An SEO glossary of terms every marketer should know in 2026
A practical, current glossary covering the essential SEO terminology every marketer should be comfortable with, from foundational concepts to 2026-specific terms.
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Pagination — splitting a long list of items (products, blog posts, search results) across multiple numbered pages — creates specific SEO questions about how each page should be indexed and how the series should be understood as a whole.
The evolution of Google's recommended approach
Google previously supported rel="next" and rel="prev" link tags specifically for signalling paginated series, but deprecated support for this in 2019. The current, simpler recommendation is that each paginated page should generally be treated as its own unique, indexable page with a self-referencing canonical tag, rather than being consolidated or hidden.
- Each paginated page gets its own unique URL and a self-referencing canonical tag.
- Ensure genuine, crawlable links (real anchor tags) connect each page to the next and previous in the series.
- Avoid canonicalizing every paginated page back to page one, which can prevent Google from properly discovering and indexing content only present on later pages.
Why canonicalizing everything to page one is a mistake
A common but flawed pattern sets every paginated page's canonical tag to point back to page one, intending to consolidate authority. This can actually prevent products or content only visible on pages two, three and beyond from being properly indexed at all, since Google may treat those pages as non-canonical duplicates.
Consolidating pagination too aggressively can accidentally hide the exact content pagination exists to make findable in the first place.
A 'view all' alternative, where feasible
For lists short enough to reasonably display on one page without harming load speed, a single 'view all' page can sometimes outperform a paginated series for SEO purposes, since it consolidates everything onto one strong, comprehensive URL — though this needs balancing against page speed considerations for genuinely long lists.
Practical implementation checklist
- Unique, descriptive title tags for each paginated page (avoiding identical titles across the series).
- Genuine, crawlable next and previous links using real anchor tags.
- Self-referencing canonical tags on each page in the series.
- Consider a 'view all' option for genuinely short lists where load speed allows.
Frequently asked questions
Should paginated pages beyond page one be blocked from indexing?
Generally no — if they contain unique content (different products, different posts), blocking them can prevent that content from ever being discovered and indexed at all.
Does infinite scroll create the same pagination problems?
Yes, potentially worse — infinite scroll without corresponding paginated URLs can make content invisible to crawlers entirely unless implemented with proper URL-based fallback pagination alongside it.
Is rel="next"/"prev" still worth implementing?
No, Google confirmed it no longer uses these signals as of 2019 — implementing them causes no harm but provides no benefit either.
If your paginated content is not being indexed as expected, talk to our team for a review.
The takeaway
Ensure every paginated page has a unique, self-referencing canonical tag and a real, crawlable link to the next and previous page — this is the simplest, most reliable approach to pagination SEO.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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