Keep the scrolling if readers like it, but put real numbered archive pages behind it, each with its own address, and update the address bar as readers scroll. Then test that every article can be reached by links.

A list with no bottom

A regional magazine relaunches its website, and the article list now loads more stories as the reader scrolls. There are no page numbers and no end in sight.

A reader hunting for last spring's feature scrolls for minutes, opens it, presses Back and lands at the top of the list again.

The same design can hide the archive from search engines, which never scroll at all.

How endless scrolling works

The page first shows a set of articles. As the reader nears the bottom, a script fetches the next set and adds it, until the archive runs out.

The address in the browser stays the same throughout. As far as the browser knows, the reader is still on the page they opened.

Nothing in the page's code links to the next set either. The script knows where it is; anything that does not run the script never learns it exists.

A button marked Load more works the same way, unless it is a real link to a second page that opens on its own.

What search engines can still follow

Search engines read a page's code and follow its links. They do not scroll, so with endless scrolling alone they see the first set and nothing below it.

Older articles can then be found only through other routes, each less complete than a numbered archive:

An article reached by none of these is an orphan: still on the site, but with no path a search engine can follow to it.

Numbered pages behind the scroll

In February, Google published advice on making endless scrolling work for search: divide the archive into ordinary numbered pages, and have the scrolling load those pages in order.

Each numbered page has an address of its own that works when typed in, and lists its own set of articles, with each article on one page only.

The pages link to each other with plain next and previous links, and carry markers in their code telling search engines they form a series.

Readers with scripts running still get the endless list. Search engines, and anyone without scripts, get the same articles in pages they can work through to the end.

A place to come back to

The same advice covers the reader who presses Back. As the reader scrolls into the next set, a script can change the address to match, without reloading anything.

Back then returns to the same point, a copied link opens the list where it was copied, and a bookmark saves a real place.

A footer that keeps sliding away is the other casualty. When the list never ends, nobody reaches the contact details at its foot, so stop after a few loads and offer a link to continue.

Second routes to older articles

Category and tag pages deserve numbered pages too, so a reader interested in one subject can work back through all of it.

Links from newer articles to older ones on the same subject help readers and search engines alike, and a simple archive by year gives a path to anything old.

A worked example

A low-voltage wiring contractor has written up most of its jobs for seven years: network and phone cabling in new houses and small offices, home theatre rooms, and short guides for homeowners.

Homeowners often found those write-ups by searching for a problem, such as running network cable through a finished basement, and some then called.

Last fall a redesign turned the projects page into a wall of photos that loaded more as you scrolled. The old numbered pages were removed, and the site had no sitemap.

A homeowner who phoned about an older write-up mentioned she had reached it only through a friend's link. With scripts turned off, the projects page showed twelve photos and nothing else.

The developer kept the wall of photos but put numbered pages behind it, each with its own address and next and previous links, and made the address change as visitors scroll.

Every write-up now appears on one numbered page, in its category's pages and in a sitemap file, so a link leads to each of them again.

Testing that every article can be reached

Turn scripts off in the browser and open the archive. You should see an opening set of articles and a link to the next page, and be able to follow those links to the last one.

Count the articles listed across the numbered pages and compare the total with the number published. A gap means some articles appear nowhere.

A crawling tool, run by whoever maintains the site, follows every link from the home page and lists what it reaches. Any published article missing from that list is an orphan.

In Webmaster Tools, the sitemaps report compares submitted and indexed addresses, and Fetch as Google shows the code Google receives for an archive page.

The counter-case

Where only a few dozen articles exist, each linked from a category page or a sitemap, an endless main list costs little.

Some lists need no archive at all. A stream of event photos or short updates may matter for a week, and nobody will search for it later.

But a magazine, a firm's project history or any archive people search years later is worth reaching, and numbered pages behind the scrolling are the safe default.

Reaching every article again

  1. Keep numbered archive pages with addresses of their own.
  2. Link them with next and previous links.
  3. Let the scrolling load those same pages in order.
  4. Change the address as readers scroll.
  5. Stop after a few loads so the footer can be reached.
  6. Publish a sitemap listing every article.
  7. Test with scripts off and count what you reach.

Step seven shows whether the rest worked. A list that looks complete to a reader can still end after the first set for anything that does not scroll.

Translations that appear only after a language button sets a cookie are another set of pages search engines never reach, as the French version of the site that Google never shows explains.

Frequently asked questions

Why can search engines not reach older articles in an endless list?

Search engines follow the links in a page's code and do not scroll. Articles that appear only after scrolling have no link for them to follow.

What did Google recommend for endless scrolling?

In February it advised dividing the archive into numbered pages with their own addresses, linking them in sequence, having the scrolling load those pages, and changing the address as readers scroll.

Do readers lose their place in an endless list?

Often. The address never changes, so Back, bookmarks and copied links return to the top. Changing the address as the reader scrolls fixes all three.

What is an orphan article?

A published article that no link on the site leads to. It still exists, but neither readers browsing nor search engines following links will come across it.

How do I test my archive?

Turn scripts off, open the archive and follow the numbered links to the end, then compare the articles you reached with the number published.

Is endless scrolling always a problem?

Not for a small site whose articles all have other routes, or for short-lived updates. It matters for any archive people still search for years later.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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