Paginated series done right
When a listing spans multiple pages, each paginated URL needs to be crawlable so engines can discover the items deeper in the series. A common mistake is canonicalizing every paginated page back to page one, which tells Google the deeper pages don't exist and can strip their content from discovery.
Google retired support for rel=next/prev markup as an indexing signal, so the modern approach leans on crawlable links, clean paginated URLs, and self-referencing canonicals per page, with each page listing distinct items.
- Give each paginated page a real, crawlable URL (avoid page one canonical for all)
- Use self-referencing canonicals on each paginated page
- Keep 'next page' links as crawlable anchors, not JS-only buttons
- Don't noindex deeper pages that contain your only path to items
- Ensure product/article links on deep pages are internally reachable
- Consider a 'view all' page only when it loads fast enough
Infinite scroll without losing content
Infinite scroll is great UX but a trap for crawlers, because a bot doesn't scroll. If new content only loads as the user scrolls and there's no underlying paginated URL, everything past the first screen can be invisible to search engines.
The fix is to back the scroll with real, crawlable paginated URLs (progressive enhancement), so the same content is reachable whether you're a scrolling human or a crawler requesting page two directly.
- Back infinite scroll with real paginated URLs (?page=2, /page/2)
- Update the URL as the user scrolls so states are shareable and crawlable
- Make sure content loads without JavaScript for the crawlable version
- Provide crawlable links to deeper pages somewhere in the HTML
- Test that requesting a deep page URL directly returns its content
More on technical seo
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need rel=next and rel=prev?
Google confirmed it no longer uses rel=next/prev as an indexing signal, so it's not required for Google. It's low-cost to keep for other user agents, but the real work is making paginated URLs crawlable with clean links and self-referencing canonicals. We don't rely on deprecated markup to carry the strategy.
Should every paginated page rank?
Not necessarily, deep pages of a listing rarely rank on their own and that's fine. The point isn't to rank page five, it's to make sure crawlers can travel through the series to discover the individual products or articles it links to. Discovery, not ranking the listing page, is the goal.
Is infinite scroll bad for SEO?
Only if it's the sole way to reach the content. Infinite scroll is fine for users as long as it's backed by real paginated URLs that crawlers can request directly. Done that way you keep the smooth experience and stay fully crawlable.