Why Paginate or Load Content Incrementally? #
On ecommerce sites, product lists or reviews can be huge. Showing everything on one page slows loading and frustrates users—especially on mobiles.
Solutions:
- Pagination: Break content into multiple numbered pages (page 1, 2, 3…)
- Load More Button: User clicks a button to load additional results without leaving the page
- Infinite Scroll: More content loads automatically as the user scrolls down
Pros & Cons of Each UX Pattern #
| UX Pattern | Pros | Cons |
| Pagination | Shows users their position in results; familiar | Requires new page loads; more navigation complexity |
| Load More | Single page experience; can show total result count | Not good for very large datasets |
| Infinite Scroll | Seamless, intuitive scrolling | Can cause “scroll fatigue”; poor for large results |
How Google Handles These Patterns #
- Google primarily crawls links in <a href> tags.
- It does not “click” buttons or interact with JavaScript-based load more or infinite scroll by default.
- So, for Google to find all your content, it must be accessible through crawlable URLs.
Best Practices for Pagination SEO #
1. Link Pages Sequentially #
- Each paginated page should link to the next and previous pages using crawlable <a href> links.
- Link back to the first page of the sequence from all pages to emphasize it as the main landing page.
2. Use Unique URLs for Each Page #
- Include a page number in the URL, like /products?page=2.
- Do not use URL fragments like #page2 since Google ignores these.
3. Canonical Tags #
- Each paginated page should have a canonical tag pointing to itself, not the first page.
4. Titles & Descriptions #
- You can keep the same title and meta description across paginated pages; Google understands they’re part of a sequence.
5. Avoid Indexing Filter or Sort Variants #
- Filtered or sorted URLs (e.g., ?order=price) can create duplicate content issues.
- Use noindex meta tags or robots.txt to block indexing of unwanted filter/sort URL variations.
Notes on Deprecated Practices #
- Google no longer uses <link rel=”next”> and <link rel=”prev”> tags for pagination.
- Other search engines might still support them, but they don’t affect Google.
Extra Tips for Performance #
- Consider preload, preconnect, or prefetch hints for faster navigation to next pages.
Summary #
Make sure all paginated content is reachable by Googlebot via crawlable URLs.
If you use “load more” or infinite scroll, provide alternative paginated URLs so Google can index everything.
Meta Title: How Pagination & Load More Impact Google SEO for Ecommerce
Meta Description: Learn best practices to implement pagination, load more buttons, and infinite scroll for ecommerce sites, ensuring Google can crawl and index all your products.