Embed a Blog on Your Website: 3 Methods Compared
You have a website. You want a blog on it. Sounds straightforward until you realize there are multiple ways to do this, and most of them hurt your SEO.
The three main approaches to embedding a blog on your website are iframe embeds, JavaScript widgets, and subdirectory hosting. Each has tradeoffs, but only one gives you the search rankings you actually want.
This guide breaks down all three methods with honest assessments of when each makes sense and when it does not.
Method 1: Iframe Embeds
An iframe embed loads your blog content inside a frame on your existing website. The blog lives on a separate domain or subdomain, and the iframe displays it within your site's template.
How iframe embeds work
You add an HTML iframe tag to your page, pointing to your hosted blog:
<iframe src="https://blog.yourdomain.com" width="100%" height="800px"></iframe>
The iframe loads the external content and displays it as if it were part of your page. Visitors see your header and footer with blog content in between.
Iframe SEO problems
Search engines cannot properly crawl iframe content. Google sees the iframe tag but treats the content inside as belonging to the source URL, not your website. This creates several issues:
Domain authority stays separate. Your blog posts build authority on the iframe source domain, not your main website. All those backlinks and internal links? They benefit someone else's domain.
Duplicate content risks. If the iframe source is publicly accessible (which it usually is), you have the same content at two URLs. Google might index the source instead of your page.
Poor indexing. Google has stated that content in iframes may not be indexed or associated with the parent page. Your blog posts might never show up in search results under your domain.
When iframes make sense
Iframes work for content you do not need indexed. Embedding a third-party booking widget, a map, or an interactive calculator is fine. These elements add functionality without competing for search rankings.
For blog content where organic traffic matters, iframes are the wrong choice.
Platforms that use JavaScript client-side rendering
DropInBlog uses a JavaScript-based approach — a script tag loads from their servers and injects content into an empty div on your page. While they market it as easy integration, the SEO limitations are significant. Your initial HTML contains no blog content; it only appears after JavaScript executes. Without their paid "SEO Supercharger" Cloudflare add-on, search engines must render JavaScript to see any of your content.
Method 2: JavaScript Widgets
JavaScript widgets dynamically inject blog content into your page after it loads. You add a script tag, and the JavaScript fetches posts from an API and renders them in a designated container.
How JavaScript widgets work
You include a script and a container element:
<div id="blog-widget"></div>
<script src="https://blogplatform.com/widget.js"></script>
The JavaScript runs after your page loads, calls an API, and injects the blog content into the container div.
JavaScript SEO problems
The core issue: search engines see your page before JavaScript executes. While Googlebot can render JavaScript, it does so inconsistently and with delays.
Render-dependent indexing. Google must execute your JavaScript to see the blog content. If rendering fails or times out, your posts remain invisible to search engines.
Slow page speed. JavaScript widgets add HTTP requests and block rendering. The content appears after additional round trips to fetch and render data. This hurts Core Web Vitals scores.
Content visibility gaps. Even when JavaScript renders correctly, there can be delays before content is indexed. New posts take longer to appear in search results.
JavaScript widget performance impact
Adding a JavaScript widget to a fast static site can tank your performance scores. The widget loads its own dependencies, makes API calls, and manipulates the DOM. All of this happens after your initial page load, causing layout shifts and slow interaction times.
When JavaScript widgets make sense
JavaScript widgets work for supplementary content that does not need search visibility. A "Related Articles" sidebar, a comment section, or social proof elements are reasonable uses.
For your main blog content where search traffic drives business results, JavaScript widgets add risk without benefit.
Method 3: Subdirectory Hosting
Subdirectory hosting serves your blog content natively at a path on your domain, like yoursite.com/blog. The blog pages are real HTML pages on your domain, not embedded external content.
How subdirectory hosting works
Your blog platform generates static or server-rendered pages. These pages are deployed to your domain's infrastructure through routing rules or reverse proxy configuration:
yoursite.com → Your main website
yoursite.com/blog → Blog platform (Superblog, etc.)
yoursite.com/blog/post → Individual post pages
Search engines see yoursite.com/blog/post-title as a native page on your domain. No iframes, no JavaScript rendering dependencies.
Subdirectory SEO benefits
Domain authority consolidation. Every backlink to your blog posts strengthens your main domain. Internal links from blog to product pages (and vice versa) flow PageRank within a single domain.
Native indexing. Blog pages are real HTML that search engines can crawl and index immediately. No rendering required, no iframe confusion.
URL structure benefits. Search engines prefer content at root domain paths. Studies consistently show subdirectory content outranking equivalent subdomain content for competitive keywords.
The technical setup
Subdirectory hosting requires configuring your web server or hosting platform to route /blog/* requests to your blog platform. The complexity depends on your stack:
Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare: Add a rewrite rule in your configuration file. Takes about 5 minutes.
WordPress, Webflow, Shopify: Use platform-specific proxy settings or plugins. Setup varies but most platforms have documentation.
Custom servers (Nginx, Apache): Add a reverse proxy configuration. Standard DevOps work.
Superblog provides setup guides for every major platform, so the technical barrier is lower than it sounds.
When subdirectory hosting makes sense
Subdirectory hosting is the right choice when organic search traffic matters to your business. If you are investing in content marketing to drive signups, leads, or sales, you want that content on your main domain.
The setup takes longer than pasting an iframe tag, but the SEO payoff compounds over time. Every post you publish builds authority on the domain you own.
Comparison Summary
| Criteria | Iframe | JavaScript Widget | Subdirectory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO value | Poor | Poor | Excellent |
| Domain authority | Split | Split | Consolidated |
| Page speed impact | Medium | High | None |
| Setup complexity | Low | Low | Medium |
| Indexing reliability | Low | Medium | High |
| Best for | Non-SEO embeds | Supplementary content | Primary blog |
Why Subdirectory Hosting Wins for Business Blogs
If you are reading this article, you probably care about search rankings. Businesses blog to attract organic traffic, convert visitors, and grow revenue. The embedding method you choose determines whether that strategy works.
Iframe embeds and JavaScript widgets were designed for convenience, not SEO performance. They make it fast to add a blog-shaped thing to your site. But the content does not belong to your domain in any meaningful way that search engines recognize.
Subdirectory hosting aligns your blog with how search engines actually work. Your content lives on your domain. Your pages are real HTML. Your authority compounds in one place.
How Superblog Handles Subdirectory Hosting
Superblog is built specifically for subdirectory hosting. When you create a blog, you connect it to yoursite.com/blog through your platform's routing configuration.
Every blog post is a pre-rendered static page served from Superblog's global CDN. Search engines see native HTML on your domain. No iframes, no JavaScript rendering dependencies, no SEO compromises.
The setup process:
- Create your Superblog and write content
- Add a routing rule to your hosting platform (Superblog provides guides for every major platform)
- Your blog is live at
yoursite.com/blog
Superblog also handles the technical SEO automatically. JSON-LD schemas, XML sitemaps, meta tags, Open Graph data, and canonical URLs are generated for every post. You focus on writing content that ranks.
Common Questions
Can Google index iframe content?
Google can see iframe content but typically attributes it to the source URL, not the page containing the iframe. For SEO purposes, iframe content does not benefit your domain.
Will JavaScript-rendered content ever rank?
Sometimes. Google's JavaScript rendering is improving, but it remains inconsistent. Critical content should not depend on client-side JavaScript for search visibility.
Is subdirectory hosting harder to set up?
It requires more initial configuration than pasting an embed code. However, most setups take under 30 minutes with the right documentation. The long-term SEO value far exceeds the upfront effort.
What about subdomains like blog.yoursite.com?
Subdomains are treated as separate sites by search engines. While better than third-party domains, they do not consolidate authority like subdirectories. See our subdomain vs subdirectory comparison for details.
Can I migrate from an iframe embed to subdirectory hosting?
Yes. The migration involves setting up subdirectory hosting and implementing redirects from your old URLs. If your iframe source had any indexed pages, redirects preserve whatever authority existed.
Next Steps
If you are serious about organic traffic, subdirectory hosting is the only embedding method worth considering. The technical setup is a one-time investment that pays dividends on every post you publish.
Superblog makes subdirectory hosting straightforward with pre-built integrations for every major platform. Start a free trial to see how it works with your existing website.
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