NO Meta description pulling through in SERP with react website - Requesting Indexing & Submitting to Google with no luck

[DigitalMarketingSEO]

Hi there,

A year ago I launched a website using react, which has caused Google to not read my meta descriptions. I've submitted the sitemap and there was no change in the SERP. Then, I tried "Fetch and Render" and request indexing for the homepage, which did work, however I have over 300 pages and I can't do that for every one. I have requested a fetch, render and index for "this url and linked pages," and while Google's cache has updated, the SERP listing has not. I looked in the Index Coverage report for the new GSC and it says the urls and valid and indexable, and yet there's still no meta description.

I realize that Google doesn't have to index all pages, and that Google may not also take your meta description, but I want to make sure I do my due diligence in making the website crawlable. My main questions are:

• If Google didn't reindex ANYTHING when I submitted the sitemap, what might be wrong with my sitemap?

• Is submitting each url manually bad, and if so, why?

• Am I simply jumping the gun since it's only been a week since I requested indexing for the main url and all the linked urls?

• Any other suggestions?

[DigitalMarketingSEO]

Hi David,

The Fetch and Render looked blank, but I know Google can still read the code since it picked up on the schema we added less than a week after we added it. I sent the javascript guides over to our developers, but I would still really appreciate you looking at the URL if possible. I can't find a way to DM you on here, so I've sent you a LinkedIn request. Feel free to ignore it if there's a better way to communicate

• JW

[isenselogic]

That is a interesting Question

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi,

I would mostly look into the site itself, from what you've mentioned here I don't think that the problem is in your sitemap but more on the side or React. Are you using server side or client side rendering for the pages in React? That usually can have a big impact on how Google is able to see the different pages and pick up on content (including meta tags).

Martijn.

[davebuts]

Hi DigitalMarketingSEO,

This sounds like it's Google having some issues with your React website.

There are plenty of good SEO for Javascript guides out there that I would recommending reading through:
https://www.elephate.com/blog/ultimate-guide-javascript-seo/
https://builtvisible.com/javascript-framework-seo/
https://www.briggsby.com/dealing-with-javascript-for-seo

How did the "Fetch and Render" look? Was Googlebot able to see your page exactly as a human user would?

Can you share the URL here (or PM me)? I've done a lot of work on JS sites and I'd be happy to take a quick look to see I can give some more specific advice.

Cheers,

David