Link rel=next and prev validator?

[Evan34]

Can I validate link next and prev markup for paginated content?

[Joe_Stoffel]

Hi there,

You can use this pagination testing tool to test the mark up on a single page.

Other than that, you can use a web crawler like Screaming Frog to pull all your rel= next/prev tags and check those manually. If you are unsure if these were implemented correctly, feel free to leave an example in this post and I will happily take a look. Alternatively, you can direct message me if you prefer.

I would also recommend checking out Search Console Help's article on paginated content, it will show you how to properly set up these tags.

Hope this helps!

[Evan34]

It does not appear to be working from the pagination testing tool. I get a "previous and next URL does not link back" message.

I do believe the problem involves these links being dynamically created, possibly with Javascript. The reason I think this is causing the problem is because when I view the code in Chrome via "View Page Source" the links are empty (href=""); however, when I view the code in the inspector (Developer Tools) the links appear and are correct.

[Evan34]

Update: I checked the rel=next/prev tags in Screaming Frog and they are not implemented correctly. The homepage is identified in all rel=next/prev tags. Not good.

I'm thinking I'll scrap my rel=next/prev efforts and try a view all option with a canonical tag.