Server-side rendering (SSR)
Server-side rendering means the HTML is produced on the server, so the page arrives with its content already in it.
Also known as: SSR · server rendering · pre-rendering
The alternative is to send an empty shell and let JavaScript build the page in the browser. That works for the visitor, more or less; it works much less well for a crawler, and not at all for one that does not run scripts.
For a site whose content matters in search, SSR is the safe default. It also usually gives a faster first paint, because the browser has something to show before any script has run.
How it looked in our work
Every page on this site is produced on the server in PHP; the 3D scene is layered on top of real HTML rather than replacing it.
Common questions
Does it conflict with a 3D scene?
No. The scene runs in the browser either way; SSR only decides how the surrounding text and structure reach the visitor and the crawler.
Is it slower for the server?
It does more work per request, but with caching the difference is small — and far smaller than the cost of not being indexed.
How does this term apply to your work? Let us talk.
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