Canonical and Pagination Tag Generator
Generate canonical, prev, next and robots tags so paginated and duplicated pages consolidate their ranking correctly.
Generate canonical, prev and next tags so paginated and duplicated pages consolidate correctly.
Page relationships
Point the canonical at the page itself rather than page one. Canonicalising every page in a series to page one tells search engines that pages two onward do not exist, so the content on them stops being indexed.
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/page/3" />
<link rel="prev" href="https://example.com/blog/page/2" />
<link rel="next" href="https://example.com/blog/page/4" />
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow" />About the canonical and pagination tag generator
When the same content is reachable at several URLs, search engines have to choose one to index. A canonical tag makes that choice for them and consolidates the ranking signals onto a single address instead of splitting them.
Paginated series are where this most often goes wrong. Pointing every page in a series at page one tells search engines that pages two onward do not exist, so everything on them stops being indexed. Each page should be canonical to itself, with prev and next describing the sequence.
How to use it
- 1Enter the canonical URL for the series or page.
- 2Set the current page number and the total.
- 3Give the URL pattern, using {n} where the page number goes.
- 4Choose the robots directive.
- 5Leave self canonical on unless you have a specific reason.
- 6Copy the tags into the head of the page.
Questions
Should a paginated page be canonical to page one?
No. That is a common and damaging mistake. Each page should be canonical to itself. Canonicalising to page one removes pages two onward from the index along with everything they contain.
Does Google still use rel prev and next?
Google stopped using them as an indexing signal in 2019, but other search engines and some tools still read them, and they cost nothing. Self referencing canonicals are the part that matters now.
Is a canonical tag a command?
It is a strong hint, not an instruction. If the tag contradicts other signals, search engines may choose a different URL.
Can a page canonical to a different domain?
Yes, cross domain canonicals are supported and are the right tool for syndicated content.