Pagination – How to Align It with SEO Principles?

Pagination, also known as paging, is a technique primarily used by large online stores offering a wide range of products. It involves dividing the website content and placing individual products in different categories across multiple pages.

Proper pagination of a website affects how Google’s bots correctly read it and the position it will hold in search results. We encounter pagination daily on eCommerce sites, blogs, articles, and forums.

What should you keep in mind when implementing pagination?

Using pagination improves the page loading speed. As a result, potential customers stay longer on the site and are less likely to abandon their purchases. The user will immediately see several products from the category they are interested in, as well as the number of pages with similar items.

When implementing pagination on your website, remember to pay attention to both technical aspects and usability for potential customers. Make sure to ensure proper indexing of the pages. Based on the site analysis, Google bots decide where to place your website in the search results. Use navigation links (for example: “previous,” “first”) and make sure they are large enough—so that even older or visually impaired users can easily see them and so they display correctly on mobile devices. Also, maintain appropriate spacing between them. Highlight the page the user is currently viewing—this way, they will understand how many products remain to be seen.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Duplicating descriptions. Ensure that each subpage has a unique title and description. This positively impacts the identification of the site’s pagination.
2. Thin content. This issue arises when an article is divided into too small parts, leaving very little content on each page. This technique is often used to increase page views. However, deliberately using thin content leads to user impatience and discouragement, causing visitors to leave the site faster.
3. Applying the rel="canonical" attribute pointing to the first pagination element on subsequent subpages.

Pagination is a practical solution that provides potential customers with easy navigation within the website. When implementing this feature, focus on user convenience but also keep in mind Google’s indexing bots. By adopting SEO-friendly pagination, you will improve your website’s ranking in search results.