Paginated category pages still showing in Google

[sjefferies]

Despite our blog using rel=next and rel=”prev” we’re still finding paginated pages getting impressions in Google, suggesting they are taking up unnecessary crawl budget.

An example is: https://www.theukdomain.uk/seo/page/2/

What steps would you recommend I take to most benefit my sites SEO?

Thanks,

Sam

[NickSamuel]

Hi Sam,

Even with that random bombshell announcement from Google about rel=next/prev, I still wouldn't worry about this too much.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else has a different opinion though!

I don't suppose you have explored server logs to validate the claim that Google is being inefficient in its crawling? I don't personally see how having a page 2 indexed equates to this, but understand in general where you are coming from with this!

Kind regards,

Nick

[sjefferies]

I'm always in two minds over what Google says and what actually happens. For example, I've seen a lot of cases of sites cutting out thin pages which have resulted in boosted Organic Visibility.

The paginated pages aren't a major concern as there isn't a lot of them and I would usually focus my time on more impactful activities but with rel=next/prev now depreciated and working through an audit I'm keen to get to a resolution.

Sam

P.S. With had issues with the latest version of Yoast so are awaiting a fix.

[NickSamuel]

Hi Sam,

Just had a quick look at the URL in question and noticed you were using Wordpress AND Yoast which is a great choice .

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about page 2 etc being indexed.

This used to be a common SEO practice and an option in Yoast, however it has since been advised as the incorrect thing to do by Google

Please see this post here which covers it with references: https://yoast.com/pagination-seo-best-practices/

I also noted that your site has 1,100 pages indexed in Google. Again, directly referencing something John Mueller recently said... I wouldn't worry too much about crawl budget optimisation: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-crawl-budget-overrated-25825.html 

Hope these two links help further your knowledge of SEO, you're asking all the right questions!

I must admit, it's only recently I've let go of my former held assumptions around this...

Kind regards,

Nick

P.S

I notice your version of Yoast is out of date (7.6), I'd get that updated ASAP to the latest (10.0) for additional features and most importantly for security