9 Pagination Tips for SEO [My Essential Tips]

It’s no secret that pagination can be a tricky piece of SEO. You’ve likely come across multi-page articles, product lists spanning many pages, or even forum threads that keep going. Handling how these pages connect, display, and get indexed can make a big difference for your site’s SEO.

I’ve faced plenty of crawl errors and duplicate content issues because of poor pagination setups.

In this post, I’ll walk you through 9 practical tips for SEO-friendly pagination. These suggestions come from years of experience fixing issues on various sites—from e-commerce product listings to large publishing platforms.

Sit back and read on as we look at each tip, how it works, and why it matters.

Use Unique, Non-Fragment URLs

One common mistake is using fragment identifiers (like /page#2) for paginated content. Search engines generally do not treat fragment URLs as separate pages worth indexing because they were originally meant for on-page navigation or anchor links rather than entirely new content pages.

When dealing with paginated content, make sure each page has its own distinct URL path. For example, something like www.example.com/products?page=2 works well.

This approach helps search engines recognize and index each page individually.

• Each page can build its own ranking signals.
• You reduce the risk of your content competing against itself in search results.
• It becomes easier to track user behavior and analytics on individual pages.

I once worked with a news site that grouped many articles under a single URL with endless scrolling via a #2 or #3 at the end.

The performance for older stories was very poor. After switching to unique URLs, organic visibility for those posts increased by over 15%.

Link Pages Sequentially with Crawlable Anchor Tags

Many pagination setups use “Next” and “Previous” links or numbered links at the bottom of a listing. However, it is common for developers to hide these links behind JavaScript or mark them as non-crawlable.

Search engines prefer plain HTML anchor tags such as:

• Next Page
• Previous Page

This straightforward method helps search engines understand the link structure and the relationship between your paginated pages.

It also makes navigation clearer for users.

Points to keep in mind:

1. Avoid using JavaScript-only pagination if possible.
2. Do not hide the pagination links in secondary or concealed elements.
3. Ensure each page correctly references the “previous” and “next” link to maintain a proper sequence.

I have seen large retailer websites hide their pagination links in favor of a more modern design. However, that ended up reducing organic traffic because search engines could not move beyond the first page.

Restoring plain HTML anchor tags brought a noticeable improvement in discoverability.

Implement Self-Referencing Canonical Tags

Canonical tags are often overlooked, yet they are very important for pagination.

A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is the primary one. For a series of paginated pages, using self-referencing canonicals means that each page, such as page 2 or page 3, points to its own URL as the canonical version.

Setting all pages to point to page 1 can confuse search engines, which might result in them skipping deeper pages.

Each paginated page should be treated as an independent piece of content. Self-referencing canonicals help avoid issues with duplicate or similar content while ensuring proper indexing.

Many well-known sites follow this practice to maintain the SEO value of each page in a product listing.

Avoid Indexing Multiple Filtered or Sorted Versions

This tip helps you avoid the pitfalls of duplicate content. Listings often include filters and sorting options (for instance, by price or color). If every filter combination creates a new URL that is indexed, you can end up with hundreds or thousands of very similar pages.

I have reviewed websites with dozens of filter options resulting in an overwhelming number of variations.

The outcome was unnecessary site bloat, wasted crawl budget, and repetitive content. Search engines generally do not benefit from indexing all these variations.

Here are a few ways to handle filter URL indexing:

• Use robots.txt to block crawling of certain filter parameters.
• Add a noindex directive for dynamic filter URLs you don’t want to show in search results.
• Use canonical tags to point duplicate pages back to the main listing page.

If a filtered view is important, consider creating a unique landing page for it and allow that page to be indexed.

Otherwise, keep these filtered versions out of the search index.

Exclude Paginated Pages from Sitemaps

It might seem logical to have every page appear in your XML sitemap, but listing every paginated page can end up confusing search engines and diluting the focus on your main content pages.

Reasons to exclude them include:

• Conserving crawl budget, as search engines have limited resources for crawling your site.
• Preventing unexpected pages, such as page 7 or page 12, from appearing in search results and confusing visitors.

Typically, paginated pages remain accessible through “Next” / “Previous” links, while being left out of the XML sitemap so that primary content—like main articles or product details—gets the spotlight.

Don’t “Noindex” Paginated Pages (unless absolutely necessary)

There is some debate over whether to use a “noindex” directive on paginated pages, but a balanced approach tends to work best.

If you have set up unique URLs, proper linking, and self-referencing canonicals, there is little reason to mark every paginated page with noindex.

Reasons to let them be indexed include:

• Visitors may land on later pages that contain useful content.
• You avoid creating gaps in your site’s content path.
• Blocking these pages could negatively affect your site’s structure from the search engine’s viewpoint.

Only apply noindex on pages that serve no lasting purpose, such as temporary filtered views.

Optimize Anchor Text for “Next,” “Previous,” and Numbered Links

The standard text for pagination links is often just “Next,” “Previous,” or a simple number. While this is clear enough, using more descriptive anchor text can improve accessibility for screen readers and provide additional context.

For example:

• “Next Page of Articles”
• “Previous Page of Articles”

For product pages, identifiers like:

• “Next Page: More Laptops”
• “Previous Page: Laptops Page 3”

offer clarity without overloading with keywords.

The goal is clarity and consistency throughout the site.

Monitor and Adjust with Google Search Console

When you introduce a new pagination setup, testing is essential. Google Search Console is a reliable tool for checking:

• Index Coverage: Are your paginated pages being indexed?
• Crawl Errors: Look for any 404 or 500 errors that might disrupt the sequence.
• Performance Metrics: Do these pages receive impressions and clicks?

A regular search on your site using a query like site:example.com inurl:“page=” can reveal whether extra filter or sorting pages are indexed.

If you find unexpected pages in the index, you can block them or adjust canonical tags accordingly.

I have seen cases where out-of-stock product pages outranked main category pages—all because of a mismanaged pagination structure.

Monitoring helped identify the issue, and a few adjustments corrected the problem.

Consider Infinite Scroll Carefully (If You Must Use It)

Infinite scroll is popular for a smooth user experience, but it needs to be handled with care. If you decide to use infinite scroll, make sure there is an alternative method in place so that each segment of content can be reached via a unique URL.

For example, if you have a blog page with infinite scroll, include traditional pagination links in the footer or navigation. This way, search engines can still access content that would otherwise rely solely on JavaScript loading.

Relying entirely on JavaScript risks important pages being missed during crawling.

Key pointers for infinite scroll setups:

• Always include a way for users and search engines to directly access specific pages (page 2, page 3, etc.).
• Update the URL as new content loads, but do so sparingly.
• Keep an eye on page performance to avoid slow loading.

By taking care with infinite scroll, you can maintain a user-friendly layout without compromising how well search engines index your site.