SEO for Headless and Custom-Built Websites
SEO for headless and custom-built websites is search engine optimisation for sites not built on a standard platform: headless CMS builds, JavaScript frameworks and hand-coded HTML. These sites have no SEO plugin, so metadata, sitemaps, schema and rendering must be built in. PennyRank’s plans start at £99 a month, with a Custom plan for larger builds.
SEO for Custom Builds by Plan
Most custom builds suit Growth, Pro or Custom, because they need the full technical work. Compare our monthly SEO services in full.
| What you get | Starter£99 /month | Growth£199 /month | Pro£349 /month | CustomAgreed on a call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | Essential | Full | Full, monitored | Scoped |
| Speed, Core Web Vitals and schema | Not included | Included | Included | Scoped |
| Pages optimised a month | 5 | 10 | 20 | Scoped |
| Keywords tracked | 20 | 50 | 100 | Scoped |
All plans: rolling monthly, no VAT, no set-up fee, 50% refund guarantee.
What Headless SEO Is
A headless website separates the content store, the back end, from the part visitors see, the front end. The front end fetches content through an API and builds the pages, often with a framework such as React, Next.js, Vue or Nuxt. Headless SEO makes sure those pages reach search engines complete, with the right metadata, links and markup.
Guide: How Search Engines Render JavaScript Sites
Google processes JavaScript pages in three stages, according to Google Search Central’s JavaScript SEO basics: crawling, rendering and indexing. A page whose content only appears after scripts run in the browser depends on the rendering stage, which can be delayed.
There are three common ways to build the front end, and they differ for search.
| Method | How the page is built | For search |
|---|---|---|
| Server-side rendering | The server sends complete HTML for each request | Content is visible straight away |
| Static generation | Complete HTML is built in advance | Content is visible straight away and fast |
| Client-side rendering | The browser builds the page from scripts | Content depends on rendering; riskiest for SEO |
For most business sites, server-side rendering or static generation is the safer choice. The underlying crawl and indexing work is the same as our technical SEO.
Common SEO Faults on Custom and Hard-Coded Sites
These are the faults we find most often.
| Fault | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Same title on every page | Pages compete or rank for nothing | Unique titles and descriptions per route |
| Content only in the browser | Search Console shows thin or empty pages | Server-side rendering or static generation |
| Links as click handlers, not <a href> | Pages never discovered | Real links in the HTML |
| No sitemap | New pages found slowly | Generated XML sitemap |
| No canonical tags | Duplicate URLs indexed | Canonical on every page |
| No schema | Search engines guess what the page is | JSON-LD markup per page type |
| Soft 404 errors | Missing pages return a 200 status | Correct status codes |
Our Work on Headless and Custom Sites
We audit how each page reaches search engines, then fix it in one of two ways. Fixes to content, metadata and structure we make ourselves where access allows. Fixes in the code go to your developer as clear, ordered tasks; if you have no developer, we hire one. Headless shops get the same product and category work as any of our ecommerce SEO packages.
Headless SEO Questions
What are the disadvantages of headless for SEO?
On a headless site, titles, descriptions, sitemaps, canonical tags and schema are not provided by a theme or plugin. They must be built into the front end, and if the page is rendered only in the browser, search engines may see less of it.
What does “headless WordPress” mean?
Headless WordPress stores the content in WordPress, while a separate front end, often built with a JavaScript framework, fetches that content and shows it to visitors.
Can you work with my developer?
Yes. We write each fix as a clear task for your developer. If you do not have one, we hire a developer to make the changes.
Do you work on hard-coded HTML sites?
Yes. Edits to hard-coded sites need file or hosting access, and each change is made after a full backup.
Get a free audit of your custom-built site
We check how your pages render, what search engines see and how you compare with your top three competitors. The report arrives within 48 hours.
Email help@affordableseoservicesinuk.co.uk