Ensuring SEO and Indexability of PWAs #

1. Enabling Search Engine Crawling #

By default, PWAs use client-side rendering (CSR), which is bad for SEO unless handled correctly. Solutions include:

• ✅ Server-Side Rendering (SSR) → Use Turbo Streams to render critical content server-side.
• ✅ Pre-rendering with prerender.io → Generates static HTML snapshots for search engines.

Modify robots.txt to allow search engine crawling:

User-agent: *
Allow: /

2. Adding Structured Data for Google Search #

Use JSON-LD structured data to help Google understand your content. Add this in app/views/layouts/application.html.erb:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebApplication",
  "name": "My Rails PWA",
  "url": "https://myrailsapp.com",
  "operatingSystem": "All",
  "applicationCategory": "WebApplication"
}
</script>

This helps your app appear as an installable PWA in Google Search.

3. Generating SEO-friendly URLs in Rails #

Use friendly URLs with Rails routes to improve discoverability. Instead of:

resources :posts

Use:

resources :posts, param: :slug

This changes URLs from /posts/1 to /posts/meaningful-title, which is better for SEO.

4. Meta Tags for Social Sharing #

Define Open Graph (Facebook) and Twitter Card metadata to ensure link previews display correctly:

<meta property="og:title" content="My Rails PWA">
<meta property="og:description" content="A fast, installable web app built with Rails.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://myrailsapp.com/thumbnail.jpg">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">