How to Reduce the Number of Renders?

Overview 

A high render volume is often caused by query parameter variations, soft404 pages, admin pages, or internal routes, etc being rendered unintentionally, which can inflate usage and costs. Fine-tuning your integration and using features like Ignore Url and query parameter filtering helps keep your cache focused on the pages that actually matter, while still ensuring key content stays indexed and optimized.

Prerequisites

• Access to your Prerender.io dashboard
• Admin rights to update your server or CDN’s Prerender integration (if applicable)
• A basic understanding of your website structure (e.g. login paths, dynamic query strings, etc.)

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Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Avoid Forwarding Internal Urls

Ensure your integration is only forwarding publicly available pages to Prerender. Do not forward internal tools, admin dashboards, or non-public routes.

Common routes to exclude:

• Internal services: (e.g., /service/internal)
• CMS dashboards: (e.g., /wp-admin, /admin)
• Any non-public tools or user portals

Step 2: Configure Ignored Parameters

Query parameters often generate duplicate cache entries for the same page. Ignoring unnecessary parameters keeps your cache clean and reduces render volume. We have already configured a set of standard tracking params for you to be ignored, but we cannot determine which params your site uses for logic or tracing.

To configure:

1. Go to the Cache Manager in the dashboard.
2. Click on the URL Parameters tab.
3. Use the default setting or create your own rules to ignore parameters like ?session_id=, ?utm_campaign=, etc.

More details and instructions are available in our Ignore URLs doc page:

• Ignore URLs and query parameters

Step 3: Use the Ignore URLs Feature

You can block entire patterns or paths from being cached using Contains or Wildcard match rules. Any url matching a rule is skipped entirely (Prerender returns a 404).

To set this up:

1. Open the Ignored URLs section under Cache Manager.
2. Select Contains or  Wildcard  
3. Add rules for pages that should never be cached (e.g., /thank-you, ?preview=).
4. Don't forget to test the URL to ensure it matches the one you want to ignore and click 'Save the new rule'.

These urls will not be stored in the cache and Prerender will return a 404, preserving quota.

Step 4: Remove Dead Links

Search engine bots and Prerender may still render pages that no longer exist if crawlers request them. Make sure your site doesn't contain dead links that lead to 404 pages.

• Use a link checker tool to clean up outdated internal links.
• Purge deleted or unused pages from your CMS or sitemap file.

Step 5: Remove Soft 404 pages

Soft 404 pages are pages in your site that don’t actually exist but return a 200 OK response anyway, causing Prerender to treat and cache them as real pages. 

More details and instructions are available on our documentation page:

• 404 Checker: A Tool for Website Owners

Step 6: Remove Inactive pages

Prerender flags any cached page that hasn’t been requested in the last 30 days. These low-traffic pages usually don't need to stay cached, so reviewing and clearing them out helps keep your cache efficient and uncluttered.

For more information and instructions on how to remove them, please visit the page:

• Pages That Have Not Been Requested in the Past 30 Days.

Step 7: Optimize Cache Expiration Settings

Custom cache expiration gives you direct control over how often different parts of your site are recached. Instead of treating your entire domain the same, you can set longer cache expiration times for stable areas (like static pages) and shorter intervals for sections that change more frequently. This means you decide exactly how often a specific path, section, or even the whole domain gets refreshed in the cache, based on how frequently its content actually changes.

You can read more about custom rules expiration and how to implement this on our doc page:

• Domain Manager: Domain and Pattern-Based Cache Expiration

All of these configurations will lower bounce rate, reduce unnecessary renders, and improve SEO.

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Confirmation / Verification

After configuration, monitor your Cache Manager to verify that:

• The number of unique urls are decreasing or remains stable over time
• Previously ignored/internal urls no longer appear in cached results
• The Ignored url and Url Parameter rules are being respected

FAQ's

• Q: Why do I still see /admin urls in the cache?
  A: Your integration may still be forwarding them. Check your server or CDN config. If your config is fine, it might take some time for the changes to take effect.
• Q: How do I test if a url matches a rule?
  A: Use the test option in the Ignored urls section before saving a filter.
• Q: I removed from a url from the cache, but it keeps coming back?
  A: Make sure you apply ignore or block rules instead of manually purging only.
• Q: I did all these, but I'm still seeing overages?
  A: We suggest you consider upgrading to higher plan. 

Tips / Best Practices

• Use wildcard rules to ignore entire folders (e.g., /internal/*)
• Regularly inspect new query parameters introduced by campaigns or trackers
• Keep your sitemap clean and current to prevent bots and Prerender from hitting dead or deprecated urls
• Monitor your cached pages list after major content updates (e.g., CMS migrations, new product lines) 
• Check your render usage regularly in the dashboard to detect unexpected spikes.

Related Articles / Pages

• Ignore URLs and query parameters
• Setting Up Your Prerender Integration
• Pages That Have Not Been Requested in the Past 30 Days
• 404 Checker: A Tool for Website Owners
• Domain Manager: Domain and Pattern-Based Cache Expiration