Top 5 Expert-Backed JAMstack SEO Best Practices.

If you’re a proud owner of a JAMstack website: congratulations. You’re already one step ahead of the competition. While they’re struggling with slow-loading and bloated websites, your supercharged machine gives visitors everything they need. And in SEO, UX is half the battle.

The other half... Well, that’s what we’re discussing today. We brought our Mawla team together to show you the top 5 best practices for JAMstack SEO.

Let’s dive in!

Why SEO <3 JAMstack

Google cares about one thing only: giving searchers valuable resources. So, to help you understand how an actual searcher experiences your site, Google came up with the Core Web Vitals:

• Loading (Largest Contentful Paint) - How long does it take for your page to load for the searcher?
• Interactivity (First Input Delay) - How long does it take for your elements to respond when searchers interact with them?
• Stability (Cumulative Layout Shift) - Is your website layout stable as it loads, or does it shift around to fall into place?

The Core Web Vitals make up the core of the user experience. Unlike monolithic CMS, JAMstack uses SSG or ISR (static site generation or incremental static reload) and serves them via a Content Delivery Network. Your assets load quickly and correctly.

JAMstack was built to be fast, responsive, and practical, so you should have no trouble passing the first step on your SEO journey.

When you’re done, it’s time to optimise.

JAMstack SEO Best Practice #1: Information Hierarchy Is Everything

Stop thinking of organic traffic as a one-way trip:

• Searcher lands on the SERP -> Searcher visits one page on your website -> ?

Instead, think of it as a journey:

• SERP -> One page on your website -> Hyperlink in the content -> Second page -> Nav menu -> Third page

You need good content if you want to reduce your bounce rate and make searchers dwell on your site. But most importantly, you need a map that takes them through all the essential destinations.

You need an excellent website content structure.

How to Create Great SEO Content Structure for JAMstack

• Map out your website content, pages, and topic pillars on the blog
• Map out your ideal customer’s search and website journey to identify key touchpoints
• Create an internal linking strategy
• Categorise all pages
• Upload your sitemap to the Google Search Console

Then, run through the journey yourself. Does it make sense? Are there clear pointers to other relevant pages?

Spell it out for the searchers so they become customers.

JAMstack SEO Best Practice #2: Structured Data and Headless CMS

While you’re busy writing your awesome content for the human searchers, don’t forget to feed the bots! Their favourite treat is Schema markup, a form of structured data that spells out what your website is for them.

Again, be organised about implementing your Schema. Create a map of different types you’ll apply to specific page types on your website.

For example, you may have a recipe section where every post will be enriched by the recipe schema. On the other hand, all your pages may contain the review schema.

Typically, you can implement Schema to your JAMstack website by:

• Using a schema markup plugin
• Adding a custom component
• Adding Schema as part of your theme

If you want to get started, use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.

JAMstack SEO Best Practice #3: Don’t Go (Too) Wild with Custom Elements

One of the key reasons we love JAMstack is its ability to handle every feature we throw at it. But that’s not to mean we should turn our modern websites into Angelfire scrolling emoji wrecks.

Again, prioritise the user experience:

• What do the searchers/visitors want to see?
• Does your new feature help them understand your value proposition better?
• Do you really need that pop-up? Can it be an exit intent pop-up?
• Are you adding JavaScript elements just to fill space, or are they affecting your conversions?

Always A/B test new functionalities and integrations. We often see new JAMstack website owners add live chats, pop-ups, banners, and other gimmicks to increase conversions (now that it doesn’t affect their loading time).

Unfortunately, these gimmicks also annoy visitors. Think of the human on the other side of the screen and remove it unless your customer wants to see it.

JAMstack SEO Best Practice #4: Do Go Wild with Excellent Content

Launching a JAMstack website is the perfect opportunity to look at everything you and your competitors have been doing so far and loudly proclaim:

Then, do better.

Since your developers can create custom CMS modules for your marketing team, you can strengthen your existing content experience.

For example, your audience may respond well to tl;dr (takeaway) sections instead of big blocks of content. Similarly, you may find that a CTA section at the end of the article significantly improves your conversions.

Optimising your content delivery with a JAMstack website is an ongoing process. Make sure you stay on top of the changing searcher preferences. Then, ideate and deploy quickly because you can.

Best Practices for Headless CMS SEO Content:

• Categorise your content according to topic pillars
• Ensure your URLs are customised and organised
• Keep your content fresh & up-to-date
• Regularly add internal links

JAMstack SEO Best Practice #5: Don’t Get Complacent

Build the foundations. Then, audit mercilessly.

There’s always something to optimise when it comes to search engines. Whether your page titles, Open Graph tags for social media sharing or ensuring your redirects are functioning correctly, you don’t want to miss a single thing.

Schedule regular audits or use an automated audit tool to ensure nothing is slipping through the cracks.

After all, your JAMstack website will maintain a fantastic user experience.

The best way to stay on top of things is using tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. Their weekly and monthly site audit reports will keep your whole team accountable and keep you in the know.

It’s up to you to ensure you’ve done everything else to rise to the top of the SERPs.

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Are you ready to launch a website that lasts? Mawla builds next-generation JAMstack websites with optimised performance, workflow automation, and beautiful delivery to increase your revenue. Get in touch with us.