Give every paginated page its own self-referencing canonical tag. Page 2 of a collection, /collections/shoes?page=2, should declare /collections/shoes?page=2 as its canonical URL, not page 1. Google says so directly in its pagination guidelines: "Don't use the first page of a paginated sequence as the canonical page."
On Shopify you usually get this for free. The theme's {{ canonical_url }} keeps the ?page= number and drops sort and filter parameters. The most common pagination mistake on Shopify is custom theme code that overrides this and points every page back to page 1. Older guides, including an earlier version of this one, recommended exactly that. This guide shows the correct setup, how to check your store, and what to remove.
What should the canonical tag be on a paginated Shopify page?
Each page in the sequence points to itself. Pages that only re-order or filter the same list point to the unfiltered page with the same page number.
| URL | Correct canonical |
|---|---|
/collections/shoes | /collections/shoes |
/collections/shoes?page=2 | /collections/shoes?page=2 |
/collections/shoes?page=2&sort_by=price-ascending | /collections/shoes?page=2 |
/collections/shoes?filter.v.availability=1&page=2 | /collections/shoes?page=2 |
/blogs/news?page=3 | /blogs/news?page=3 |
The reason is simple. Page 2 lists different products than page 1, so it is not a duplicate. If you canonicalize it to page 1, you ask Google to treat two different pages as one, and Google may ignore the hint or stop following the products that only appear deeper in the list.
What does Shopify's canonical_url do by default?
We checked Shopify's own Dawn demo store in October 2026. On /collections/all?page=2&sort_by=price-ascending and on /collections/all?filter.v.availability=1&page=2, the canonical tag was the same: /collections/all?page=2. So canonical_url:
- keeps the page number;
- removes
sort_by; - removes storefront filter parameters such as
filter.v.availability.
That is the behavior Google recommends, and it is what you get when the theme's <head> contains the standard line:
<link rel="canonical" href="{{ canonical_url }}">Shopify's default robots.txt also disallows URLs with sort_by and URLs that combine two or more filters, so those variations are not crawled in the first place.
The mistake to remove: canonicalizing every page to page 1
Search your theme for rel="canonical", usually in layout/theme.liquid or a snippet such as meta-tags.liquid. If you find something like this, replace it with the standard line above:
{% if template contains 'collection' and current_page != 1 %}
<link rel="canonical" href="{{ shop.url }}{{ collection.url }}">
{% else %}
<link rel="canonical" href="{{ canonical_url }}">
{% endif %}That conditional sends page 2, 3 and so on to page 1. It was common advice for years, and some SEO apps still add it. Two other overrides cause the same damage:
- A
noindexon page 2 and beyond. Google does not ask for it. We advise against it on stores, because products linked only from deeper pages can be discovered and refreshed less often. - Stripping the query string in the canonical for every template. It also breaks vendor and search URLs that need their parameters.
Do rel="prev" and rel="next" still matter?
Not for Google. Its guidelines say Google no longer uses rel="next" and rel="prev", although other search engines may still read them. Shopify themes such as Dawn still print a rel="prev" link, and it does no harm. What Google needs instead is a normal <a href> link from each page to the next one, so it can crawl the whole sequence. Google also suggests linking every page back to the first page.
How do you check your store's canonical tags?
- Open a collection with more than one page and go to page 2.
- View the page source and search for
rel="canonical". It should end in?page=2. - Add
&sort_by=price-ascendingto the URL. The canonical should not change. - In Google Search Console, inspect the page 2 URL. Compare the "User-declared canonical" with the "Google-selected canonical". If Google picked page 1 while you declare page 2, check the page for thin or duplicate content.
- Check that the pagination links are real
<a href="...?page=3">links. Buttons that load more products with JavaScript and no link are invisible to crawlers.
What about infinite scroll and "Load more" buttons?
They are fine for shoppers, as long as each batch of products also has its own URL that Google can reach through a link. Keep the ?page= URLs working, link to them from the page, and give each one its self-referencing canonical. Google's guidelines say its crawlers don't click buttons and generally don't trigger JavaScript that needs a user action.
Other pagination details worth fixing
- Page titles. Dawn adds "Page 2" to the title of deeper pages. If your theme gives every page the same title, add the page number with
current_page. - Products per page. Fewer, longer pages mean fewer URLs to crawl. Pick a page size that keeps your main collections to a handful of pages.
- Internal links. Link important products directly from the first page, from navigation or from other collections, so their discovery does not depend on page 7.
For the wider crawl picture on large catalogs, see our Shopify Plus crawling guide and the Shopify SEO checklist.
FAQ
Should paginated pages have a canonical tag?
Yes. Each paginated page should have a canonical tag that points to its own URL, for example ?page=2 to ?page=2. Google advises against using the first page as the canonical for the whole sequence.
Should page 2 canonicalize to page 1?
No. Page 2 shows different items, so it is not a duplicate of page 1. Pointing it to page 1 can make Google ignore the canonical or crawl the deeper products less.
Does Shopify add canonical tags automatically?
Yes, if the theme uses {{ canonical_url }}, which standard themes do. On paginated collections it keeps the page number and removes sort and filter parameters.
Should I noindex paginated pages on Shopify?
We don't recommend it. Google's guidelines don't ask for it, and products that are only linked from deeper pages can lose discovery. Use noindex for filtered or sorted variations if they get indexed, not for the plain page sequence.
Does Google still use rel=next and rel=prev?
No. Google says it no longer uses these tags. Other search engines may still read them, so leaving them in place is harmless, but each page needs a normal link to the next page.
How do I fix a canonical URL in Shopify?
Open Online Store > Themes > Edit code, find the rel="canonical" tag in theme.liquid or a meta-tags snippet, and make sure it is <link rel="canonical" href="{{ canonical_url }}"> without conditions that rewrite it to the collection URL. Then check the page source of a page 2 URL.
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