---
title: "Give paginated lists their own addresses · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/pagination
id: SEO-14
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-22
tokens: 653
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Give paginated lists their own addresses

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-22.

- ID: SEO-14
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md)
- Rule: Give every page of a long list its own URL, linked with plain `<a href>` links. Each page carries a canonical to itself, never to page one.
- Check: A crawler following only `<a href>` reaches the last page of every list. Each page's canonical equals its own URL.
- How: Use a query parameter or path, such as `?page=2`. Link each page to the next and previous ones. Google no longer reads `rel="next"` and `rel="prev"`, so the plain links do the work. Infinite scroll and "Load more" buttons must also update the address and keep those links in the HTML. Keep every canonical consistent, as [Make every canonical signal agree](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/redirects-and-canonicals/canonical-signals.md) says.

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### HTML example

```html
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/shoes?page=2">
<nav aria-label="Pages">
  <a href="/shoes">Previous</a>
  <a href="/shoes?page=3">Next</a>
</nav>
```

## Sources

- [Google Search Central – Pagination and incremental loading](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/ecommerce/pagination-and-incremental-page-loading)

## Related rules

- WEB-87 [Make every canonical signal agree](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/redirects-and-canonicals/canonical-signals.md) in Website

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/pagination">Agent Wranglers SEO playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Show where the page sits](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/breadcrumbs.md)
- Next: [Keep filter combinations out of the crawl](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure/faceted-navigation.md)
- [Site structure](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/site-structure.md)