Pagination Audit Checklist

Poorly implemented pagination can lead search engine crawlers into infinite loops or cause them to waste crawl budget on duplicate or irrelevant pages. This means important content might not get crawled and indexed efficiently.

On the other hand, properly implemented pagination can help consolidate link equity and ranking signals across a series of related pages. Plus, it can indirectly impact SEO metrics like bounce rate and time on page.

Use this checklist to make sure your pagination is implemented correctly.

What's Inside This Checklist?

Pagination URL Not in Anchor Tag

Are pagination links present but not wrapped in <a> anchor tags?
Are pagination elements (e.g., “Next,” “Previous”) using JavaScript or buttons instead of proper anchor links?
Are search engines able to crawl and follow pagination links?
Does missing anchor text affect crawl efficiency and indexability of paginated pages?
Should pagination be converted into proper HTML links for SEO purposes?

Non-200 Pagination URLs

Are paginated URLs returning non-200 status codes (e.g., 404, 301, 302, 500)?
Are pagination pages redirecting improperly instead of serving content?
Do server errors (500, 503) indicate an overloaded or misconfigured server?
Should non-200 pagination URLs be fixed or removed from the crawlable structure?
Are incorrect redirects causing indexing issues for paginated pages?

Unlinked Pagination URLs

Are paginated pages present but not internally linked from the main site structure?
Is Googlebot unable to discover paginated URLs due to missing links?
Are paginated pages accessible only through JavaScript-based navigation?
Should pagination links be added in a crawlable format to ensure discovery?
Are pagination pages being orphaned due to site architecture or CMS errors?

Multiple Pagination URLs

Are there multiple paginated URLs for the same page set (e.g., /page/2, /?page=2, /page2.html)?
Are duplicate pagination URLs causing unnecessary indexation and crawl waste?
Should canonical tags be used to consolidate duplicate pagination variations?
Are query parameters (e.g., ?page=2&sort=price) creating inconsistent pagination URLs?
Does the sitemap contain conflicting pagination URL versions?

Pagination Loop

Are paginated pages redirecting in an endless loop?
Is there an issue where /page/2 redirects to itself or to /page/1 continuously?
Does clicking “Next” lead back to the same page instead of progressing forward?
Are JavaScript-based pagination systems causing crawling issues for bots?
Should the pagination logic be rewritten or fixed in CMS settings?

Sequence Error

Are pagination numbers skipping pages (e.g., /page/1 jumps to /page/3)?
Is the “Next” button linking to the wrong page in the sequence?
Are paginated URLs indexed out of order, creating navigation confusion?
Are pagination links causing duplicate content or missed indexation?
Should pagination be restructured to follow a logical order?

Non-Indexable Pagination URLs

Are paginated pages marked as noindex but still linked internally?
Are pagination URLs unintentionally blocked by robots.txt?
Is rel=”canonical” on paginated pages pointing only to page 1, preventing deeper indexation?
Should paginated pages be set to index, or should they use proper canonicalisation strategies?
Is Googlebot recognising pagination correctly, or is it ignoring deeper pages?

How to Use This Pagination Audit Checklist

Understand the Context: Know the specific website or application you are auditing and its target audience.
Manual Review: Go through the website and navigate through the pagination on different types of content (e.g., product listings, blog archives, search results).
Technical Analysis: Inspect the HTML source code, HTTP headers, and use browser developer tools to examine the implementation of canonical tags, rel=”next”/prev”, URL structure, and performance metrics.
Use SEO Tools: Employ SEO audit tools to identify potential issues related to crawlability, indexability, and duplicate content.
Document Findings: Record your observations and any identified issues for each item on the checklist.
Prioritise Issues: Determine the severity and impact of each issue to prioritise fixes.
Implement Solutions: Work with developers to address the identified problems.
Re-audit: After implementing changes, re-check the pagination to ensure the issues have been resolved and no new problems have been introduced.