Pagination

When pagination makes sense

Blogs with hundreds of posts, e-commerce catalogues with thousands of products, and search results all benefit from pagination. It keeps page sizes manageable, improves load times, and helps visitors find content without endless scrolling.

The alternative—infinite scroll—works for discovery-focused social feeds but frustrates users seeking specific items. Pagination provides clear navigation, bookmarkable pages, and predictable experience.

SEO considerations for pagination

Search engines must understand paginated series to index all content. Use standard pagination URLs like /blog/page/2, /blog/page/3—clear, crawlable, and logical.

While Google deprecated rel="next" and rel="prev" tags, other search engines still use them. Including these tags helps crawlers understand pagination relationships. They signal "this is part of a series" rather than independent duplicate content.

Ensure pagination links are crawlable HTML <a> tags, not JavaScript-only buttons. Search engines need actual links to discover subsequent pages.

Avoiding duplicate content issues

Paginated pages often share similar titles and descriptions—"Blog - Page 2", "Blog - Page 3". This creates thin content signals. Add page numbers to title tags and meta descriptions to differentiate them.

Some sites use canonical tags pointing all paginated pages to page 1. This consolidates signals but hides deeper pages from search. Better approach: let each page have self-referencing canonicals, allowing all to be indexed independently.

User experience best practices

Show current page number clearly. Provide "Previous" and "Next" links. Include first/last page links. Display total page count when feasible—visitors want to know how much content exists.

Keep pagination controls visible and accessible on mobile. Tiny pagination links frustrate touch navigation. Make targets at least 44x44px for comfortable tapping.

Implementation approach

We implement pagination thoughtfully: clear URL structure, proper linking, differentiated metadata, and mobile-friendly controls. This ensures both users and search engines navigate content effectively.