority before the trend peaks
In other words: you get more traffic with less effort by being first.
Spot Trends 12+ Months Before They Take Off
Exploding Topics’ forecasting feature can position you as an early authority and rank faster in search.
Imagine creating content around AI image enhancers.
At first glance, it’s hard to tell if the interest in AI-powered image tools will continue to grow or if it’s just temporary hype.
Instead of guessing, you check Exploding Topics’ forecasting data. And see that the search volume for “AI logo generator” is expected to rise steadily.
Knowing the keyword’s popularity may rise gives you the confidence to take action early and secure organic traffic before the competition.
Note: Forecasting is available in Exploding Topics Pro, but you can test it with a 14-day trial for $1. After 14 days, Pro memberships start at $39 per month.
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
Limitations
Provides long-term trend growth insights
Not focused on competitor intelligence
Predicts emerging trends before they peak
Doesn’t show competitors’ website traffic data
Match Your Similarweb Alternative to Your Growth Stage
Your business stage determines which tool you’ll need.
Just starting out? Exploding Topics gives you free baseline data to validate ideas.
Ready to scale? Semrush .Trends reveals overlooked opportunities in your space.
The right tool accelerates your market research. But knowing how to interpret the data is what drives real growth.
Ready to turn market insights into sales? Our proven market analysis framework shows you exactly how to spot and capitalize on gaps your competitors are missing.
WordPress redirects ensure your users (and Google) can find your content when you:
Change the URL
Combine two pieces of content
Move your entire site to a new domain
Using redirects avoids creating broken links (bad for user experience), or losing the authority of your backlinks (bad for your SEO).
In this guide, I’ll show you how to redirect your WordPress URLs with and without plugins.
When Should You Use WordPress Redirects?
You typically set up WordPress redirects any time you want visitors (and search engines) to end up at a different URL than the one they originally tried to access.
That might be because you changed an old link, or because you’re testing a new landing page.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common scenarios:
Use Case
Example
Why It Matters
Changing page URLs
You updated your post slug from /old-page to /new-page
A redirect ensures visitors who save, bookmark, or click the old link don’t land on a 404 error
Deleting or merging content
You remove outdated pages or combine two posts into one
Redirects in these cases ensure you don’t lose valuable backlinks
Rebranding or domain changes
You switch from olddomain.com to newdomain.com
A sitewide redirect preserves your site’s SEO and minimizes traffic lost during the migration
Temporary promotions
You create a holiday sale page that’s active for one week
A temporary (302) redirect lets you direct traffic to the special offer, then you can revert back to the original URL when it’s over
Types of WordPress Redirects
You’ll mostly rely on two key types of redirects: 301 and 302. (Even then, 301 is the type you’ll likely use most often.)
While there are others (like meta refresh), they don’t come up nearly as often in day-to-day site management (and they’re typically not best practice either). So I won’t talk about them here.
There are also subtle variations of these standard redirects (like 307 and 308 redirects). But these have very specific use cases that most site owners don’t need to worry about.
Here’s a summary of what you actually need to know:
301 Permanent Redirect
This is the go-to redirect for any page move that’s meant to last forever. You use it when you’ve changed your URL structure, merged content, or changed your domain.
You use 302 redirects when you plan to send visitors to a new page for a limited time.
This could be when you’re running a seasonal promotion or an A/B test to see which version of your page performs best.
A 302 redirect tells search engines that the old URL is coming back eventually, so they shouldn’t transfer the SEO value to the new page just yet.
What to Do Before You Create WordPress Redirects
Redirecting pages, no matter why or how you do it, always comes with an inherent risk.
It’s easy to make mistakes, like creating redirect chains:
Or redirect loops:
So it’s best to do some planning before you get started.
Understand What Kind of WordPress Site You Own
There are two flavors of WordPress:
WordPress.com: These sites are built on and hosted by WordPress
WordPress.org: These sites run the WordPress software, but you host them elsewhere
Most sites you’ll see talking about WordPress redirects, and everything I’ll discuss below, only really applies to owners of sites running via WordPress.org.
Sites running on WordPress.com typically have more limited customization options, and this applies to redirecting URLs.
For example, users on WordPress’s cheapest plan can’t install plugins, so they won’t be able to redirect URLs with this method.
This means you’ll need to use WordPress’s built-in redirect tool. You can learn more about the different use cases in this support article.
If you run a WordPress.org site (i.e., you pay for separate hosting), you can use either of the methods below.
Create a Backup
It’s always a good idea to back up your site before making any significant changes—redirects included.
Most good web hosts offer an option for this, but you’ll also find external solutions and even WordPress plugins to do it for you.
Create a URL Map
Another good idea if you’re redirecting a lot of URLs or moving to a new domain is to map all of your current URLs to their new versions.
You can do this using tools like Screaming Frog to get a comprehensive list of all your site’s pages. Or, if your site isn’t that big, just create a list manually (with the help of your sitemap).
This gives you a reference for setting up all the redirects. And you can tick them all off as you put them in place and verify that they work.
Consider Whether You Need a Redirect
Finally, consider whether you even need a redirect at all. I’ve covered a few common situations above, but sometimes you might be better off:
Updating the content and keeping the current URL
Deleting the page
Leaving it as is
For example, you might have outdated content or a page that’s no longer relevant, but no relevant page to redirect it to.
But you don’t want to lose the traffic or backlinks that post has attracted over time. In this case, it’s often just best to leave it as is.
Here’s a flowchart to help you decide what to do:
But if you do need a redirect, here’s how to implement them.
Note: It should go without saying that you’ll need to own the domain you’re redirecting. Otherwise anyone could redirect any domain to their own website.
How to Redirect WordPress URLs with a Plugin
Using a plugin is by far the easiest way to handle redirects in WordPress. You don’t have to touch any code, and they’re usually pretty easy to set up.
Here’s an overview of the most popular WordPress plugins for creating redirects:
Plugin
Key Benefit
Price
Redirection
Handles 301 redirects with a simple interface
Free
301 Redirects
Quick setup for basic redirects
Free (with optional paid plans)
Rank Math
Offers advanced SEO tools plus auto-redirects when you change URL slugs
Free (Premium available)
Yoast
All-in-one SEO plugin
Paid (annual license)
AIO SEO
A range of SEO features and simple redirects
Paid (annual plans)
Note: I won’t be going through all the steps for setting each of these up. In most cases, it’s something like this:
Install plugin
Navigate to the redirects/redirections menu within that plugin’s settings
Set up your redirects
I’ll show the main interface for each one below, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. The main things to consider are any other plugin features you might need and whether you can do it for free.
Redirection
Types of redirects: 301/302/303/304/307/308
Redirection is the most popular free plugin for simple 301 redirects.
It does exactly what the name implies and is a plugin purely for creating and managing redirects.
You can add new redirects very easily, and the plugin automatically tracks any 404 errors on your site.
Plus, if you update the URL of a page, you can set it to automatically create a redirect for it.
That means you don’t need to worry about broken links appearing that could cost you traffic and rankings.
You can also choose various HTTP status codes for pages. This is handy if you’re deleting content and want the URL to send a 410 gone status code, for example.
The Redirection plugin can also handle a few useful sitewide redirects:
HTTP to HTTPS
Removing WWW
Adding WWW
As I’ll show you later, you can set these kinds of redirects up through .htaccess. But if you want a simple, no-code way to do it, this is SUPER useful.
If you’re looking for something lightweight and focused purely on redirects, this plugin is a great choice.
301 Redirects
Types of redirects: 301/302/307
301 Redirects is another option if you just want basic link redirection without any extra features.
The free version handles most common redirect scenarios through a simple interface.
But there’s a premium version available if you want other features like:
Redirect management and matching rules
Detailed 404 monitoring
Link scanning
Rank Math
Types of redirects: 301/302/307
Rank Math is an all-in-one SEO plugin that also lets you create redirects—without needing a premium subscription.
Note that you can set up three types of redirects and choose 410 or 451 status codes.
Its standout feature (for this discussion) is the auto-redirect function: when you change a URL slug, the plugin sets up a redirect for you automatically.
This saves you from having to remember to do it yourself.
It also includes an array of other SEO tools—like keyword optimization and schema settings.
So, if you need a plugin that can handle other aspects of your site’s SEO, Rank Math is a good pick.
Yoast
Types of redirects: 301/302/307/410/451
Yoast is one of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress.
The downside is that you need the premium version to access the built-in redirect manager. If you’re already using Yoast Premium for other features though, it’s a no-brainer.
You’ll get a user-friendly interface for setting up 301 or 302 redirects (and 410/451 status codes), and it’ll automatically set up redirects when you change URLs.
AIO SEO
Types of redirects: 301/302/303/304/307/308
AIO SEO (All in One SEO) is another heavyweight in the SEO world. It offers redirect features, but you need a paid subscription to unlock them.
In return, you get a clean, well-structured dashboard where you can manage redirects alongside other SEO tasks.
Like the others, the redirect manager is straightforward—just enter the old URL, the new URL, and save.
If you’re already using AIO SEO for keyword optimization or sitemap management, upgrading for the redirect module could make sense.
Note: You probably won’t want to use any combination of Rank Math, Yoast, and AIO SEO. They all do many of the same things, and conflicts between them can cause issues with your site.
How to Set Up a Redirect in WordPress via .htaccess
If you’re comfortable taking a more hands-on approach, you can skip plugins entirely and create redirects by editing your site’s .htaccess file.
(Note that this only applies to WordPress sites running on Apache, not Nginx.)
This file tells your server how to handle certain requests, and it’s often used for things like permalinks and redirect rules.
It can be faster than installing a plugin, and if you already have lots of plugins on your site, it limits how much extra “bloat” you add to it.
In other words: your site might run faster.
The catch is that one wrong line of code can bring your whole site down. So I strongly recommend you consult your developer if possible. Or, at the very least, take a lot of care when doing it yourself.
How to Access .htaccess
The usual method to edit your .htaccess file involves an FTP client. This is a “file transfer protocol” program that lets you access your server’s files from your computer.
In many cases, you can edit your .htaccess file right inside your hosting control panel (like cPanel or a similar dashboard).
Look for a “File Manager” or something similar:
Then, look in your site’s root folder (often called public_html) for your .htaccess file.
It might be hidden by default—there’s usually an option in your settings to change that.
You’ll see lines of code that might look a bit intimidating, but don’t panic.
You don’t need to edit any of them. We’ll just be adding some additional lines of code to our .htaccess file.
Before You Start
For some redirects, you’ll need to add a few lines of code like this:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
You don’t need to worry too much about what this does, but essentially it lets you add certain rules that’ll execute specific types of redirects. (Some hosts might enable the first line by default, but it’s fine to add it here anyway.)
You don’t need these for a basic single redirect, but you will for the more complex ones.
You also only need to add it once in your .htaccess file (provided you don’t also have “RewriteEngine Off” somewhere else in the file). But I’ve included it in each of the instances below that require it.
Finally, it’s important to note that these .htaccess rules don’t “create” any new pages.
You need to ensure the pages you’re redirecting to are live when you add the rule. Otherwise the redirect will lead to an error page.
With that in mind, here are the most common types of WordPress redirects you can add to your .htaccess file. In each case, add them at the start of your .htaccess file.
Note: The first part (/old-url) should be the relative form of the URL. But the second part should be the full URL, including the protocol (https://) and domain name.
Redirecting a Single Folder
When you want to redirect a folder (e.g., moving a /blog category over to your /news category), use this code:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^blog/(.*)$ /news/$1 [L,R=301]
Again, you’d replace the blog and news parts with your own folder names.
But what do all the other parts mean?
You don’t need to know the specifics, as there are lots of possible combinations. But this particular case does the following:
^ means “start looking at the beginning of the URL path”
blog/ is the folder we’re redirecting from
(.*) captures everything after blog/ (think of it like copying it to the clipboard)
$ basically says “that’s the end of what we’re looking for”
/news/ is the new folder we’re redirecting to
$1 essentially “pastes” everything we “copied” with (.*) into the new location
L means stop processing rules for this specific request once it matches this rule
R=301 means it’s a 301 redirect (as opposed to 302, for example)
So, it would redirect a URL like:
https://yourdomain.com/blog/post-1
To:
https://yourdomain.com/news/post-1
Redirecting to a New Domain
Redirecting to a new domain is where things can get tricky. Having done this myself, I strongly recommend you speak to your developer first.
But if you plan to do it yourself, here’s one example of a rule you can add to your .htaccess file (obviously subbing in your specific old and new domains, with or without www as required):
This maintains the same structure for each URL but on the new domain.
You can tweak some of the symbols to catch or ignore specific parts of the URL. But again, it’s probably best to seek help from your developer if you need a more precise solution.
Remember: This .htaccess rule doesn’t create any pages on the new site.
If you try to redirect “olddomain.com/example-page” but there’s no “newdomain.com/example-page” or its URL is slightly different (e.g., newdomain.com/example-page1), the user will get a 404 error.
That’s why you should create a redirect map before starting a site move. For more on this, see our website migration checklist.
Redirecting HTTP to HTTPS
You can also redirect your website from HTTP (unsecure) to HTTPS (secure) via .htaccess. (You’ll, of course, need a valid SSL certificate.)
However:
You might not need to. There’s a good chance your web host offers a method to do this for you. Or you might already have a plugin that does it.
In either case, you shouldn’t then add a separate .htaccess rule to redirect to HTTPS. Doing so can actually lead to issues.
But if you do want to add it, here’s the code:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
You can copy and paste this rule directly into your .htaccess file without subbing anything in.
Redirecting WWW to Non-WWW
As with redirecting to HTTPS, you can usually redirect from the www. version of your website without touching your .htaccess file.
One method is through your WordPress dashboard’s “General” settings tab. Just enter the URL you want to use for your domain name in the “WordPress Address” and “Site Address Boxes”:
But if you want to do this via .htaccess, here’s the code to add (you can copy and paste it in without changing anything):
Remember: You only need to add one instance of “RewriteEngine On” in your .htaccess file.
Pros and Cons of Using .htaccess for WordPress Redirects
The main advantages of using .htaccess to redirect WordPress URLs include:
Fewer plugins, less bloat: Every plugin you install can slow down your site. Changes to .htaccess don’t rely on lots of extra code running in the background.
Extra control: You can set up advanced redirect rules, and you can be very specific about what does and doesn’t redirect.
Fast execution: Because .htaccess rules run at the server level, your redirects happen quickly.
But there are a few drawbacks:
Risk of breaking your site: One small typo can cause major errors. Double-check everything, and always keep a backup.
No built-in tracking: Unlike plugin dashboards that log errors and hits, you won’t see which URLs have triggered the redirect unless you check your server logs.
Potential performance impact: While the actual redirects might be fast, adding lots of .htaccess rules could impact overall performance and page speed (although it won’t be noticeable in most cases).
A big caveat here, though, is that which method is right for you will depend on how many redirects you need to implement and the nature of them.
Need to redirect a couple of pages, and want an easy way to do it as needed?
The likely small performance impact of a single plugin is probably worth it for the flexibility and convenience.
Redirecting one URL?
It’s probably most efficient to add it to your .htaccess file (it’s just one line of code).
Performing a massive site migration with thousands or millions of redirects?
For massive sites, it’s probably not worth taking any risks trying to use a plugin or editing your .htaccess file. This is where you’ll likely want to seek expert assistance.
How to Check Your WordPress Redirects Are Working
Whether you set your redirects up using a plugin or via .htaccess, I recommend testing to make sure they work as soon as you’ve implemented them. This lets you fix errors before they impact your users (or your SEO).
You can do this manually by checking the URLs if you didn’t create that many redirects.
But if you have lots of them, you can use a tool like Semrush’s Site Audit to check for issues across your entire site.
You just set up your audit and once it runs, you’ll head to the “Issues” tab.
Search for “links” to bring up any relevant issues:
Pay particular attention to these errors and warnings:
# internal links are broken
# pages returned 4XX status code
# redirect chains and loops
# pages with a broken canonical link
# links couldn’t be crawled (incorrect URL formats)
# links on HTTPS pages lead to HTTP page
These often occur when you implement lots of redirects and set up some (or all) of them incorrectly.
Growing your website starts with reaching the right people.
Not random traffic.
People actively searching for the solutions you provide.
That’s where organic traffic shines.
Unlike paid advertising or social media, organic traffic attracts visitors with clear intent.
At Backlinko, organic traffic brings us over 571K monthly visitors—each one specifically interested in SEO and digital marketing.
In this guide, you’ll learn all about organic traffic, including how to measure and increase it.
Let’s start with what organic traffic is and how it differs from other traffic sources.
What Is Organic Traffic?
Organic traffic refers to visitors who land on your website or blog from unpaid search engine results.
Think of it as people finding your content naturally when they search for information, products, or services.
These unpaid clicks are organic traffic.
For example, if someone searches “seo competitor analysis” on Google and clicks on a regular (non-ad) result, that counts as organic traffic.
The key word here is “unpaid.”
While you might see “sponsored” or “ad” results at the top of search results, clicks on these aren’t organic traffic—they’re paid traffic.
You earn organic traffic by creating high-quality content that matches what people are searching for (search intent) and optimizing it for search engines (SEO).
Understanding Organic vs. Other Traffic Sources
Search engines aren’t the only way people find websites.
Visitors might come from social media, email newsletters, or by typing your URL directly.
Here’s how different traffic sources compare:
Traffic Source
How It Works
Best For
Organic
Users find you through unpaid search results
Building long-term authority and consistent traffic
Paid search
Users click your ads in search results
Quick traffic for specific campaigns
Direct
Users type your URL or use bookmarks
Returning visitors and brand awareness
Social
Users find you through social media
Brand awareness and community building
Email
Users click links in your emails
Nurturing leads and customer retention
Referral
Users click links from other websites
Building authority and partnerships
Why Organic Traffic Matters
Organic traffic isn’t just about reaching your target audience.
It’s about building assets that continue delivering value long after you create them.
Here’s why investing in organic search makes sense for businesses of all sizes.
Cost-Effective
Organic traffic is one of the most affordable ways to attract qualified visitors to your website.
This is especially true when you compare it to paid advertising, which costs anywhere from $0.11 to $0.50 per click, according to a WebFX survey.
Now, let’s consider a leading home improvement site, The Spruce, as an example.
They attract 9 million organic visitors monthly.
This traffic would cost them an estimated $7.1 million if they paid for it through Google Ads.
Pretty impressive, right?
As you can see, organic traffic can deliver incredible ROI compared to the ongoing costs of paid advertising.
Myth vs. fact: While organic traffic doesn’t require paying per click, it’s not exactly “free” either. At a minimum, you’ll be investing time into content creation and SEO. Many businesses also hire writers and editors to scale content production.
Builds Authority
Consistently ranking for search terms helps establish your site as an industry leader.
NerdWallet demonstrates this perfectly.
With 13.2 million monthly organic visitors and 5.2 million backlinks, they’ve become the go-to source for financial advice.
Their approach?
Creating comprehensive content that displays E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) signals:
Author credentials and expertise
Regular content updates with accurate information
Citations to credible sources
Real-world experience and testing
Clear website policies and contact information
When they rank #1 on Google for terms like “best high yield savings account” or “how to invest in stocks,” it reinforces their position as a trusted voice in personal finance.
And helps them build website authority and confidence with every click.
Drives Targeted Traffic
When someone finds your site through organic search, they’re currently looking for what you offer.
Think about someone searching for “how to optimize a blog post.”
They’re not casually browsing—they’re sitting at their computer, working on content, and need guidance right now.
If your site ranks highly for this search, you’re reaching them at the perfect moment:
When they’re most likely to read your advice, implement your tips, or purchase a solution that helps them succeed.
That’s the power of organic traffic.
By consistently appearing in these high-intent searches, you connect with people precisely when your expertise matters most.
While paid campaigns stop delivering the moment you pause them, organic traffic compounds over time.
The key is creating content that matches what your audience is searching for at every funnel stage.
Including when they’re researching a problem, comparing solutions, or ready to make a purchase.
This builds a sustainable pipeline of qualified leads that continues growing long after you publish the content.
The best part? You don’t have to depend on daily ad spend.
Important: Consider organic traffic an investment rather than a quick win. While your exact timeline will vary based on industry, competition, and content strategy, it can take four to six months (or more) before you start seeing significant organic traffic growth.
How to Check Organic Traffic
Tracking your organic traffic reveals which content drives visitors and growth opportunities.
It also proves your SEO ROI.
These three tools make it easy.
Organic Research
Semrush’s Organic Research tool goes beyond basic traffic metrics to show you the full picture of your organic performance.
Now, you’ll see an overview of your site’s performance, including organic search.
For a breakdown of which search engines drive the most organic traffic to your site, scroll to the traffic acquisition report.
Next, click the plus sign to add a secondary dimension.
Select “Session source.”
Now, you’ll see an organic traffic breakdown by search engine.
Pro tip: Want to see which individual pages get the most organic traffic? Go to “Engagement” > “Pages and Screens” and add a secondary dimension of “Session source / medium.”
Google Search Console
While GA4 tracks all search engines, Google Search Console (GSC) focuses solely on Google traffic—giving you detailed data about your Google search performance.
Start by opening your GSC account and clicking “Performance” > “Search results” in the left sidebar.
Scroll to see the top queries and pages that attract organic traffic to your site.
You’ll learn how many clicks and impressions each one gets.
The tool will return a long list of keywords and metrics for each one.
Including:
Search volume: How many times per month a keyword is searched
Keyword difficulty (KD): This is a score from one to 100, showing how hard it’ll be to rank in Google’s top 10 for the given term
Intent: The reason behind a user’s search: they want information (informational), they want to compare options (commercial), they’re trying to find a specific site (navigational), or they want to buy something (transactional)
“LinkedIn marketing” gets 4,400 searches per month but has a daunting keyword difficulty of 95.
Let’s filter the results so we can find terms with lower difficulty.
Click “KD” on the menu and enter “0” and “49.”
Now, you’ll see only terms that are “easy” or “possible” to rank for.
As you review the list, look for terms that have:
Search intent aligned with your content type (how-to, product reviews, etc.)
Realistic competition levels for your site
Enough monthly searches to be worth targeting
Pro tip: Enter your domain into the AI-powered search bar in the Keyword Magic Tool. You’ll get a personalized difficulty score that shows which keywords are actually within reach for your site.
3. Refresh Existing Content
Want faster results?
Update existing content instead of only creating new posts.
Since Google already knows these pages exist, you’ll be more likely to see improvements quickly.
Your first step is to identify underperforming content that could benefit from a refresh.
Head to Google Search Console and click “Performance” > “Search results.”
This helps Google and visitors understand what they’ll find on the linked page.
Pro tip: Every time you publish a new post, spend five to 10 minutes adding relevant internal links from your existing content. This can help Google discover and rank your new content faster.
Bonus Step: Optimize Your Link Flow
Prioritize link equity by linking from high-authority pages to newer or lower-performing ones
Use topic clusters to organize related content into silos that strengthen overall relevance
Ensure crawl efficiency by avoiding excessive links on a single page
6. Build a Backlink Strategy
Backlinks remain one of Google’s strongest ranking signals.
The more relevant sites that link to you, the more organic traffic you can attract.
But how do you earn these valuable links?
Start by creating content that naturally attracts them.
The most linkable content types we’ve found include:
JavaScript has enabled highly interactive and dynamic websites. But it also presents a challenge: ensuring your site is crawlable, indexable, and fast.
That’s why JavaScript SEO is essential.
When applied correctly, these strategies can significantly boost organic search performance.
For instance, book retailer Follet saw a remarkable recovery after fixing JavaScript issues:
That’s the impact of effective JavaScript SEO.
In this guide, you’ll:
Get an introduction to JavaScript SEO
Understand the challenges with using JavaScript for search
Learn best practices to optimize your JavaScript site for organic search
What Is JavaScript SEO?
JavaScript SEO is the process of optimizing JavaScript websites. It ensures search engines can crawl, render, and index them.
Aligning JavaScript websites with SEO best practices can boost organic search rankings. All without hurting the user experience.
However, there are still uncertainties surrounding JavaScript and SEO’s impact.
Common JavaScript Misconceptions
Misconception
Reality
Google can handle all JavaScript perfectly.
Since JavaScript is rendered in two phases, delays and errors can occur. These issues can stop Google from crawling, rendering, and indexing content, hurting rankings.
JavaScript is only for large sites.
JavaScript is versatile and benefits websites of varying sizes. Smaller sites can use JavaScript in interactive forms, content accordions, and navigation dropdowns
JavaScript SEO is optional.
JavaScript SEO is key for finding and indexing content, especially on JavaScript-heavy sites.
Benefits of JavaScript SEO
Optimizing JavaScript for SEO can offer several advantages:
Improved visibility: Crawled and indexed JavaScript content can boost search rankings
Enhanced performance: Techniques like code splitting deliver only the important JavaScript code. This speeds up the site and reduces load times.
Stronger collaboration: JavaScript SEO encourages SEOs, developers, and web teams to work together. This helps improve communication and alignment on your SEO project plan.
Enhanced user experience: JavaScript boosts UX with smooth transitions and interactivity. It also speeds up and makes navigation between webpages more dynamic.
Side note: JavaScript can impact PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals scores.
How Search Engines Render JavaScript
To understand JavaScript’s SEO impact, let’s explore how search engines process JavaScript pages.
Google has outlined that it processes JavaScript websites in three phases:
Crawling
Processing
Indexing
Crawling
When Google finds a URL, it checks the robots.txt file and meta robots tags. This is to see if any content is blocked from being crawled or rendered.
If a link is discoverable by Google, the URL is added to a queue for simultaneous crawling and rendering.
Rendering
For traditional HTML websites, content is immediately available from the server response.
In JavaScript websites, Google must execute JavaScript to render and index the content. Due to resource demands, rendering is deferred until resources are available with Chromium.
Indexing
Once rendered, Googlebot reads the HTML, adds new links to the crawl list, and indexes the content.
How JavaScript Affects SEO
Despite its growing popularity, the question often arises: Is JavaScript bad for SEO?
Let’s examine aspects that can severely impact SEO if you don’t optimize JavaScript for search.
Rendering Delays
For Single Page Applications (SPAs) — like Gmail or Twitter, where content updates without page refreshes — JavaScript controls the content and user experience.
If Googlebot can’t execute the JavaScript, it may show a blank page.
This happens when Google struggles to process the JavaScript. It hurts the page’s visibility and organic performance.
To test how Google will see your SPA site if it can’t execute JavaScript, use the web crawler Screaming Frog. Configure the render settings to “Text Only” and crawl your site.
Note: You’ll need an SEO Spider Licence to access this setting.
Expert tip: Use Screaming Frog’s “Disable JavaScript” feature. It simulates how search engines crawl your site without executing scripts. This allows you to identify missing content or rendering issues.
Indexing Issues
JavaScript frameworks (like React or Angular, which help build interactive websites) can make it harder for Google to read and index content.
For example, Follet’s online bookstore migrated millions of pages to a JavaScript framework.
Google had trouble processing the JavaScript, causing a sharp decline in organic performance:
Crawl Budget Challenges
Websites have a crawl budget. This refers to the number of pages Googlebot can crawl and index within a given timeframe.
Large JavaScript files consume significant crawling resources. They also limit Google’s ability to explore deeper pages on the site.
Core Web Vitals Concerns
JavaScript can affect how quickly the main content of a web page is loaded. This affects Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), a Core Web Vitals score.
For example, check out this performance timeline:
Section #4 (“Element Render Delay”) shows a JavaScript-induced delay in rendering an element.
This negatively impacts the LCP score.
JavaScript Rendering Options
When rendering webpages, you can choose from three options:
Server-Side Rendering (SSR), Client-Side Rendering (CSR), or Dynamic Rendering.
Let’s break down the key differences between them.
Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
SSR creates the full HTML on the server. It then sends this HTML directly to the client, like a browser or Googlebot.
This approach means the client doesn’t need to render the content.
As a result, the website loads faster and offers a smoother experience.
Benefits of SSR
Drawbacks of SSR
Improved performance
Higher server load
Search engine optimization
Longer time to interactivity
Enhanced accessibility
Complex implementation
Consistent experience
Limited caching
Client-Side Rendering (CSR)
In CSR, the client—like a user, browser, or Googlebot—receives a blank HTML page. Then, JavaScript runs to generate the fully rendered HTML.
Google can render client-side, JavaScript-driven pages. But, it may delay rendering and indexing.
Benefits of CSR
Drawbacks of CSR
Reduced server load
Slower initial load times
Enhanced interactivity
SEO challenges
Improved scalability
Increased complexity
Faster page transitions
Performance variability
Dynamic Rendering
Dynamic rendering, or prerendering, is a hybrid approach.
Tools like Prerender.io detect Googlebot and other crawlers. They then send a fully rendered webpage from a cache.
This way, search engines don’t need to run JavaScript.
At the same time, regular users still get a CSR experience. JavaScript is executed and content is rendered on the client side.
Google says dynamic rendering isn’t cloaking. The content shown to Googlebot just needs to be the same as what users see.
However, it warns that dynamic rendering is a temporary solution. This is due to its complexity and resource needs.
Benefits of Dynamic Rendering
Drawbacks of Dynamic Rendering
Better SEO
Complex setup
Crawler compatibility
Risk of cloaking
Optimized UX
Tool dependency
Scalable for large sites
Performance latency
Which Rendering Approach is Right for You?
The right rendering approach depends on several factors.
Here are key considerations to help you determine the best solution for your website:
Rendering Option
Best for
When to Choose
Requirements
Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
SEO-critical sites (e.g., ecommerce, blogs)
Sites relying on organic traffic
Faster Core Web Vitals (e.g., LCP)
Need timely indexing and visibility
Users expect fast, fully-rendered pages upon load
Strong server infrastructure to handle higher load
Expertise in SSR frameworks (e.g., Next.js, Nuxt.js)
Client-Side Rendering (CSR)
Highly dynamic user interfaces (e.g., dashboards, web apps)
Content not dependent on organic traffic (e.g. behind login)
SEO is not a top priority
Focus on reducing server load and scaling for large audiences
JavaScript optimization to address performance issues
Need to balance bot crawling with user-focused interactivity
Pre-rendering tool like Prerender.io
Bot detection and routing configuration
Regular audits to avoid cloaking risks
Knowing these technical solutions is important. But the best approach depends on how your website uses JavaScript.
Where does your site fit?
Minimal JavaScript: Most content is in the HTML (e.g., WordPress sites). Just make sure search engines can see key text and links.
Moderate JavaScript: Some elements load dynamically, like live chat, AJAX-based widgets, or interactive product filters. Use fallbacks or dynamic rendering to keep content crawlable.
Heavy JavaScript: Your site depends on JavaScript to load most content, like SPAs built with React or Vue. To make sure Google can see it, you may need SSR or pre-rendering.
Fully JavaScript-rendered: Everything from content to navigation relies on JavaScript (e.g., Next.js, Gatsby). You’ll need SSR or Static Site Generation (SSG), optimized hydration, and proper metadata handling to stay SEO-friendly.
The more JavaScript your site relies on, the more important it is to optimize for SEO.
JavaScript SEO Best Practices
So, your site looks great to users—but what about Google?
If search engines can’t properly crawl or render your JavaScript, your rankings could take a hit.
The good news? You can fix it.
Here’s how to make sure your JavaScript-powered site is fully optimized for search.
1. Ensure Crawlability
Avoid blocking JavaScript files in the robots.txt file to ensure Google can crawl them.
In the past, HTML-based websites often blocked JavaScript and CSS.
Now, crawling JavaScript files is crucial for accessing and rendering key content.
2. Choose the Optimal Rendering Method
It’s crucial to choose the right approach based on your site’s needs.
This decision may depend on your resources, user goals, and vision for your website. Remember:
Server-side rendering: Ensures content is fully rendered and indexable upon page load. This improves visibility and user experience.
Client-side rendering: Renders content on the client side, offering better interactivity for users
Dynamic rendering: Sends crawlers pre-rendered HTML and users a CSR experience
3. Reduce JavaScript Resources
Reduce JavaScript size by removing unused or unnecessary code. Even unused code must be accessed and processed by Google.
Combine multiple JavaScript files to reduce the resources Googlebot needs to execute. This helps improve efficiency.
Pro tip: Use PageSpeed Insights to find JavaScript issues, like render-blocking scripts. Follow its suggestions, such as deferring non-critical scripts or minifying code.
4. Defer Scripts Blocking Content
You can defer render-blocking JavaScript to speed up page loading.
Use the “defer” attribute to do this, as shown below:
<script defer src="your-script.js"></script>
This tells browsers and search engines to run the code once the main CSS and JavaScript have loaded.
5. Manage JavaScript-Generated Content
Managing JavaScript content is key. It must be accessible to search engines and provide a smooth user experience.
Here are some best practices to optimize it for SEO:
Provide Fallback Content
Use the <noscript> tag to show essential info if JavaScript fails or is disabled
Ensure critical content like navigation and headings is included in the initial HTML
For example, Yahoo uses a <noscript> tag. It shows static product details for JavaScript-heavy pages.
Optimize JavaScript-Based Pagination
Use HTML <a> tags for pagination to ensure Googlebot can crawl each page
Dynamically update URLs with the History API for “Load More” buttons
Add rel=”prev” and rel=”next” to indicate paginated page relationships
For instance, Skechers employs a “Load More” button that generates accessible URLs:
Test and Verify Rendering
Use Google Search Console’s (GSC) URL Inspection Tool and Screaming Frog to check JavaScript content. Is it accessible?
Test JavaScript execution using browser automation tools like Puppeteer to ensure proper rendering
Confirm Dynamic Content Loads Correctly
Use loading=”lazy” for lazy-loaded elements and verify they appear in rendered HTML
Provide fallback content for dynamically loaded elements to ensure visibility to crawlers
For example, Backlinko lazy loads images within HTML:
6. Create Developer-Friendly Processes
Working closely with developers is key to integrating JavaScript and SEO best practices.
Here’s how you can streamline the process:
Spot the issues: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Chrome DevTools. They can find JavaScript rendering issues. Document these early.
Write actionable tickets: Write clear SEO dev tickets with the issue, its SEO impact, and step-by-step instructions to fix it. For example, here’s a sample dev ticket:
Test and validate fixes: Conduct quality assurance (QA) to ensure fixes are implemented correctly. Share updates and results with your team to maintain alignment.
Collaborate in real time: Use project management tools like Notion, Jira, or Trello. These help ensure smooth communication between SEOs and developers.
By building developer-friendly processes, you can solve JavaScript SEO issues faster. This also creates a collaborative environment that helps the whole team.
Communicating SEO best practices for JavaScript usage is as crucial as its implementation.
JavaScript SEO Resources + Tools
As you learn how to make your javascript SEO friendly, several tools can assist you in the process.
Educational Resources
Google has provided or contributed to some great resources:
Understand JavaScript SEO Basics
Google’s JavaScript basics documentation explains how it processes JavaScript content.
What you’ll learn:
How Google processes JavaScript content, including crawling, rendering, and indexing
Best practices for ensuring JavaScript-based websites are fully optimized for search engines
Common pitfalls to avoid and strategies to improve SEO performance on JavaScript-driven websites
Who it’s for: Developers and SEO professionals optimizing JavaScript-heavy sites.
Rendering on the Web
The web.dev article Rendering on the Web is a comprehensive resource. It explores various web rendering techniques, including SSR, CSR, and prerendering.
What you’ll learn:
An in-depth overview of web rendering techniques
Performance implications of each rendering method. And how they affect user experience and SEO.
Actionable insights for choosing the right rendering strategy based on your goals
Who it’s for: Marketers, developers, and SEOs wanting to boost performance and visibility.
Use Screaming Frog’s robots.txt settings to emulate Googlebot. The tool can confirm if critical JavaScript files are accessible.
When to use:
Debugging JavaScript-related indexing problems
Testing rendering issues with pre-rendered or dynamic content
Semrush Site Audit
Semrush’s Site Audit is a powerful tool for diagnosing JavaScript SEO issues.
Key features:
Crawlability checks: Identifies JavaScript files that hinder rendering and indexing
Rendering insights: Detects JavaScript-related errors impacting search engines’ ability to process content
Performance metrics: Highlights Core Web Vitals like LCP and Total Blocking Time (TBT)
Actionable fixes: Provides recommendations to optimize JavaScript code, improve speed, and fix rendering issues
Site Audit also includes a “JS Impact” report, which focuses on uncovering JavaScript-related issues.
It highlights blocked files, rendering errors, and performance bottlenecks. The report provides actionable insights to enhance SEO.
When to use:
Identify rendering blocking issues caused by JavaScript
Troubleshoot performance issues after implementing large JavaScript implementations
Google Search Console
Google Search Console’s Inspection Tool helps analyze your JavaScript pages. It checks how Google crawls, renders, and indexes them.
Key features:
Rendering verification: Check if Googlebot successfully executes and renders JavaScript content
Crawlability insights: Identify blocked resources or missing elements impacting indexing
Live testing: Use live tests to ensure real-time changes are visible to Google
Example use case:
Inspecting a JavaScript-rendered page to see if all critical content is in the rendered HTML
When to use:
Verifying JavaScript rendering and indexing
Troubleshooting blank or incomplete content in Google’s search results
Pro tip: Use GSC’s “Coverage Report.” It can find resources blocked by robots.txt or delayed by heavy JavaScript. Regularly reviewing this report helps maintain optimal crawlability.
Performance Optimization
You may need to test your JavaScript website’s performance. These tools granularly break down performance:
WebPageTest
WebPageTest helps analyze website performance, including how JavaScript affects load times and rendering.
The screenshot below shows high-level performance metrics for a JavaScript site. It includes when the webpage was visible to users.
Key features:
Provides waterfall charts to visualize the loading sequence of JavaScript and other resources
Measures critical performance metrics like Time to First Byte (TTFB) and LCP
Simulates slow networks and mobile devices to identify JavaScript bottlenecks
Use case: Finding scripts or elements that slow down page load and affect Core Web Vitals.
GTMetrix
GTmetrix helps measure and optimize website performance, focusing on JavaScript-related delays and efficiency.
Key features:
Breaks down page performance with actionable insights for JavaScript optimization
Provides specific recommendations to minimize and defer non-critical JavaScript
Visualizes load behavior with video playback and waterfall charts to pinpoint render delays
Use case: Optimizing JavaScript delivery to boost page speed and user experience. This includes minifying, deferring, or splitting code.
Chrome DevTools & Lighthouse
Chrome DevTools and Lighthouse are free Chrome tools. They assess site performance and accessibility. Both are key for JavaScript SEO.
Key features:
JavaScript execution analysis: Audits JavaScript execution time. It also identifies scripts that delay rendering or impact Core Web Vitals.
Script optimization: Flags opportunities for code splitting, lazy loading, and removing unused JavaScript
Network and coverage insights: Identifies render-blocking resources, unused JavaScript, and large file sizes
Performance audits: Lighthouse measures critical Core Web Vitals to pinpoint areas for improvement
Render simulation: It emulates devices, throttles network speeds, and disables JavaScript. This alleviates rendering issues.
For example, the below screenshot is taken with DevTools’s Performance panel. After page load, various pieces of data are recorded to assess the culprit of heavy load times.
Use cases:
Testing JavaScript-heavy pages for performance bottlenecks, rendering issues, and SEO blockers
Identifying and optimizing scripts, ensuring key content is crawlable and indexable
Specialized Tools
Prerender.io helps JavaScript-heavy websites by serving pre-rendered HTML to bots.
This allows search engines to crawl and index content while users get a dynamic CSR experience.
Key features:
Pre-rendered content: Serves a cached, fully rendered HTML page to search engine crawlers like Googlebot
Easy integration: Compatible with frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular. It also integrates with servers like NGINX or Apache.
Scalable solution: Ideal for large, dynamic sites with thousands of pages
Bot detection: Identifies search engine bots and serves optimized content
Performance optimization: Reduces server load by offloading rendering to Prerender.io’s service
Benefits:
Ensures full crawlability and indexing of JavaScript content
Improves search engine rankings by eliminating blank or incomplete pages
Balances SEO performance and user experience for JavaScript-heavy sites
When to use:
For Single-Page Applications or dynamic JavaScript frameworks
As an alternative to SSR when resources are limited
Find Your Next JavaScript SEO Opportunity Today
Most JavaScript SEO problems stay hidden—until your rankings drop.
Is your site at risk?
Don’t wait for traffic losses to find out.
Run an audit, fix rendering issues, and make sure search engines see your content.
Want more practical fixes?
Check out our guides on PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals for actionable steps to speed up your JavaScript-powered site.
Paid plans start at $139.95 and go up to enterprise solutions. Not to mention the various add-ons and apps.
You don’t want to overpay for features you don’t need. Or pick a cheaper plan that limits your ability to grow.
In this guide, you’ll learn which Semrush plan matches your needs, whether you’re a solo blogger tracking 100 keywords or an agency managing 40+ client websites.
Semrush’s Core Pricing Plans Explained
Semrush offers four main subscription tiers:
Pro plan at $139.95/month: Best for freelancers and startups
Guru plan at $249.95/month: Caters to growing businesses and small agencies
Business plan at $499.95/month: Serves larger agencies and enterprises
Enterprise plan (custom pricing): For organizations that need custom solutions
Beyond these core plans, Semrush also offers a range of other tools through the App Center. This is where you can add specialized tools for needs like local SEO and social media management.
There’s also a free plan, and you can get a free trial of the Pro and Guru subscriptions too.
Semrush’s Pro plan offers a wealth of keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor research features.
At $139.95/mo, it’s Semrush’s cheapest plan, and is ideal for freelance SEOs, bloggers, and small business owners.
The Pro plan lets you set up 5 projects and track up to 500 keywords with Position Tracking.
But these limits don’t apply to things like keyword and competitor research. Instead, you’re limited in the number of daily “requests” you can make.
This is the number you’ll want to pay attention to if you plan to use the tool suite for more than just tracking your own projects.
With the Pro plan, you can generate up to 3,000 reports per day across various analytics tools, with each report showing up to 10,000 results.
For example, in the Keyword Magic Tool to generate thousands of keyword ideas:
You won’t have access to historical data in these reports. But you’ll still be able to filter for metrics like search volume, keyword difficulty, search intent, and more.
In terms of technical SEO, Pro plan users can crawl up to 100,000 pages with Site Audit. This is enough for beginners and owners of smaller sites. But it can be a bit limiting for large ecommerce stores or agencies managing massive sites.
You won’t get API access with the Pro plan (probably not a concern for most people). You also won’t get access to some content marketing features (see the Guru plan section below).
Pro Plan Limits
5 projects
500 keywords to track
3,000 daily reports
100,000 pages to crawl
10,000 results per report
250 keyword metrics updates per month
500 SEO Ideas Units (used in tools like the On Page SEO Checker)
5 scheduled PDF reports
Guru Plan ($249.95/month): Advanced Features for Growing Teams
Semrush’s Guru plan significantly expands on the Pro plan’s capabilities.
At $249.95/mo, it’s ideal for growing marketing teams and small agencies that need more comprehensive tools and data access.
The plan increases your project limit to 15 and lets you track up to 1,500 keywords.
Other limit increases over the Pro plan include:
5,000 reports per day (vs. 3,000)
30,000 results per report (vs. 10,000)
1,000 keyword metrics updates per month (vs. 250)
300,000 Site Audit URL crawls (vs. 100,000)
You’ll also get access to tools like:
Topic research, for finding and prioritizing new content ideas:
Content Marketing Template, to streamline your optimizations:
You’ll also be able to integrate with Looker Studio, which further expands your reporting capabilities.
And you’ll get access to historical data within Semrush itself—all the way back to 2012:
The Guru plan gives you access to the essential Semrush toolkit. And its limits are likely enough for most SEOs and business owners, with the exception of large agencies, big ecommerce stores (300K+ pages), and enterprises.
Guru Plan Limits
15 Projects
1,500 keywords to track
5,000 daily reports
300,000 pages to crawl
30,000 results per report
1,000 keyword metrics updates per month
800 SEO Ideas Units
20 scheduled PDF reports
Business Plan ($499.95/month): Enterprise-Grade Capabilities
The Business plan, at $499.95/mo, targets larger agencies and marketing teams that need extensive data access and advanced features.
This plan also offers much higher limits than the Pro and Guru plans across the board.
Business plans allow for 40 projects, 5,000 keywords to track, and 10,000 daily reports.
You can use Semrush’s most advanced features, including API access, extended limits for site audits, and white-label reporting options.
You’ll also get access to new metrics, like Share of Voice for tracking your overall online presence compared to your competitors:
And for PPC optimization, you’ll also be able to see up to 50,000 results per PLA listings report (as opposed to 10 on the Pro and Guru plans):
These capabilities make it particularly valuable for agencies managing multiple client accounts. It’s also ideal for large in-house teams coordinating complex marketing campaigns.
For example, the API access allows teams to integrate Semrush data directly into their custom reporting dashboards or internal tools. This can streamline workflows and provide more customizable (and therefore more impactful) data analysis.
Business Plan Limits
40 projects
5,000 keywords to track
10,000 daily reports
1,000,000 pages to crawl
50,000 results per report
5,000 keyword metrics updates per month
2,000 SEO Ideas Units
50 scheduled PDF reports
Enterprise Plan: Custom Solutions for Large Organizations
The Enterprise tier moves beyond Semrush’s standardized pricing to offer customized solutions for large organizations with complex needs.
Unlike the fixed-price plans, Enterprise solutions are tailored to each organization’s specific requirements and scale.
The Semrush Enterprise platform is an entirely separate solution from the “core” Semrush platform. You get access to everything in the Business tier, but you also get a completely new dashboard with enterprise-level SEO and automation tools and capabilities.
You’ll also get access to vetted SEO experts, seamless document sharing functionality, and extensive reporting and automation features.
It’s designed for enterprise-level businesses (think Samsung, Salesforce, and SAP). This means it’s way beyond what the average person needs.
But for those with huge data, automation, and optimization requirements, Semrush Enterprise is an incredibly powerful platform.
Free Plan vs. Free Trial
Semrush’s free plan offers a solid introduction to the platform’s capabilities. You can access basic keyword research, site auditing, and competitive analysis features
for free.
This makes it an excellent option for those just starting their SEO journey or wanting to test the platform before committing.
However:
The free plan comes with significant limitations in terms of the number of reports you can generate and the depth of data you can access.
You’re limited to:
10 daily requests in many of the tools
1 project
100 URL crawls per month
Arguably, the most notable restriction is that you can only track 10 keywords. So you can’t monitor a full SEO campaign effectively.
That’s why the free trial of Semrush’s paid plans offers a better way to evaluate Semrush’s full capabilities.
For 7 days, you can access all features of your chosen plan, helping you make an informed decision about whether the investment makes sense for your needs.
Semrush offers a range of add-ons you can tag onto your subscription. These include local SEO packages, the .Trends suite for market research, and a social media management platform.
Here’s a breakdown of the add-ons and their pricing:
Add-on
Pricing
Key Features
Extra users
$45-$100/month, depending on plan
Add extra users to your plan (with shared limits)
Local Essential/Advanced
$50-$60/month
Listing management, GBP optimization, and map rank tracker
.Trends
$289/month per user
Consumer trends and market research tools
Social Media Management
$19.99-$39.99/month
Social posting, tracking, and analytics
Agency Growth Kit
$69-$249/month
Lead management, CRM, and client portal
ImpactHero
$200/month
Buyer journey optimization
Semrush also has an extensive App Center. Here, you’ll find apps to help with pretty much every aspect of SEO and digital marketing.
You can get free trials of many apps, and their prices vary.
Semrush Pricing Plans Compared to Competitors
Semrush is often a bit pricier than some of its competitors, at least at some of the plan levels.
But price isn’t everything, and it’s worth comparing the different platforms in detail to understand the value each one can provide for YOUR specific situation.
Semrush vs. Ahrefs Pricing
Semrush and Ahrefs have fairly similar pricing structures. Semrush is slightly more expensive in each of the three pricing brackets, but notably only by $0.95 in the middle tier (Guru/Standard).
On the face of it, the two options in all three cases are fairly similar:
Semrush offers 5, 15, and 40 projects, while Ahrefs offers 5, 20, and 50 projects
While Semrush lets you track 500, 1.5K, and 5K keywords, Ahrefs lets you track 750, 2K, and 5K
Semrush lets you audit 100K, 300K, and 1M URLs, while Ahrefs’ limits are 100K, 500K, and 1.5M
But it’s worth noting that Ahrefs’ cheapest (Lite) plan limits you to just 500 credits across various tools per month.
With a Semrush Pro subscription (the cheapest one Semrush offers), the limits are 3,000 reports/requests per day.
But the numbers aren’t everything. There are other differences between the two tools that you’ll need to factor in when making your choice.
Moz offers two cheaper pricing plans than both Semrush and Ahrefs. These are pretty limited (with the cheapest only letting you track 50 keywords per month).
But they’re still viable options for those on a budget that are just starting out with their first SEO tool.
Moz does offer feature-rich plans at higher price points, but often with lower limits than Semrush plans.
For example, the most expensive Moz plan still only lets you track 25 sites (compared to 40) and 3,000 tracked keywords (vs. 5,000 on a Semrush Business plan).
It’s also worth noting that beyond the pricing plans, the two platforms are very different. For example, Semrush’s database has more than 26.4 billion keywords compared to Moz’s 1.25 billion.
The most basic way to choose between the different Semrush pricing plans is to consider your budget and your reporting needs.
If you have a limited budget, the free and Pro plans are going to be the obvious choice. But once you start needing larger reports or to track 1500+ keywords, the Guru and Business plans are the ones to go for.
But let’s see which plans are best for which types of business and website owners.
Solopreneurs and Bloggers
For solopreneurs and blog owners, the Pro plan is usually going to be enough. You can manage up to 5 projects, and 500 keywords will be enough tracking capabilities for most small sites.
The reporting limits are generous enough too, and most beginners won’t max out on them.
But many people will be fine with the free Semrush plan—particularly if you have pretty limited keyword research needs and your site is smaller than 100 pages. It’ll give you a good feel for the platform’s core features before you sign up for a subscription.
You’ll want to upgrade to the Pro plan when you:
Track more than 10 keywords
Need daily position monitoring
Have a site that grows beyond 100 pages (for Site Audit crawls)
Small businesses typically find the sweet spot with the Guru plan. The additional keyword tracking and content marketing features make it ideal for sites of all sizes with moderate content production workflows.
The Pro plan suits you if:
You manage a single business website
You need basic competitive analysis
Content creation isn’t your primary focus
The Guru plan becomes a better option when:
You manage multiple business websites, or multiple client sites
Content marketing is a key part of your strategy
You need access to historical data
You need to crawl up to 300K pages per month (Site Audit)
Medium-Sized Businesses and Ecommerce Stores
Mid-sized companies often benefit most from the Business plan—particularly if they’re managing multiple websites or serving many clients.
The Guru plan becomes essential for teams or individuals that:
Create 10+ pieces of content per month
Require advanced topic research tools
Send lots of reports to stakeholders or clients
Manage multiple sites or brands
Agencies
Agencies are going to be better off with the Business plan in most cases. The limits of the lower plans are just unlikely to be enough for agencies with many clients.
However, if your agency is just starting out, the Guru plan offers a cost-effective way to serve up to 15 clients with some powerful tools.
Note: If you need to increase any particular limit, you can contact the sales team or pay for more via your subscription dashboard.
Start with Guru if you:
Serve up to 15 clients
Need white-label reports
Require content marketing tools
Want historical data access
Choose the Business plan when you:
Manage 15+ client accounts
Need API access
Require advanced white-labeling
Share reports across large teams
Semrush also offers the Agency Growth Kit. This starts at $69/month (on top of your subscription) for a CRM, client portals, and white-lable PDF reports.
But for those who want to boost their visibility on the Agency Partners platform or who need unlimited client portals, pricing increases to $149 and then $249 per month.
Enterprise Businesses
Enterprise organizations should consider the custom Enterprise tier. This platform was built from the ground up for enterprise-scale operations.
The platform offers a range of enterprise-specific solutions and features the core subscriptions don’t offer. You can read more about Semrush Enterprise here.
The Business plan is the best of the three core plans if your business isn’t quite ready for the enterprise offering. Its generous limits, integration capabilities, and API access mean it’s a cost-effective choice for many big brands and businesses.
Still Not Sure Which Plan to Choose?
Choosing the right Semrush plan ultimately depends on your specific marketing goals and resources.