Pagination is the practice of splitting a long list of content, like products, blog posts or search results, across a series of pages. Visitors move through the series with numbered links or "next" and "previous" buttons, and each page in the series has its own URL.
For businesses, pagination decides whether search engines can reach everything deep in a list. If page 7 of your product category can't be crawled, the products only linked from page 7 may never be found, indexed or cited.
What is pagination?
Pagination breaks a large set of items into smaller, numbered pages. You see it on category pages in online stores, blog archives, forum threads and internal search results. Instead of loading 500 items at once, a site might show 24 per page across about 21 pages.
Pagination is one of three common patterns for long lists. Google's guide to pagination and incremental page loading covers all three: classic pagination, a "load more" button, and infinite scroll. Google notes that pagination gives users a sense of the result size and their position in it, while load more and infinite scroll keep everything on one page but can struggle with very large result sets.
Why pagination matters
It controls discovery. Google's crawlers generally follow links in <a href> elements. If the only way to reach older items is through pagination links, those links are the path crawlers take. Broken or JavaScript-only pagination can strand pages, much like an orphan page.
It affects crawl efficiency. Long series push items many clicks away from the home page, which increases crawl depth. On very large sites, poorly built pagination combined with filters and sort orders can create huge numbers of URLs and waste crawl budget.
It shapes what gets indexed. Wrong canonical tags or noindex rules on paginated pages can hide content you want found, in both search results and the AI answers that draw on indexed pages.
How pagination works
Unique URLs for each page
Google recommends giving each page in a series its own URL, for example with a ?page=2 query parameter. Google also says to avoid URL fragments for page numbers, because Google ignores fragment identifiers. A URL like /shoes#page=2 looks like the same page as /shoes to Google.
Sequential links
Each page should link to the next one with a standard <a href> link. Google adds that you can include a link from every page back to the first page of the collection, which can signal that the first page is the best landing page for the series.
Canonicals and titles
Google's guidance is direct: don't use the first page as the canonical for every page in the series. Each page should have its own canonical URL, because page 3 contains different items than page 1. Google also says paginated pages don't need unique titles and descriptions, since it tries to recognize the sequence.
What happened to rel="next" and rel="prev"
For years, SEOs added rel="next" and rel="prev" link tags to describe a series. Google's current documentation says it no longer uses these tags, although other search engines may still use them. They're harmless to keep, but they won't fix crawling problems for Google.
Load more and infinite scroll
These patterns usually rely on JavaScript triggered by a click or scroll. Google says its crawlers don't "click" buttons and usually don't trigger JavaScript that requires user actions. If you use them, back them with crawlable paginated URLs, and consider a sitemap or Merchant Center feed so Google can find all your products.
Pagination in practice: an example
Picture a hypothetical outdoor gear store with 600 tents in one category. The category uses infinite scroll, and the developer added canonical tags pointing every scroll state to the main category URL.
In Search Console, the store notices many tent product pages listed as discovered but not indexed. A crawl shows that only the first 30 tents are linked in the initial HTML.
The fix is simple. The team keeps infinite scroll for shoppers but adds crawlable ?page=2, ?page=3 links in the HTML, gives each page a self-referencing canonical, and makes sure every product is in the XML sitemap. Over the following weeks, more product pages are crawled and indexed.
Best practices for pagination
- Use real links. Link pages with <a href> tags, not buttons or fragment URLs.
- Give each page its own URL and canonical. Don't canonicalize the whole series to page 1.
- Keep paginated pages indexable unless you have a clear reason not to. They are often the main path to deeper items.
- Control filters and sort orders. Google suggests using noindex or robots.txt to keep filtered or re-sorted variations, like ?order=price, out of the index. See faceted navigation for more.
- Back it up with a sitemap. An XML sitemap gives crawlers a second way to find items deep in a series.
- Return 404 for pages that don't exist. If someone requests page 99 of a 20-page series, don't serve an empty page with a 200 status.
Common mistakes and misconceptions
"Paginated pages are duplicate content." Each page lists different items, so they aren't duplicates. Shared titles and intro text are fine, according to Google.
"Noindex everything after page 1." This can cut off the main route to older or deeper content. Weigh it carefully against how else those items are linked.
"A view-all page solves everything." It can work for small sets, but a very long page may load slowly and frustrate visitors. Test performance before relying on it.
"rel next and prev are still required." Google no longer uses them. Focus on crawlable links and correct canonicals.
How Butter approaches pagination
Pagination isn't a separate service at Butter. It shows up in our monthly indexing strategy, where we compare what Search Console reports against the pages you actually want found and flag issues like parameter sprawl or large clusters of discovered but not indexed URLs. Paginated categories are a common place to find those problems.
On the GEO+SEO plan, technical SEO fixes cover crawl and duplication issues directly, including conflicting canonicals, broken links and soft 404s. GEO plan clients get the same findings as on-page recommendations in their monthly report. More on our technical work is on our SEO services page.
Frequently asked questions
Should paginated pages be indexed?
Usually, yes. Paginated pages are often the main path to deeper items. Google recommends giving each page its own URL and canonical. Filtered or re-sorted variations are a different matter and can be kept out of the index.
Does Google still use rel="next" and rel="prev"?
No. Google's documentation says it no longer uses these tags, though other search engines may still use them. Crawlable links between pages matter more.
Is infinite scroll bad for SEO?
Not by itself, but Google's crawlers don't scroll or click buttons. If you use infinite scroll or load more, also provide crawlable paginated URLs so all items can be found.
Should page 2 canonicalize to page 1?
No. Google advises against using the first page as the canonical for the whole series. Each paginated page should have its own canonical URL.