What is AJAX

Ajax is the abbreviation of a technical term: Asynchronous Javascript and XML. This technology allows to create, generate, modify or delete contents in a dynamic way, without changing pages. This technology will make possible the creation of very dynamic sites. It lets you modify or add content with a simple click. In short, instead of reloading the whole page, the click will just load a specific element, most of the time using javascript. Here are some pointers on what AJAX is and how you can use it in your SEO strategy.

Infinite scrolling

The website detects your position and when it gets to the bottom of the page, it will load the next contents, since your usage doesn’t seem to be over. It is also possible to have a “Load more content” button to ensure that you actually want to see more content. It is not uncommon to have both systems because detection is not infallible, while a click on a button works every time.

Languages love AJAX

Ajax is often seen as the combination of a set of web development techniques for creating not only responsive web applications. But also interactive and dynamic websites. These different languages and programming technologies are JavaScript, a programming language that allows you to implement mechanisms on a page so that it does not only display static content; and XML and JSON.

Pros and cons

The use of AJAX offers many advantages: the user experience is greatly improved by reducing latency due to page loads, and the functional possibilities are unlimited, which makes it possible to imagine very advanced applications. On the other hand, the use of AJAX can sometimes cause problems in Webanalytics.

Better performance

The use of Ajax allows the server not to process all the elements of the page before satisfying the request sent by the browser. It just processes the data it needs to answer the request. This way, it solicits the server less. This results in a low network usage and therefore an increase in performance. This can be seen in the speed with which certain operations are carried out.

Mind the bots

You have to make sure that all URLs are accessible via a classical method, for robots. You should also update the user’s URL, to avoid inconsistency due to page refreshes. Finally, make sure you have a page listing all the accessible tree structures of your site.