Sanity gives your team total control over your content architecture - but headless SEO is significantly harder to get right than plugin-based SEO. Metadata pipelines, structured data implementation, rendering strategy, crawl configuration and canonical management all sit outside Sanity itself, in the front-end layer where most SEO issues quietly accumulate.
Talk to us about your Sanity projectWith a traditional CMS like WordPress, SEO is handled largely through plugins. Install Yoast or Rank Math, configure a few settings and the core metadata, sitemap and structured data infrastructure is in place. Sanity does not work that way. As a headless CMS, Sanity is responsible for your content - but every SEO output your site needs has to be built into the front end by your development team.
This is both the strength and the challenge of the Sanity and Next.js stack. You have complete flexibility to implement SEO exactly as it should be done, without the constraints of a plugin architecture or a platform's opinionated URL structure. But that flexibility means there is no safety net. If your generateMetadata function is missing fields, if your sitemap does not include dynamic routes, if your structured data is not being injected server-side, or if your rendering strategy is leaving content invisible to crawlers - none of that will be flagged by a plugin. You have to know to look for it.
Most Sanity projects we audit have been built by excellent development teams who understand the front-end architecture deeply but have not had dedicated SEO input at the design stage. The result is sites that perform well technically and look great but are leaving significant organic visibility on the table due to gaps in their metadata pipeline, schema implementation and crawl configuration.
We audit, plan and implement across the full headless SEO stack - from your Sanity schema and GROQ queries through to Next.js rendering strategy, structured data and ongoing content performance.
We audit your entire headless stack - Sanity schema, GROQ queries, Next.js metadata pipeline, sitemap generation, rendering strategy, Core Web Vitals and structured data - producing a prioritised list of issues and recommendations specific to your implementation.
We review your Sanity schema to ensure SEO fields are correctly defined, consistently named and surfaced in the Studio in a way that editors can use confidently. We identify missing fields and recommend schema additions that will improve metadata control across content types.
We audit your GROQ queries to confirm they are fetching all required SEO fields, review your generateMetadata implementation for completeness and identify gaps in title, description, canonical, Open Graph and Twitter Card output across all route types.
We review your SSR, SSG and ISR configuration across route types, assessing whether your rendering choices are appropriate for each content type's update frequency and crawl requirements. We also audit your sitemap generation to confirm all dynamic routes are included.
We design and implement JSON-LD schema server-side in your Next.js components, covering Organisation, WebSite, Article, BreadcrumbList, Product and the types relevant to your content model. We validate every block against Google's Rich Results Test and monitor via Search Console.
We audit your Next.js implementation for performance bottlenecks affecting LCP, CLS and INP, covering next/image configuration, font loading strategy, bundle size, ISR revalidation and any third-party scripts that may be degrading your Core Web Vitals scores.
These are the issues we find most frequently when auditing Sanity-powered Next.js sites, and what we do to resolve them.
generateMetadata across route typesThe most common issue we find is a generateMetadata implementation that handles the primary page type correctly but leaves dynamic routes, category pages, tag archives or paginated routes returning incomplete or missing metadata. These gaps are often invisible in development but result in large numbers of pages being indexed without titles or descriptions.
We crawl your site and cross-reference rendered metadata against what Sanity is serving, identifying every route type where metadata is missing, duplicated or falling back to defaults. We then produce implementation specifications covering every route, including Open Graph, Twitter Card, canonical and robots directives, for your development team to implement.
A Next.js sitemap.ts file that only includes static routes and does not query Sanity for dynamic content will omit the majority of a site's pages from the sitemap submitted to Google. This is particularly damaging for content-heavy sites where thousands of pages may be absent from the sitemap, slowing discovery and indexation significantly.
We write or correct the GROQ queries that power your sitemap generation to ensure all published content types are included, with accurate lastModified values pulled from Sanity's document timestamps. For large sites we implement sitemap index files to stay within Google's sitemap size limits and ensure all content is discoverable.
Many Sanity and Next.js projects we audit have no JSON-LD schema implemented at all, or have schema injected client-side via a third-party script that renders after the initial HTML - meaning Googlebot may not reliably process it. Without structured data, your content is ineligible for rich results and less legible to AI search platforms including Google's AI Overviews.
We design and implement structured data using Next.js script tags with type="application/ld+json" rendered server-side in your layout or page components, populated with data fetched from Sanity at request or build time. This guarantees Googlebot sees the schema in the initial HTML response without any client-side rendering dependency.
Sites using Incremental Static Regeneration with long revalidation windows can serve stale metadata and content to Googlebot for hours or days after an editor publishes an update in Sanity Studio. For news, blog or frequently updated content, this creates a disconnect between what editors publish and what search engines index.
We review your revalidation configuration and recommend appropriate revalidate values per content type, and where supported implement Sanity webhook-triggered on-demand revalidation so that published changes are reflected immediately without waiting for a revalidation window to expire.
When the Sanity content schema does not include a well-structured SEO object, editors have no way to control page titles, meta descriptions or Open Graph images from within the Studio. The result is either hardcoded fallbacks that are identical across all pages, or metadata derived from content fields in ways that produce poor or truncated output.
We design a reusable SEO object schema for Sanity that covers title, description, Open Graph image, canonical override and noindex flag, and specify how it should be added to each document type. We also provide guidance on Studio field configuration so editors can understand what each field controls and how to use it correctly.
We audit your Sanity schema, GROQ queries, Next.js metadata implementation, rendering strategy, sitemap, structured data and Core Web Vitals - producing a clear picture of what is working and what is not before we recommend anything.
We produce a prioritised action plan with developer-ready specifications for every recommended change, covering schema additions, metadata pipeline updates, sitemap improvements, JSON-LD implementation and rendering strategy adjustments.
We work alongside your development team throughout implementation, answering technical questions, reviewing pull requests for SEO correctness and validating changes in staging before they go live, so nothing ships that undoes the work.
Once foundations are in place we move to content strategy, keyword targeting and authority building, with monthly reporting on rankings, organic traffic and crawl health so you can see exactly what the SEO investment is delivering.
Headless SEO requires someone who understands both the technical architecture and the search fundamentals. We speak both languages, which means we can work directly with your development team without translation overhead.
We know how Sanity's content model, GROQ queries, Next.js metadata APIs and rendering strategies interact with each other from an SEO perspective. We do not need your team to translate technical context into plain English before we can help.
Every recommendation we make comes with a clear written specification your developer can implement without ambiguity. We include code examples, file paths and expected outputs so nothing requires interpretation.
We do not lock clients into long-term contracts. We are upfront about what headless SEO requires in terms of development time and ongoing content effort, so you can make an informed decision before committing.
We measure success by rankings, organic traffic and leads, not by the number of recommendations we produce. Everything we prioritise is tied to something that will move those numbers.
Your monthly report tells you what has changed, why it matters and what we are working on next, written clearly for both technical and non-technical stakeholders on your team.
Our Sanity SEO service is built for teams who have invested in a headless architecture and want to make sure their SEO implementation is as strong as the rest of their technical stack.
You have built a well-architected headless site but SEO was not a primary focus during development. You know the metadata pipeline has gaps, schema is not implemented and the sitemap may not be covering all your dynamic routes - and you want someone who can audit the full stack and tell you exactly what needs fixing.
You are an agency that builds on Sanity and Next.js and wants an SEO partner who can plug in at the project level - advising on schema design, reviewing metadata implementation in code review and providing ongoing SEO support for clients after launch.
You are migrating an existing site to a Sanity and Next.js stack and need SEO expertise at every stage - from pre-migration URL mapping and redirect planning through to post-migration validation and monitoring to ensure no organic visibility is lost in the transition.
You have a Sanity-powered site that is generating some organic traffic, but you believe there is significantly more visibility available. You want a structured content and technical SEO strategy that builds on your headless architecture's performance advantages to compete for high-value keywords in your market.
You are a business or agency in Northern Ireland or the wider UK operating on a modern headless stack who wants an SEO partner that understands both the technology and the market. We understand the Northern Ireland digital landscape and work with teams across the UK on Sanity-powered projects.
You need SEO improvements immediately but your development team has no capacity to implement changes. Our recommendations require developer time to action.
Your site is still in early development. SEO input is most valuable once the architecture and routing structure are established.
You are looking for a one-off checklist rather than a considered strategy. Headless SEO has enough moving parts that a checklist without context tends to miss the issues that actually matter.
Not sure if your project is the right fit? Get in touch with a brief description of your stack and your goals and we will give you an honest answer.
Comprehensive SEO for businesses across Northern Ireland, covering keyword research, content strategy, technical SEO and link building regardless of platform.
Learn moreDeep technical audits covering crawlability, indexation, Core Web Vitals, structured data and rendering strategy - including headless and JavaScript-heavy implementations.
Learn moreStructured data implementation for headless and platform-based sites, covering Organisation, Article, BreadcrumbList, Product, FAQ and the schema types relevant to your content model.
Learn moreOptimise your headless site to appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. Sanity and Next.js sites are well-positioned for AI search when schema and content structure are configured correctly.
Learn moreIf your project spans both a Sanity-powered front end and a WordPress-based site elsewhere in your organisation, we handle both. Full WordPress SEO including Elementor, WooCommerce and plugin configuration.
Learn moreWe work across all major platforms and frameworks including WordPress, Shopify, Magento, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow. Find out more about our platform-specific SEO approach.
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