How your website handles paginated content could be influencing whether Google indexes your products, blog posts, or news articles. In 2025, pagination remains one of the more misunderstood yet impactful components of technical SEO. Done poorly, it can disrupt discoverability and crawl efficiency. Done well, it can support your content strategy and ensure a better experience for both users and search engines.
This article examines the role of pagination in SEO as it stands in 2025 — unpacking best practices, addressing outdated guidance, and explaining what still matters for visibility and indexing.
What Is Pagination?
Pagination refers to the method of breaking content into separate, connected pages. It’s widely used on ecommerce websites, blogs, forums, and news sites to manage large volumes of content.
Instead of overwhelming a single page with hundreds of products or thousands of comments, pagination divides content across multiple URLs, each often ending in a page identifier like ?page=2 or /page/3/. While it may appear to be a purely user experience feature, pagination plays a far greater role behind the scenes in how your site is crawled and indexed.
Why Websites Use Pagination
Pagination serves several functions:
- Improved load performance: Splitting content reduces the time needed to load a single page.
- User experience: Breaking content into manageable chunks makes it easier for visitors to browse.
- Crawl paths: Pagination creates link structures that allow search engines to reach content beyond what is immediately visible on the first page.
A common example is an ecommerce site displaying hundreds or even thousands of items within a category. Showing all of them on one page would be slow and impractical. Pagination provides a structured, navigable way to browse them.
SEO Implications of Pagination
Crawl Efficiency
Pagination creates a trail for search engines to follow. When used correctly, it allows crawlers to reach deep content that isn’t directly linked elsewhere. This is particularly helpful for ecommerce websites or large publishing platforms with thousands of listings or articles.
However, paginated pages may be treated as low-priority crawl targets if the content appears thin or duplicative. Balancing crawl accessibility and relevance is therefore key.
Indexing
Paginated pages can either support or hinder indexing, depending on how they are implemented. Poor practices — such as blocking them via robots.txt, or using canonical tags that point all paginated pages back to page one — can lead to entire sections of your site being missed by Google.
Internal Linking
Pagination adds a layer of internal linking. Although the links between paginated pages may not carry as much authority as editorial links, they are still valuable for signalling structure and relevance.
Sites without internal links to secondary pages risk having “orphaned content” — pages that exist on the site but are effectively invisible to crawlers.
The History: From rel=prev/next to Modern Practices
For many years, SEO professionals relied on the rel=”prev” and rel=”next” link attributes to signal pagination to Google. These tags helped group paginated pages into a logical sequence, making it easier for Google to understand their relationship.
In 2019, Google confirmed it had stopped using rel=prev/next years earlier — a surprise that rendered years of recommendations redundant. The search engine had already developed more sophisticated ways of recognising pagination structures without needing these signals.
Should You Still Use rel=prev/next?
If your site still includes these tags, they don’t hurt — but they no longer provide value. Likewise, if your site doesn’t include them, there’s no reason to add them now. Google’s algorithms are capable of understanding pagination through patterns in URL structure and internal links.
Why Pagination Still Matters in 2025
Some SEOs argue that pagination is outdated, particularly with the rise of “infinite scroll” and “load more” interfaces. But this perspective misses a core issue: search engine crawlers do not interact with pages like humans do.
While a person might scroll endlessly to view more content, Googlebot won’t. Crawlers don’t activate JavaScript or scroll events by default, meaning content loaded dynamically through scrolling or interaction may never be seen — unless additional steps are taken.
Pagination remains essential because:
- It provides clear HTML links that search engines can follow.
- It supports content discoverability at scale.
- It avoids relying solely on JavaScript execution or scroll-triggered loading.
The Infinite Scroll Debate
Infinite scroll and similar user interface features can improve usability for certain audiences — particularly on mobile or social-driven platforms. But from an SEO standpoint, these features are unreliable without proper implementation.
To make infinite scroll SEO-friendly, you must:
- Include accessible pagination links in the HTML for crawlers.
- Use the History API or URL fragments to create crawlable links.
- Ensure content loaded dynamically can be reached without interaction.
Most websites fail to do this effectively, leading to entire sections of their site being invisible to search engines. For websites without the resources to implement advanced JavaScript solutions, traditional pagination is the safer, more reliable choice.
JavaScript and Pagination Conflicts
Even if your site uses traditional pagination links, JavaScript can still interfere. Since 2024, Google has continued evolving how it renders JavaScript — but that process is neither instant nor guaranteed.
The Problem
If your pagination links or content are rendered through JavaScript, Google may delay processing them or skip them entirely. This can lead to partial crawling, missing content, or misinterpreted page structures.
Rendering Lag
Google uses a two-phase approach:
- Initial crawl and indexing based on the HTML snapshot.
- Deferred rendering of JavaScript content, which may take days or weeks.
If pagination links are only visible after JavaScript is executed — or worse, after scrolling — they might be missed entirely in the initial pass.
Better Practices
To avoid these issues:
- Ensure pagination links are present in the initial HTML output.
- Avoid requiring JavaScript or scrolling to reveal core navigation.
- Consider server-side rendering (SSR) or static rendering where feasible.
This aligns with the 2024 Web Almanac’s findings that dynamic rendering is on the decline, with many sites returning to more reliable rendering strategies to improve crawl success.
Canonical Tags and Paginated URLs
There is ongoing debate in the SEO community about whether paginated URLs should use canonical tags — and if so, what they should point to.
The Legacy Recommendation
Before Google dropped support for rel=prev/next, many SEO guides advised using a canonical tag on all paginated pages pointing to page one. The aim was to consolidate ranking signals and avoid duplication.
However, this can now suppress valuable content and lead Google to ignore subsequent pages altogether.
What to Do in 2025
Search Engine Ascend recommends the following:
- Avoid canonicalising paginated pages to page one unless they are exact duplicates.
- Allow paginated URLs to self-canonicalise, meaning each page has a canonical tag pointing to itself.
- Don’t block pagination URLs via robots.txt unless there’s a specific crawl budget concern — and even then, test thoroughly before implementing.
Blocking or de-canonicalising paginated pages can backfire by preventing Google from discovering product listings, user comments, or articles that are only accessible via later pages.
Common Misconceptions About Pagination and SEO
Misconception 1: “Pagination hurts your rankings”
Pagination doesn’t harm your rankings if implemented correctly. While paginated pages may not rank highly on their own, they support the crawlability and indexing of deeper content — which does contribute to rankings.
Misconception 2: “Infinite scroll is better for SEO”
As discussed, infinite scroll benefits user engagement but is unreliable for search engines unless implemented alongside crawlable pagination links.
Misconception 3: “Canonical tags should always point to page one”
This was conventional advice in the past, but it is now outdated. Treat paginated pages as independent, linked pages unless there’s a valid duplication issue.
Expert Insights
“Pagination is still the most reliable way to make deep content crawlable. Search engines rely on those links. If you’re hiding them behind JavaScript or scroll triggers, you’re gambling with your site’s visibility.”
— Barry Adams, Technical SEO Consultant, Polemic Digital
“The obsession with infinite scroll is understandable from a UX angle, but from a search perspective, it’s a trap. Unless you’ve implemented it perfectly — and most haven’t — you’re losing visibility.”
— Aleyda Solis, International SEO Consultant, Orainti
“Don’t be afraid of paginated URLs in your index. Just make sure they provide value, are crawlable, and avoid pointing all canonicals back to page one. That ship sailed years ago.”
— John Mueller, Google Search Advocate
What the Data Shows
According to the 2024 Web Almanac SEO Chapter:
- 39% of large ecommerce sites still use traditional pagination.
- Over 27% rely on infinite scroll, but fewer than half of those have implemented crawlable alternatives.
- Sites that use self-canonicalised pagination had a 12% higher indexation rate of deep content.
These figures highlight that traditional pagination remains widespread — and when used correctly, it delivers results.
Real-World Applications
Ecommerce
Brands like ASOS, John Lewis, and Currys still use pagination for category listings. It ensures every product has a clear path for search crawlers to reach it — even when buried on page 12 of a sale category.
Blogs and Publishers
News websites and blog platforms continue to rely on pagination for article archives. For example, The Guardian uses clear pagination structures to link older articles and ensure long-term visibility.
Forums and User-Generated Content
Online communities like Reddit or Mumsnet paginate long threads to manage usability and indexing. Pagination allows discussions with thousands of comments to remain accessible, even years after the original post.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Pagination and SEO
While the trend towards JavaScript-heavy experiences continues, it’s becoming clear that simplicity and crawl accessibility still win when it comes to SEO.
In the coming years, we can expect:
- Continued reliance on traditional HTML links for discoverability.
- A shift towards server-side rendering to mitigate JavaScript indexing issues.
- Better hybrid experiences combining UX enhancements with SEO-friendly structures.
Unless search engines significantly change how they crawl and render content, pagination will remain a valuable technique for visibility.
Conclusion
Pagination plays a quiet but indispensable role in ensuring your website remains searchable and discoverable. While flashy UX features like infinite scroll may appeal to developers and designers, SEO best practice in 2025 still rests on reliable, crawlable navigation.
Avoid burying content behind JavaScript. Don’t block paginated URLs without data. And above all, respect the way search engines explore your site.
About Search Engine Ascend
Search Engine Ascend provides businesses with up-to-date, actionable insights into digital marketing and SEO. We specialise in helping organisations of all sizes improve their visibility through tested strategies, expert-led guidance, and in-depth technical knowledge. Whether you’re running a growing ecommerce platform or managing a publishing network, our resources are designed to help you make informed decisions and navigate the complexities of search.
