Should I implement pagination(rel=next, rel=prev) if I have duplicate meta tags?

[esiow2013]

Hi,

I just want to ask if it is necessary to implement pagination(rel=next, rel=prev) to my category pages because Google webmaster tools is telling me that these pages are having similar meta title and meta description. Ex.

page1: http://www.site.com/iphone-resellers/1

meta title:Search for iphone resellers in US

page2:http://www.site.com/iphone-resellers/2

meta title:Search for iphone resellers in US

page3:http://www.site.com/iphone-resellers/3

meta title:Search for iphone resellers in US

Thanks in advance.

[SaforwebDesign]

I think it would be better for you if implement pagination and canonical url of ../1, ../2, ../3 as http://www.site.com/iphone-resellers. Google always prefer a good herarchy in every website.

I hope it can help you.

[SanketPatel]

Its not necessary but its advisable if you implement it, to get out of duplication errors. If you don't want to do that then you can  change title on page 2 like "Search for iphone resellers in US - Page 2". Same as you can implement for 3rd, 4th... page

[NakulGoyal]

I see you have 2 responses from SWD and SanketPatel. They are both different strategies and you need to decide what you want to do as a Business. Here's why:

If you adopt SWD's solution, you could technically get rid of the problem, by telling Google that do not index page 2, page 3 and so on and just index your page 1. My question would be, do you have a View All page ? Do you want search engines to index and rank each one of your paginated pages ? Do they have unique collection of products and does it help the user if they land directly on Page 2 or would you rather then have land on Page 1 always ?

SanketPatel's solution definitely gets rid of the problem from a GWT perspective, however, the bigger question is, what you are trying to achieve and what your users would prefer.

Instead of looking it it from what's right in GWT or SEO, find what's right for your user first and then implement that in an SEO Friendly way.

I hope that helps and makes sense.

[esiow2013]

Hi Nakul,

I don't have a view-all page. Both suggestions are great but they have disadvantages, based on what I read in Google, and it would really depend on what's the purpose. And a big YES, that's what I am thinking since user experience is more important.

Thanks a lot!

[Dr-Pete]

This is a constantly changing area of SEO the past couple of years, but my general feeling is that the rel=next/prev tags are working pretty well. They're low risk, and it can help you reduce duplication in Google's eyes without de-indexing the pages (page 3 could still rank, for example).

The biggest downside of the tags is that they're a bit tricky to implement, especially if you have search filters and sorts (in which case the proper tags get pretty complicated fast). Another option (as Nakul mentioned) is to NOINDEX pages 2+, which is simpler but would knock those extra pages out of ranking contention. That's a route I'd go only if you seemed to be getting hit hard for thin content.

The only area where I'll disagree slightly with Nakul is that handling pagination for SEO isn't always one of those areas where usability considerations help much. From a core architecture and internal search perspective, give your users a good experience, absolutely. From the standpoint of how to index those search pages, though, it's almost all about how Google views near-duplicate content. This is an area of SEO that is getting more technical and really comes down to the quirks of how Google indexes content.

[NakulGoyal]

I agree with you one hundred percent Dr Pete. Thanks for your detailed insight. Always helps