Google Now Lets You do so Much More with JavaScript

Version 74 of Google’s Chromium set to open a world of possibilities for web developers, publishers and SEO professionals.

Up until very recently, JavaScript was thought to be a stumbling block for website owners who wanted their online content to be discovered not just by Googlebot, Google’s website crawler, but also netizens the world over. Not only did they have to position numerous workarounds – like polyfills and transpiling – to have Googlebot notice their websites, they also had to make peace with the fact that it still did not recognize many features of their web content.

However, with the recently-concluded Google IO 2019 developer’s conference, things seem to be looking up. Google has announced the launch of its evergreen Googlebot which seamlessly supports the latest version 74 of Chromium, Google’s open-source rendering engine used in its web browser, Chrome. Put simply, this means that previously unsupported JavaScript features like Web Components version 1, IntersectionObserver, ES6 and others can now be accessed with the new, constantly-updated version of Chromium.

JavaScript is very popular among website creators as it helps them craft highly interactive user experiences in web browsers in the hopes of making a website stand out from its competition. You must, however, be warned that Googlebot can still not pick up all the features of your website. For more information on this, you can reference the list of issues that you may face with JavaScript. If you would rather watch an informative video, try the JavaScript SEO series by Google webmasters on YouTube.

If you are an SEO professional, this new development is reason enough for rejoicing. You can now dedicate your faculties to coming up with original, engaging content to entice your readers/users instead of devising code alternatives to let Googlebot crawl and index your webpage. However, a word to the wise: do not altogether ignore making your website web-crawler-friendly and in keeping with Google’s webmaster guidelines. Keep coming back to us for more updates and information about the latest online marketing trends.