How to handle paginated pages
Paginated listings need their own canonical URLs and clear links between pages so crawlers reach every item.
Step by step, with screenshots: Pagination in 2026: rel=prev/next is gone, what now →
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What it is
Pagination splits a long list, such as a product category, blog archive or search results, across numbered pages like /shoes/?page=2. Each page shows a set of items and links to the next, previous and other pages in the series.
Search engines reach items deep in the list only through those links. Google has not used rel="prev" and rel="next" since 2019; it treats every paginated page as its own URL. Canonicalising page 2 and later to page 1 hides the items listed there, and infinite scroll without real page URLs can hide them entirely.
OK looks like this: each page in the series has a unique URL, a self-referencing canonical and normal <a href> links to the next page. rel="prev"/"next" is optional and harmless. getReport notes when it finds pagination links so you can check the rest.
What a passing site looks like
- No paginated series leads back to an earlier pageinfo onlyeffort S
- Pagination links are in placeinfo onlyeffort S
1. Pagination loops
Why it matters. rel="next" marks the next page of a list. Google no longer uses it, but Bing and many crawlers still do, and a series that loops back never reaches its last pages. It usually means the template builds the next link from the wrong page number.
- Check the template's next link on the pages listed; the last page of a series should have no rel="next".
- Make sure each page links to the pages of the series with plain links too, so everything stays reachable.
2. Pagination links found (rel="prev"/"next")
Why it matters. rel="prev" and rel="next" mark this page as part of a series. Google no longer uses them for indexing, but browsers and other search engines still read them, and they do no harm.
- Keep them if your CMS emits them; make sure each paginated page also has its own canonical URL and links to the next page in the HTML.
Questions people ask
What is pagination in SEO?
In SEO, pagination means how a site splits long lists across several pages and how search engines crawl and index them. Good pagination lets crawlers reach every item through plain links and keeps each page indexable with its own canonical, so products or posts on page 5 can still be found.
Is infinite scroll or pagination better for SEO?
Pagination is safer, because each page has its own URL that crawlers can open. Infinite scroll loads more items only when a person scrolls, which Googlebot does not do. If you want infinite scroll, back it with paginated URLs that load the same items and update the address bar as people scroll.
Does Google still use rel=next and rel=prev?
No. Google announced in 2019 that it had stopped using rel="next" and rel="prev" as an indexing signal for some time. Other search engines and browsers may still read them, so there is no harm in keeping them. What Google needs is crawlable links between the pages.
Should paginated pages canonical to page 1?
No. Each paginated page should have a canonical pointing to itself, because it lists different items from page 1. Pointing them all at page 1 tells Google they are duplicates, and the products or posts linked only from later pages may never be found. A view-all page is the one exception.