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What is Pagination? Learn Its Definition and How to Apply It

Last updated: Sep 22, 2022

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What is Pagination?

Pagination is a technique of sorting pages that are linked to one another due to their similar content. The purpose of this method is to help users find content or products easily through a simple display.

As an example, you'll find the order of the pages at the top or bottom of a product page on an e-commerce website. If you do not find the product you are looking for on the first page, then you will go to the second page, and so on.

Imagine if all products were immediately displayed on one page. Of course, you will find it difficult to find the product you are looking for. This will also affect the speed of the website.

The sorting is not only done in the form of numbers. There are also other forms that are used, such as letters of the alphabet, loading more, or using sorted page names.

The Importance of Pagination for SEO

Pagination is an important technique that can be applied to many types of websites. By applying that method, you can improve your website's SEO effectively. The following is its function:

Providing Better User Experience

If a page presents too much information, the audience will feel dizzy and confused. It will also be difficult to get them to convert because there's so much distraction on one page.

By separating content or information into several pages, the audience will get information more easily and their user experience will be better.

Help Users Navigate the Website Easily

Sorting pages is a practice to make website navigation easier. When an audience is searching and can't find the content or product on a page, they will intuitively go to the next page to find more results.

In addition, providing properly sorted pages can help the audience find out how much data or information is presented by the website. It is particularly useful for sorting and arranging pages that are done with numbers.

How to Apply the Pagination Method

Previously, Google identified pagination by using rel="prev/next". However, now that Google is no longer using it, every page will be considered a stand-alone page.

This can trigger duplicate content so that one page will not be indexed by Google. To avoid this, you must know how to implement a good page sorting system. The way to sort pages properly is:

Create Unique and Relevant Content

The content on paginated pages tends to be similar. The content of the product description on each page may be similar, and the only difference may be their colors or sizes.

To prevent duplicate content, each page must have unique content. Hence, it is important to make different product descriptions even if they are in the same product category.

Pay Attention to the Use of Keywords

Often, the paginated system results in each page having the same keywords. If each of these pages is indexed by Google, then this can potentially lead to keyword cannibalism. One of your pages will probably rank highly, but the other won't.

Therefore, use variations on the same keywords, such as long-tail keywords or LSI keywords. This method can prevent keyword cannibalism on paginated pages.

Keywords can also be used to mark certain pages that are closely related to the other pages. The trick is to use the URL from the main page to the target keyword as anchor text.

Use URL Parameters

The URL parameter is used to distinguish pages with the same content but at different URLs. This method can help Google understand that the main page and other pages are separate from each other. An example of using URL parameters is as follows:

Main page : https://example.com/article
Second page with URL parameter : https://example.com/article?page=2

Determine the Canonical Page

Another way to avoid duplicate content on paginated pages is to use canonical tags. Each paginated page must include the canonical tag of the main page in the header section. An example of a canonical tag is <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/article">.

Make sure the link in the canonical tag points to the main page. With the canonical tag, Google will know the main page and prioritize it in the SERP.

Understand Website Link Structure

Sorting pages can make the website link structure deeper. This condition will hinder the crawling process because of the large number of links that must be traced so that it consumes the crawl budget.

Therefore, make sure that your paginated pages have a shallow link structure by reducing the number of links from the main page to specific pages.