Understanding pagination in digital marketing

by our Web Agency Optimize 360

In this digital age digital marketing is playing an increasingly important role in corporate strategies.

One of the techniques often used in this field is the pagination.

In this article, we will define pagination and its usefulness in the world of digital marketing.

What is pagination?

La pagination refers to dividing content into several distinct pages in order to improve legibility and accessibility. Initially used in the publishing sector to organise books, pagination also found its way onto the web with the appearance of the first websites.

Within a websiteThis involves segmenting long-form content or classifying items (for example blog or product sheets) into several numbered pages. These pages are usually navigated using clickable links at the bottom of each page.

The benefits of pagination in digital marketing

Improving the user experience

The first advantage of pagination is that it makes it possible toimproveuser experience on a website. Many web users can be put off by content that is too long or by a large number of results to browse through.

Dividing information into several pages makes it easier to read and navigate, which can help to increase the time spent on the site and therefore user satisfaction.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

Another major benefit of pagination is that it can have a positive impact on the referencing natural a website.

It allows you to create more pages containing relevant keywords, which increases your chances of being well positioned on search engines.

In addition, this technique facilitates the indexing of pages by search engine spiders, in particular by avoiding problems of duplicate content or loading times that are too long. A good pagination system is therefore essential to optimise your SEO.

The different types of pagination

There are several ways of setting up a pagination system on a website. Here are some of the most common examples:

1. Digital pagination This method simply involves numbering the pages, with links allowing you to go directly to a specific page or to navigate between the different pages;
   
   
2. Alphabetical pagination In this case, the pages are organised in alphabetical order according to the title or author of the items presented;
   
   
3. Chronological pagination : here, the pages are classified according to the date of publication or update of the articles or products;
   
   
4. Pagination by category This approach consists of grouping items according to their category, with a specific pagination for each section;
   
   
5. Infinite scroll infinite scrolling: an alternative to traditional pagination is infinite scrolling, which automatically loads the next elements when the visitor reaches the bottom of the page.

The choice of pagination will depend on the nature of the site and the user's preferences. It is important to choose a system that is adapted to your needs and to carry out tests to ensure that it is appropriate.

Good practice for successful pagination

To set up an effective pagination system on your website, here are a few tips to follow:

• Avoid unnecessary links It is very important not to provide too many links between different pages. Limit yourself to links to the first page, the last page, the previous page and the next page, as well as a few intermediate page numbers if necessary;
  
  
• Make navigation clear and intuitive Make sure that pagination links are easily identifiable and accessible, so that users can navigate easily between the different pages;
  
  
• Adapt the number of elements per page Depending on the type of content, it is worth playing with the number of items displayed on each page. For example, for a list of products, the user can choose between different options (10, 20 or 50 products per page);
  
  
• Optimising the referencing of paginated pages To improve the visibility of paginated pages on search engines, it is recommended to optimise their markup. HTML (h1, title, meta descriptions) and to structure internal links properly;
  
  
• Testing infinite scroll infinite scrolling: if you want to offer your users a different experience, don't hesitate to try out infinite scrolling. However, this method can pose problems in terms of performance and referencing, so it's important to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages carefully.

Visit demonstrating rigour and creativity by setting up your pagination system, you'll be able to create an attractive, high-performance website that's optimised for search engines.