Use JavaScript to automate SEO

JavaScript developments from web development to machine learning make it a perfect language to learn for SEO.
Scheduling and automation are increasingly popular topics in the SEO industry.
Leveraging new ways to extract, transform, and analyze data at scale with minimal human involvement can be incredibly helpful.
Although speed is important, one of the main benefits of using automation is that it takes the weight off of repetitive tasks and leaves us more time to use our brains.
Using JavaScript to automate SEO tasks, the main ways to start using JavaScript.
Learn automation with JavaScript:
Many automation projects in the community come from SEO professionals coding in Python.
However, Python is just one of many tools that can be used for automation.
There are several programming languages ​​that can be useful for SEO, such as R, SQL, and JavaScript.
There are clear benefits of learning JavaScript for SEO
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1. To advance the understanding of auditing JavaScript on websites:
Whether or not these are web apps built with popular frameworks (e.g. Angular, Vue), the website is most likely using a JavaScript library like React, jQuery, or Bootstrap.
Learning to automate tasks with JavaScript will help build a stronger foundation for analyzing how JavaScript or its implementation may be affecting the organic performance of the site.
2. To understand and use exciting new JavaScript-based technologies:
The web development industry moves at an incredibly fast pace.
Therefore, new transformative technologies are constantly emerging and JavaScript is at the centre of them.
By learning JavaScript, will be able to better understand technologies such as service workers, which can directly affect SEO and be leveraged to the advantage.
Also, JavaScript engines like Google’s V8 get better every year. The future of JavaScript only looks brighter.
3. To use tools like Google Tag Manager that depend on JavaScript to work:
If working in SEO, one may be familiar with tag management systems like Google Tag Manager or Tealium.
These services use JavaScript to insert code (or tags) into websites.
By learning JavaScript, one will be better equipped to understand what these tags do and potentially create, manage, and debug them on the website.
4. To create or improve the own websites with JavaScript:
One of the best things about learning to code in JavaScript is that it will help create websites as side projects or test fields for SEO experiments.
There is no better way to understand it than by getting the hands dirty, especially if what to test is based on JavaScript.
Paths to leverage JavaScript for SEO automation:
JavaScript was initially developed as a browser-only language but has now evolved to be everywhere, even on hardware like microcontrollers and handheld devices.
For the purposes of SEO automation, there are two main environments where SEO tasks can be automated with JavaScript:
1.A browser (front-end).
2.Directly on a computer / laptop (back-end).
SEO automation with the browser:
One of the main advantages that separate JavaScript from other scripting languages ​​is that browsers can execute JavaScript.
This means that all need to get started with JavaScript automation is a browser.
Automation through the browser console:
The easiest way to get started is to use JavaScript directly in the browser console.
Since a browser’s console can execute JavaScript, create custom functions that perform specific actions such as extracting information from a page.
However, creating functions in the field can be a bit tedious and time-consuming.
Therefore, Bookmarklets are an easier way to save the own custom functions without the need for browser plugins.
Bookmarks are small pieces of code saved as browser bookmarks that execute functions directly from the browser tab.

Snippets, an easy-to-use version of Bookmarklets:
Use Chrome, there is an even simpler solution using Snippets.
Create and save the same type of functions in a much more user-friendly way.
Better to use JavaScript directly on the laptop (or cloud server) using Node.js.
SEO automation on the back end with Node.js:
Node.js is software that allows to run JavaScript code on the laptop without the need for a browser.
There are a few differences between running JavaScript in the browser and JavaScript on the laptop (or a cloud server).

Extract data from APIs:
Gathering information from different sources to provide information and recommend actions is one of the most common jobs in SEO.
Node.js makes this incredibly simple with different options, but the preferred access module is Axios.
To start interacting with the APIs, need a module that can handle HTTP requests (HTTP client) and an endpoint (a URL to extract information).
Scraping websites:
Whether to monitor the own website, keep an eye on the competition, or simply extract information from platforms that don’t offer an API, scraping is an incredibly useful tool for SEO.
Since JavaScript interacts well with the DOM, there are many advantages to using Node.js for scraping.
The most common module that has been used for scratching is Cheerio, which has a syntax very similar to jQuery, in combination with an HTTP client like Axios.
There are also other options like JSDOM that emulate what a browser does without the need for a browser.
Most of the time, data pulled from APIs is presented as JSON objects, and JavaScript is perfect for negotiating.
Node.js can easily handle both formats using built-in modules like the file system module or more simplified versions like CSV to JSON or json2csv.
Create cloud roles to run serverless tasks.
This is a more advanced case, but it is incredibly useful for technical SEO.
Cloud computing providers like Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Azure make it incredibly simple (and inexpensive) to set up server instances that run custom-built scripts for specific purposes without the need to configure that server.
A useful example would be to program a function that automatically pulls data from the Google Search Console API at the end of each day and stores the data in a BigQuery database.
A potential third avenue, Apps Script:
Apps Script can offer a less intimidating way to learn to code because it can be used in apps like Google Sheets, which are the bread and butter of technical SEO.
There are really useful projects that can give an idea of ​​what can be done with Apps Script.
JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages ​​in the world.
The open-source community is incredibly active and constantly brings in new developments in different verticals, from web development to machine learning, making it a perfect language to learn as an SEO professional.
Automating tasks is a step towards leaving boring and repetitive everyday tasks behind, becoming more efficient, and finding new and better ways to add value to customers.