Page pagination. What is it and should you use it?

Page pagination definition

Page pagination is the process of dividing content into separate pages for easier navigation and access. It’s a feature that can be found on most websites, as it helps visitors to quickly find the information they’re looking for without having to scroll through a long page of content.

The pros and cons of pagination

When done correctly, pagination can be a great way to provide a better user experience by making the content easier to read and navigate. By breaking content up into smaller pieces, you can help keep readers focused on the most important points and help them find what they’re looking for faster. Additionally, pagination can also make your website look cleaner and more organized, which can give it a more professional feel.

Pagination is not only a great way to improve UX but can also help website owners save money on hosting costs as it reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent to visitors when they view a page. Additionally, if a website offers content in multiple languages, page pagination can be used to keep language-specific content together on the same page.

However, page pagination isn’t always the best solution. In some cases, it can actually be detrimental to the user experience. For example, if you have too many pages in a paginated post, it can make it difficult for users to find the information they’re looking for. Moreover, if you use too many pages, it can result in longer loading times, which can lead to frustration.

Impact of pagination on SEO

• Improved site structure: pagination allows you to break up a long webpage into sections and add appropriate headings and titles for each page. This gives Google a better understanding of your website’s structure and makes it easier to index and rank your pages.
• Increased crawlability: it helps search engines crawl your website more quickly, resulting in faster page loading speeds. This will help your pages rank higher in search results.
• Enhanced User Experience: by paginating your pages, you make it easier for visitors to find the information they need more quickly. This improves their user experience and encourages them to stay longer on your website.
• Multiple page indexing: it also allows search engines to index multiple pages from the same webpage, increasing your chances of ranking higher in search results.

Problems related to incorrectly implemented page pagination

Improperly implemented pagination can thwart our plans related to website optimization. So you have to be sensitive to a few important issues.

Increased internal duplication

One of the main problems we may encounter after introducing paging to our online store is the increased level of internal duplication. Internal duplication of content is a situation when the same or very similar text is on different subpages within one website. This is a problem for online stores that have the same titles and descriptions for different products and their variants.

Wasting site crawling budget

In short, Google’s ability to index our site is limited to the maximum number of pages we can have. We will need to enter and analyze each of the pages created for pagination with our products, if we have a store with a large assortment. There are some limitations to this process. We waste time analyzing subpages on our website that have no valuable content or duplicate information, which causes the robots to lose time in finding valuable pages in the next big categories.

No usability – low UX

If pagination is to fulfill its role properly, it must be properly prepared for use by all potential customers. Our website with numbers that are too small for subsequent pages with product lists will not be friendly to potential customers and will probably leave our store. Similarly, in the case of too small spaces between the numbers or too many of them.

How to correctly implement pagination on the website?

However, there are methods that will allow you to introduce pagination without too much trouble.

Attributes: rel=”prev” and rel=”next”

This tip mainly applies to pages that don’t have duplicate content on subpages. If there are categories in our store that can be divided in such a way that each page contains unique content or products, then we should use the rel=”prev” and rel=”next” attributes. In this case, we do not have to, or even should not, block subpages from being indexed. Thanks to these attributes, we can indicate to the search engine robots individual subpages that form a whole in the right order.

The implementation of attributes is extremely simple. Attributes should be placed in the html or http header for individual subpages.

Rel=”canonical” attribute

It is a good idea to create canonical links (rel=”canonical” tags) to avoid internal duplication. Canonical link primary purpose is to inform search engine robots which URL is the original link.

Robots.txt file

Thanks to it, we can effectively communicate with robots indexing our website. We can influence the direction of their traffic and limit access to subpages that are unnecessary in the context of search results. In the case of page pagination, one of the most common solutions is to block all pages except the first one from being indexed.

Tag “no index”

A similar way that allows us to block individual subpages from indexing is to use the “no index” meta tag. Placing it in the code of a specific subpage, in the <head> section, will give Google robots a clear suggestion that we do not want this address to be displayed in search results and analyzed in terms of content. As with robots.txt, this tag is often entered for subsequent pagination pages beyond the first.

Sitemap.xml

When it comes to pagination, it is important to include a sitemap.xml file as part of your web page structure. This file contains information about each page of the site and its layout, which helps search engines index the pages more accurately. This helps to ensure that visitors can easily find the content they are looking for.

Pagination or infinite scroll. What’s better?

In today’s online world, page pagination and infinite scroll are two of the most common ways for users to navigate through a website. Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to consider which one works best for your website.

infinite scroll displays an infinite amount of content without having to click through multiple pages. Instead, as the user scrolls down, more content appears automatically. This can be seen on websites such as Facebook and Instagram. The advantage of this method is that it keeps users engaged by providing them with a continuous stream of content.

So, is page pagination or infinite scroll better? Ultimately, it depends on the type of website you are creating. If your website contains a large amount of content and you want the user to be able to easily find what they are looking for, page pagination may be the better choice. However, if you want to keep users engaged with a steady flow of content, then infinite scroll may be more suitable.

Bottom line

In conclusion, page pagination can be a great way to improve your website’s user experience. It allows visitors to easily navigate through your content and locate the information they need quickly. Additionally, it helps keep your pages organized and makes them look more professional. While there are some drawbacks to pagination such as potentially limiting the reach of your content, these can be easily remedied by ensuring that all your paginated content is linked to from other pages. As long as you use it carefully and thoughtfully, page pagination is definitely worth using on your website.