The lack of HTML pre-rendering in a Next.js app with SSR means that the content is not accessible to web-scrapers

Question

The lack of HTML pre-rendering in a Next.js app with SSR means that the content is not accessible to web-scrapers

I'm encountering an issue with my next.js app that utilizes server side rendering. Upon running the application locally and in production (on vercel edge), the initial page response seems to be a javascript bundle rather than the fully rendered HTML page. As a result, all the SEO efforts I've put in, such as defining <meta/> tags, are essentially useless, since the first response lacks these tags. While the page loads correctly in the browser, it appears that web scrapers only consider the initial server response.

When inspecting the network tab, the first response with the "document" initiator reveals the following:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

<head>
  <style data-next-hide-fouc="true">
    body {
      display: none
    }
  </style><noscript data-next-hide-fouc="true">
    <style>
      body {
        display: block
      }
    </style>
  </noscript>
  <meta charSet="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
  <meta name="next-head-count" content="2" /><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript>
  <script defer="" nomodule="" src="/_next/static/chunks/polyfills.js?ts=1665897162450"></script>
  ... (truncated for brevity)
</html>

I initially believed that next.js would generate full HTML pages on the server before sending them to the browser. I'm uncertain whether configuring a "production" build option within the next.config.js file could resolve this, or if it's a bug within next.js itself.

Below is an excerpt from my _app.js file:

import React from 'react';
... (code continues, truncated for brevity)

I would greatly appreciate any assistance or insights on this matter!

javascript next.js seo server-side-rendering vercel

Answer 1

Answer №1

I managed to resolve this issue by making a crucial discovery. Despite trying various solutions, the breakthrough came when I decided to comment out the <AuthContextProvider/>, and surprisingly, everything started working smoothly!

It turns out that the problem originated from the auth context file, where I was implementing conditional rendering based on a loading state. This was hindering SSR from functioning correctly:

Here is the code snippet before and after the modification:

const AuthContext = createContext({});

export const useAuth = () => useContext(AuthContext);

export const AuthContextProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  const provider = new GoogleAuthProvider();

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
      setUser(user ? user : null);
      setLoading(false);
    });
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);

  const login = () => {
    return signInWithRedirect(auth, provider);
  };

  const logout = async () => {
    setUser(null);
    await signOut(auth);
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login, logout }}>
      {!loading && children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
};

After the modification:

const AuthContext = createContext({});

export const useAuth = () => useContext(AuthContext);

export const AuthContextProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const provider = new GoogleAuthProvider();

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
      setUser(user ? user : null);
    });
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);

  const login = () => {
    return signInWithRedirect(auth, provider);
  };

  const logout = async () => {
    setUser(null);
    await signOut(auth);
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login, logout }}>
      {children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
};

Answer 2

I managed to resolve this issue by making a crucial discovery. Despite trying various solutions, the breakthrough came when I decided to comment out the <AuthContextProvider/>, and surprisingly, everything started working smoothly!

It turns out that the problem originated from the auth context file, where I was implementing conditional rendering based on a loading state. This was hindering SSR from functioning correctly:

Here is the code snippet before and after the modification:

const AuthContext = createContext({});

export const useAuth = () => useContext(AuthContext);

export const AuthContextProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  const provider = new GoogleAuthProvider();

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
      setUser(user ? user : null);
      setLoading(false);
    });
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);

  const login = () => {
    return signInWithRedirect(auth, provider);
  };

  const logout = async () => {
    setUser(null);
    await signOut(auth);
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login, logout }}>
      {!loading && children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
};

After the modification:

const AuthContext = createContext({});

export const useAuth = () => useContext(AuthContext);

export const AuthContextProvider = ({ children }) => {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null);
  const provider = new GoogleAuthProvider();

  useEffect(() => {
    const unsubscribe = onAuthStateChanged(auth, (user) => {
      setUser(user ? user : null);
    });
    return () => unsubscribe();
  }, []);

  const login = () => {
    return signInWithRedirect(auth, provider);
  };

  const logout = async () => {
    setUser(null);
    await signOut(auth);
  };

  return (
    <AuthContext.Provider value={{ user, login, logout }}>
      {children}
    </AuthContext.Provider>
  );
};

Answer 3

Answer №2

There are multiple reasons why HTML rendering may not be happening, with one common issue being that something is blocking the process. For example, using Redux-Persist can completely block rendering. When you try to view the page source after right-clicking on the page, you may notice that no HTML is being rendered. It is important to identify which packages are causing this obstruction, as not all NPM packages are compatible with NextJS and may exhibit these behaviors.

Answer 4

There are multiple reasons why HTML rendering may not be happening, with one common issue being that something is blocking the process. For example, using Redux-Persist can completely block rendering. When you try to view the page source after right-clicking on the page, you may notice that no HTML is being rendered. It is important to identify which packages are causing this obstruction, as not all NPM packages are compatible with NextJS and may exhibit these behaviors.

The lack of HTML pre-rendering in a Next.js app with SSR means that the content is not accessible to web-scrapers

Answer №1

Answer №2

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