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seo friendly pagination techniques in jekyll

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Why Pagination Matters for SEO

Pagination plays a critical role in how both users and search engines navigate your content. In a blog or resource-heavy website built with Jekyll, improper pagination can lead to poor indexing, content duplication, and diminished SEO value.

Challenges with Static Pagination

Unlike dynamic CMS platforms that auto-generate paginated archives, Jekyll requires manual configuration. Without a well-thought-out strategy, paginated pages may become SEO dead ends or be ignored entirely by search engines.

Basic Pagination Setup in Jekyll

Jekyll has built-in pagination via the jekyll-paginate or jekyll-paginate-v2 plugin. Here’s the most basic setup:

# _config.yml
plugins:
  - jekyll-paginate
paginate: 5
paginate_path: "/page:num/"

Using the Paginator in Templates

In your index layout:

{% raw %}
{% for post in paginator.posts %}
  <h3><a href="{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></h3>
{% endfor %}

<div class="pagination">
  {% if paginator.previous_page %}
    <a href="{{ paginator.previous_page_path }}">Previous</a>
  {% endif %}
  {% if paginator.next_page %}
    <a href="{{ paginator.next_page_path }}">Next</a>
  {% endif %}
</div>
{% endraw %}

Making Pagination SEO-Friendly

Pagination is often misunderstood by search engines. Without proper signals, bots may not crawl past the first page. Here’s how to make it SEO-friendly:

Use Canonical Tags

Ensure each paginated page has a canonical URL pointing to itself:

<link rel="canonical" href="{{ page.url | absolute_url }}">

Add rel="next" and rel="prev"

Search engines like Google support rel="next" and rel="prev" to understand paginated series:

{% raw %}
{% if paginator.previous_page %}
  <link rel="prev" href="{{ paginator.previous_page_path | absolute_url }}">
{% endif %}
{% if paginator.next_page %}
  <link rel="next" href="{{ paginator.next_page_path | absolute_url }}">
{% endif %}
{% endraw %}

Custom Titles and Meta Descriptions

Paginated pages shouldn’t have duplicate titles. Use page numbers to differentiate:

<title>Blog - Page {{ paginator.page }}</title>

Also consider adding page-specific meta descriptions for better CTR.

Optimizing Paginated URLs

Keep URLs simple and clean. Avoid parameters (e.g., ?page=2) and use slugs like /page2/. This improves readability and shareability.

Handling Edge Cases

Always provide a fallback for when users or bots land on an empty page due to manual URL entry or broken links. Create a custom 404 page or a redirect to the main blog page.

Using jekyll-paginate-v2 for More Control

The default paginate plugin only supports the index page. To paginate categories, tags, or custom collections, use jekyll-paginate-v2:

# _config.yml
plugins:
  - jekyll-paginate-v2

pagination:
  enabled: true
  per_page: 6
  title: ":title - page :num"
  trail:
    before: 2
    after: 2

With this setup, you can paginate:

  • Category pages
  • Tag archives
  • Author-based pages

Internal Linking for Paginated Archives

Make sure your main blog or category page links to all paginated entries using a "Load More" button or pagination numbers. This helps bots discover every post and avoids orphan content.

Case Study: Static Blog with 200+ Posts

One developer built a static tech blog with over 200 entries using Jekyll. Initially, only the first 10 posts were getting indexed. After implementing rel="next", custom meta titles per page, and internal links from a sitemap page, their organic traffic increased 3x in 60 days.

Tips for Paginated Pages

  • Never noindex paginated pages—Google uses them to crawl deeper.
  • Avoid duplicate content by customizing excerpts or intros.
  • Add structured data like breadcrumbs to assist crawling and display.

Conclusion

Pagination in Jekyll can be both user-friendly and SEO-optimized with the right strategy. From canonical tags to pagination-specific metadata, these simple additions make a big difference in how your content is found and consumed. Static doesn’t mean rigid—with some planning, Jekyll pagination can outperform many dynamic CMS solutions in performance and clarity.

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