Search engine optimization is not an easy task. Often, it does not have any specific rules and algorithms. Much has to "grope" yourself. But SEO is a specialty that has been practiced for more than 10 years, and specialists are trying to find some universal solutions for different tasks.
Publishing Pagination
From Latin the word is translated as "page". Pagination has several meanings. The term is also used in publishing. Almost everyone who at least once held a book in his hands is familiar with him.
Pagination is the numbering of pages in order. It is represented by columns, which can be at the bottom, top or side of the page. There is also the concept of automatic numbering in this case, but it works according to complex algorithms that may not work correctly.
SEO Pagination
Pagination pages in web design are also found for anyone who has ever used a search service. For example, when you enter a query on Google, the page shows only 10 results, it all depends on the settings.
To proceed further, you just use pagination. Designers use this option in order to separate arrays of text and organize information. The block itself, on which the numbers are displayed, is called the paginator.
Development
Pagination pages are one of the essential elements when working with a siteâs usability. It is unlikely that you will be able to avoid it if you have an online store with an impressive catalog.
Professionals know that the page should be relevant to the request. Therefore, it is important to avoid countless duplicates and identical titles. In order not to encounter such things, a paginator is installed on the page.
What should be pagination? This is a question that worries many. You can talk a lot about this topic and still not find the answer. The main thing is to adhere to the rules and regulations.
Implementation methods
Of course, a unified classification in this case certainly does not exist. Many options begin to come together over time, creating even more types. However, the main and most popular can be distinguished:
- Universal pagination, which has serial numbering. At the same time, there are additional Forward / Back buttons on the right and left.
- Pagination with a range. In this case, the user can select a certain range of pages on which the necessary product can be located.
- The reverse type is not so common, because it is not very convenient to use. However, such an option exists, so it is worth mentioning it. This type is similar to a range, but with reverse numbering.
Of course, you most likely have come across several more options that may be useful to you. It is important to consider the size of the directory and the convenience of using the paginator.
Types
You can use pagination pages in different cases, while using the most advantageous implementation option for your resource. But where is pagination appropriate?
For example, if the site has long articles. To make them easier to read, many break them down into several parts. In this case, almost always on either side of the numbering add arrows or inscriptions like âForward / Backwardâ, âPrevious / Nextâ, etc.
Pagination in this case can be seen in the URL. Each individual page receives its address and is numbered in accordance with what is indicated on the site itself.
The component is also placed on pagination pages with categories. If the catalog is large, then it will have many sections and subsections. They all will have to be separated somehow, but in order not to get lost in all this, it is better to introduce numbering.
It will not be superfluous to use this tool on the forums. Numerous comments make it easy to get lost. Therefore, it is important for developers to streamline information and make it available even after other data takes its place.
By the way, in this case, pagination in the URL is better organized based on dates. In this case, it will be easier to understand the relevance of the information.
Another type of pagination is infinite scrolling. You could meet her on social networks and on sites that value your attention. How does the tool work in this case?
A script is installed on the page, which is responsible for endless scrolling. That is, when you go down to the very bottom of the page, it suddenly turns out that you are already in the middle of it, and new posts or products are ahead.
Benefits for optimization
One can argue endlessly about SEO pagination pages. Some experts believe that the tool does not affect the site optimization in any way, while others are convinced that precise tuning of the paginator can be made a driving force.
Everyone will be able to see the benefits from their own experience. To close pagination pages from indexing or not, you also have to decide on your own, since a lot really depends on the type of resource. But you should know some points.
As you know, in order to index all pages, it is important to give access to them. A robot, of course, must go through all categories and subcategories. If the site has 100 pages, then the first few he will quickly check, but "the farther into the forest", the longer he will do the work. Pagination helps him find the right pages much faster.
Another factor that may affect your decision is working with links. If there are no numbering on the site, then you have to work with a large array of links, because of which they can ban. Pagination in this regard is a much more legal way.
And, of course, usability is our everything! It is unlikely that any of your visitors will be happy about the lack of pagination. Indeed, in this case, in order to get to the right product, he will have to "shovel" more than a dozen pages.
What problems can you face?
Few people realize that pagination pages are a tricky tool to customize. Just implementing it, but not configuring it is not a good idea. The fact is that you may encounter a number of problems that can harm your site. The main ones:
- visit limit for robots;
- fight against duplicates.
Robots periodically crawl the site. However, a lot depends on the credibility of your site. The more trust you have, the more time the robot will spend on the site. If you have added a large number of pages with pagination, then it is very unlikely that the robot will scan each and reach the end point. In addition, if he spends time on such unimportant pages, he may skip really important content that you worked on, and on which optimization depends.
An equally important issue concerns duplicates. Every specialist knows that the presence of similar or identical pages usually leads to difficult situations on the part of search engines.
If you work with pagination, you can create similar or completely identical pages. The title, title and description will also be repeated. Because of this, the search engine will not be able to correctly assess the relevance of such pages, and therefore the visitor may be faced with the fact that the material received on request does not suit him at all.
What to do?
Of course, so that no problems with indexing pagination pages arise, you can apply one of the solution options:
- removal using noindex;
- implementation of âSee allâ and rel = âcanonicalâ commands;
- using Rel = âprevâ / ânextâ.
It should be noted right away that there are many more solutions to problems. There are options for which you will have to call a programmer who understands this. But there are options that it will not be so difficult to figure out on your own. Some experts can combine several solutions, and someone can completely neglect this without suffering from search engine errors.
Using noindex
The easiest way to close pagination pages. This is a very simple way that even a novice can handle. What is its essence? It will be enough to hide from indexing all the pages of the pagination, except the first.
How to do it? For everything to work, you must use the following command: <meta name = "robots" content = "noindex, follow" />. This meta tag needs to be embedded on all the pages we are going to hide in the <head> block. Do not forget that the first page should be accessible.
This solution will help to eliminate all duplicates that are unnecessary for us, while the catalog itself will function correctly, and the products from it will undergo indexing.
When setting up indexing of pagination pages, it is worth considering some facts that will again affect resource optimization. If there is a description in the catalog or on the main page, it is better not to duplicate it on other pages. Since only the first will be indexed, it is advisable to give up all efforts to optimize it.
It is also worth making sure that the address of the first page is not duplicated anywhere else, otherwise closing it may lead to the absence of indexing of the entire catalog.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method? This option is great for Yandex, itâs easy and quick to work with. But itâs worthwhile to understand that page content may disappear, and in the absence of a site map, the robot will index a very large catalog for a long time.
See All and rel = âcanonicalâ commands
If you have not decided whether to close the pagination pages from indexing, you can consider another option for solving problems that everyone can face conditionally.
This option was previously proposed by Google. Developers are encouraged to create a separate âSee Allâ page. It contains all the products in the catalog. For the system to work, you need to leave the rel = âcanonicalâ attribute on âSee Allâ on each pagination page.
How to implement all this? The option is similar to the one proposed in the previous section. The only difference is in the team. This time you need to use: <link rel = "canonical" href = "http://site.com/catalog/view-all.html" /> in the same block on all pagination pages.
Google claims that for their search engine this is the most correct option. Of course, it is not necessary to follow it, since it has both pros and cons. It is important to remember that Watch All is best done very fast. It should not be loaded for a long time and keep the user waiting. The method is suitable for compact categories with pagination pages.
The disadvantages of this method of solution include some exceptions. For example, the option will not work if the catalog is really huge, has a large number of pages and even high-quality images. It will not be easy to implement the method on most CMS.
Rel = âprevâ / ânextâ
This is the most difficult feasible solution. If you want to implement this method yourself, it is better to study everything in advance, since errors can lead to serious optimization losses.
Using the attribute rel = "prev" / "next" you can combine all the page numbers of the pagination together. In this case, Google, if properly configured, combines them all into a single whole and makes a chain. Thus, from the entire catalog, only the main page will be in the index.
How to configure such optimization of pagination pages? The whole process starts from the main page. The following command must be entered in the <head> block: <link rel = "next" href = "http://site.com/page2.html">. As you can see, this is a link to the second page of the catalog.
Now go to it and use the same command, but with links to the first and third page. The same will need to be done on the third page, indicating the attribute with a link to the second and fourth. Starting with the fourth, you should specify a link only to the previous page.
It is also worthwhile to understand that the method works only with the Google search engine and has a lot of nuances. For example, youâll need to check for duplicate homepage URLs. You need to configure it very carefully, because with the slightest error, indexing will become uncontrollable and will work according to Google algorithms.
This method really helps to solve the problem without using the method of creating a new page. In addition, the implementation of HTML is subject to only minimal changes.
conclusions
So, pagination pages are not a very complicated concept, but require a special approach when optimizing a site. Interestingly, Google itself offers one of the solutions to leave everything as it is, that is, not to hide pagination and not even create a page chain.
But almost all experts insist that the absence of any steps to optimize and customize can adversely affect the whole promotion. Duplicates may appear on the site, and important pages will be poorly indexed.