Is TanStack Router with SSR as good for SEO as Next.js?
Hey everyone,
I’m trying to decide between using Next.js and TanStack Router (with SSR) for my project.
Here’s my situation:
• I have 3 public pages that are SEO-critical:
• Landing page
• Explore page
• Individual post pages (created by me, not user-generated, however they can comment and like the post)
• The rest of the app is behind a login wall, so SEO doesn’t matter there, those routes could be fully client-side.
• I’d prefer not to use Next.js, because it feels kind of sluggish and heavy for my use case.
My question:
If I implement SSR with TanStack Router, will the SEO benefits be the same as using Next.js?
Or are there hidden pitfalls (like hydration, crawling, or meta tags) where Next.js is still superior?
Would love to hear from anyone who has tried this hybrid approach (SSR only for SEO pages, CSR for the rest).
Thanks!
8 Replies
yappiest-sapphire•3w ago
what is your concern about hydration?
meta tags / all head stuff can be managed through HeadContent
adverse-sapphireOP•3w ago
@Manuel Schiller
My main concern with hydration is SEO.
Will Google actually see the content immediately with TanStack Router SSR, or is there a chance it just sees an empty shell before React loads?
Also with HeadContent,does that fully handle meta tags like Open Graph and Twitter cards so shared links show previews?
I’m still pretty new to SSR, so I just want to confirm
yappiest-sapphire•3w ago
SSR means you return full html from the server by default (unless you opt out of SSR via selective SSR)
so hydration should not matter
adverse-sapphireOP•3w ago
Also, I just wanna say your support is incredible. I’m new here as well, read some threads and you are always there to help
Alright. Does that mean then the answer to the thread question is yes?
yappiest-sapphire•3w ago
I would say so
and yes you can specify any meta tag you want
adverse-sapphireOP•3w ago
And would you recommend using Start for my concerns or is router enough? Considering I have a separate backend
Alright!
yappiest-sapphire•3w ago
it depends. if you don't need server functions or API routes, and just SSR, then yeah just use router
adverse-sapphireOP•3w ago
Got it! Then I think I got my stack ready. Once again thank you for your support