Much like rel=�canonical� acts a strong hint for duplicate content, you can now use the HTML link elements rel=�next� and rel=�prev� to indicate the relationship between component URLs in a paginated series. Throughout the web, a paginated series of content may take many shapes�it can be an article divided into several component pages, or a product category with items spread across several pages, or a forum thread divided into a sequence of URLs. Now, if you choose to include rel=�next� and rel=�prev� markup on the component pages within a series, you�re giving Google a strong hint that you�d like us to:
Consolidate indexing properties, such as links, from the component pages/URLs to the series as a whole (i.e., links should not remain dispersed between page-1.html, page-2.html, etc., but be grouped with the sequence).
Send users to the most relevant page/URL�typically the first page of the series.
Consolidate indexing properties, such as links, from the component pages/URLs to the series as a whole (i.e., links should not remain dispersed between page-1.html, page-2.html, etc., but be grouped with the sequence).
Send users to the most relevant page/URL�typically the first page of the series.
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| The relationship between component URLs in a series can now be indicated to Google through rel=�next� and rel=�prev�. Outlining your options Here are three options for a series: Leave whatever you have exactly as-is. Paginated content exists throughout the web and we�ll continue to strive to give searchers the best result, regardless of the page�s rel=�next�/rel=�prev� HTML markup�or lack thereof. If you have a view-all page, or are considering a view-all page, see our post on View-all in search results. Hint to Google the relationship between the component URLs of your series with rel=�next� and rel=�prev�. This helps us more accurately index your content and serve to users the most relevant page (commonly the first page). Implementation details below. Implementing rel=�next� and rel=�prev� If you prefer option 3 (above) for your site, let�s get started! Let�s say you have content paginated into the URLs: http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=1 http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2 http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=3 http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=4 On the first page, http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=1, you�d include in the <head> section: <link rel="next" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2" /> On the second page, http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2: <link rel="prev" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=1" /> <link rel="next" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=3" /> On the third page, http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=3: <link rel="prev" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2" /> <link rel="next" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=4" /> And on the last page, http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=4: <link rel="prev" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=3" /> A few points to mention: The first page only contains rel=�next� and no rel=�prev� markup. Pages two to the second-to-last page should be doubly-linked with both rel=�next� and rel=�prev� markup. The last page only contains markup for rel=�prev�, not rel=�next�. rel=�next� and rel=�prev� values can be either relative or absolute URLs (as allowed by the <link> tag). And, if you include a <base> link in your document, relative paths will resolve according to the base URL. rel=�next� and rel=�prev� only need to be declared within the <head> section, not within the document <body>. We allow rel=�previous� as a syntactic variant of rel=�prev� links. rel="next" and rel="previous" on the one hand and rel="canonical" on the other constitute independent concepts. Both declarations can be included in the same page. For example, http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2&sessionid=123 may contain: <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=2�/> <link rel="prev" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=1&sessionid=123" /> <link rel="next" href="http://www.example.com/article?story=abc&page=3&sessionid=123" /> rel=�prev� and rel=�next� act as hints to Google, not absolute directives. When implemented incorrectly, such as omitting an expected rel="prev" or rel="next" designation in the series, we'll continue to index the page(s), and rely on our own heuristics to understand your content. |
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Thanks to Webmaster Digital and Google for the info
