Pagination – what is it and what impact does it have on SEO?
Pagination, otherwise known as paging, is a term that in the context of websites refers to the organization of available content and navigation to it. When dealing with voluminous content on a website, we often choose to divide it up. Pagination is precisely a method of dividing the content of a page (usually a listing of some kind) into several “smaller” pages, each with its own individual URL. Such a procedure is intended to increase the comfort of its reception. Pagination is the opposite of Infinite Scroll, a solution in which successive elements are “added” to a single page on the fly – known, for example, from social media such as Facebook or Instagram. Most of us encounter pagination every day – for example, at the very bottom of Google search results. The numbers from one to ten are placed there. When we press each number, we are taken to the corresponding page of results.
Types of pagination
Here we can choose from 3 options for using pagination:
- Classic pagination,
- Infinite scroll (infinite scroll),
- Topping up content with a button.
Classic pagination is simply pagination. There are buttons with page numbers at the end of the content listing, and it is these that must be used to load the rest of the content. Infinite scroll does not engage the user in any way. The content recharges automatically after the user “reaches” the end of the page. The last option is a kind of hybrid of the others. Recharging the content with a button ostensibly gives the user a breather before the content loads. It doesn’t happen automatically – the user has to click the button to see more.
Advantages of using pagination on a website
The main advantage of pagination is that it is “standard” – most CMSs use it in some form by default, and users are simply used to this solution. However, this is not the only advantage of pagination:
- Easy navigation: the books are paginated to make it easier for readers to quickly find relevant content from the entire text. The same is true for pagination – it provides a quick and friendly way to find selected topics or products.
- Control over the appearance of the site: Using pagination, a site owner can more easily control all the elements of a page that might start to behave strangely if scrolled infinitely.
- Positive impact on SEO: Splitting product listings or content into successive, smaller sub-pages not only positively affects the viewer experience of a website, but also its search engine positioning. Arranged with the help of pagination, a page loads faster, has a better structure and is easier for Google robots to read – this results in better reception by the algorithm and a higher position in search results.
Pagination of web pages – dangers
Care should be taken when implementing paging not to get caught in one of several pitfalls associated with this element. Any of the following mistakes can have a (negative) impact on your website’s SEO:
- Duplication of content: Ensure that the content on subsequent pages is significantly different from each other, and avoid artificially “pumping up” the number of URLs on the site.
- Thin content: avoid creating and indexing many low-quality listings, i.e., those with few elements.
- Repeating title tags: differentiate title descriptions and do not use repetition of meta tags between consecutive pagination pages.
- Negative impact on mobile UX: Websites with infinite scrolling are generally considered more accessible on mobile devices than those with pagination.
Pagination and SEO – best practices
Pagination, when properly implemented, primarily has a positive effect on the consumption of the site’s indexing budget (Crawl budget). You can exclude consecutive pagination listings using sitemap or consider marking pagination sub-pages with the “noindex” tag. The rel=”canonical” tag is the best way to tag an overarching page and avoid duplicate content. Pagination has many advantages – users know how to handle pages that use it, and Google is perfectly capable of crawling and indexing them. However, there are types of sites where other solutions will work better. Consider which category your site falls into.
