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Thursday, September 15, 2011
User testing has taught us that searchers much prefer the view-all, single-page version of content
over a component page containing only a portion of the same information with arbitrary page breaks
(which cause the user to click "next" and load another URL).
Searchers often prefer the view-all vs. paginated content with arbitrary page breaks and worse
latency.
Therefore, to improve the user experience, when we detect that a content series (for example,
page-1.html, page-2.html, etc.) also contains a single-page version
(for example, page-all.html), we're now making a larger effort to return the single-page
version in search results. If your site has a view-all option, there's nothing you need to do;
we'll work to do it on your behalf. Also, indexing properties, like links, will be consolidated
from the component pages in the series to the view-all page.
High latency can make the view-all less preferred
Interestingly, the cases when users didn't prefer the view-all page were correlated with high
latency (for example, when the view-all page took a while to load, say, because it contained many
images). This makes sense because we know users are
less satisfied with slow results.
So while a view-all page is commonly desired, as a webmaster it's important to balance this
preference with the page's load time and overall user experience.
Best practices for a series of content
If your site includes view-all pages: We aim to detect the view-all version of your
content and, if available, its associated component pages. There's nothing more you need to
do! However, if you'd like to make it more explicit to us, you can include
rel="canonical" from your component pages to your view-all to increase the
likelihood that we detect your series of pages appropriately.
rel="canonical" can specify the superset of content (that is, the view-all
page, in this case page-all.html) from the same information in a series of
URLs.
Why does this work? In the diagram, page-2.html of a series may specify
the canonical target as page-all.html because page-all.html is a
superset of page-2.html's content. When a user searches for a query term and
page-all.html is selected in search results, even if the query most related to
page-2.html, we know the user will still see page-2.html's relevant
information within page-all.html.
On the other hand, page-2.html shouldn't designate page-1.html as
the canonical because page-2.html's content isn't included on
page-1.html. It's possible that a user's search query is relevant to content on
page-2.html, but if page-2.html's canonical is set to
page-1.html, the user could then select page-1.html in search
results and find herself in a position where she has to further navigate to a different page
to arrive at the desired information. That's a poor experience for the user, a suboptimal
result from us, and it could also bring poorly targeted traffic to your site.
However, if you strongly desire your view-all page not to appear in search results:
Make sure the component pages in the series don't include rel="canonical" to
the view-all page, and
Mark the view-all page as
noindex using any
of the standard methods.
If you'd like to surface individual, component pages (or there's no view-all available):
It may be the case that one or both of the situations below apply to your site:
The view-all page is undesirable as a search result (for example, load time too high or too
difficult for users to navigate).
Your users prefer the multi-page experience and to be directed to a component page in search
results, rather than the view-all page.
If so, you can use standard HTML
rel="next" and rel="prev" elements
to specify a relationship between the component pages in your series of content. If done
correctly, Google will generally strive to:
Consolidate indexing properties, such as links, between the component pages/URLs.
Send users to the most relevant page/URL from the component pages. Typically, the most
relevant page is the first page of your content, but our algorithms may point users to one
of the component pages in the series.
It's not uncommon for webmasters to incorrectly use rel="canonical" from component
pages to the first page of their series (for example, page-2.html with
rel="canonical" to page-1.html). We recommend against this
implementation because the component pages don't actually contain duplicate content. Using
rel="next" and rel="prev" is far more appropriate.
Summary
Because users generally prefer the view-all option in search results, we're making more of an
effort to properly detect and serve this version to searchers. If you have a series of content,
there's nothing more you need to do. If you'd like to hint more to Google how best to serve users
your information:
To better optimize your view-all page, you can use rel="canonical" from component
pages to the single-page version; otherwise,
If a view-all page doesn't provide a good user experience for your site, you can use the
rel="next" and rel="prev"
attributes as a strong hint for Google to identify the series of pages and still surface a
component page in results.
[null,null,[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle prioritizes showing single-page, "view-all" content in search results for a better user experience, consolidating indexing properties from component pages.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen "view-all" pages have high latency, Google might show individual component pages instead to ensure faster loading times.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebmasters with "view-all" pages can use \u003ccode\u003erel="canonical"\u003c/code\u003e from component pages to the "view-all" page to aid Google's detection and indexing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIf "view-all" is unsuitable, use \u003ccode\u003erel="next"\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003erel="prev"\u003c/code\u003e on component pages to indicate the series and potentially surface individual pages in search results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Webmasters with content series should prioritize user experience by offering a \"view-all\" page. When detected, this version will be favored in search results. To aid this, use `rel=\"canonical\"` from component pages to the \"view-all\". If a \"view-all\" is not suitable, use `rel=\"next\"` and `rel=\"prev\"` between component pages. High latency on a view-all page can be detrimental. If the desire is for individual pages, ensure the \"view-all\" isn't canonicalized, and it can be noindexed.\n"],null,["# View-all in search results\n\nThursday, September 15, 2011\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore). `rel=prev/next` is not an indexing signal anymore.\n\n\nUser testing has taught us that searchers much prefer the view-all, single-page version of content\nover a component page containing only a portion of the same information with arbitrary page breaks\n(which cause the user to click \"next\" and load another URL).\nSearchers often prefer the view-all vs. paginated content with arbitrary page breaks and worse latency.\n\n\nTherefore, to improve the user experience, when we detect that a content series (for example,\n`page-1.html`, `page-2.html`, etc.) also contains a single-page version\n(for example, `page-all.html`), we're now making a larger effort to return the single-page\nversion in search results. If your site has a view-all option, there's nothing you need to do;\nwe'll work to do it on your behalf. Also, indexing properties, like links, will be consolidated\nfrom the component pages in the series to the view-all page.\n\nHigh latency can make the view-all less preferred\n-------------------------------------------------\n\n\nInterestingly, the cases when users didn't prefer the view-all page were correlated with high\nlatency (for example, when the view-all page took a while to load, say, because it contained many\nimages). This makes sense because we know users are\n[less satisfied with slow results](https://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/speed-matters.html).\nSo while a view-all page is commonly desired, as a webmaster it's important to balance this\npreference with the page's load time and overall user experience.\n\nBest practices for a series of content\n--------------------------------------\n\n1.\n **If your site includes view-all pages:** We aim to detect the view-all version of your\n content and, if available, its associated component pages. There's nothing more you need to\n do! However, if you'd like to make it more explicit to us, you can include\n `rel=\"canonical\"` from your component pages to your view-all to increase the\n likelihood that we detect your series of pages appropriately.\n\n `rel=\"canonical\"` can specify the superset of content (that is, the view-all page, in this case `page-all.html`) from the same information in a series of URLs.\n\n\n *Why does this work?* In the diagram, `page-2.html` of a series may specify\n the canonical target as `page-all.html` because `page-all.html` is a\n superset of `page-2.html`'s content. When a user searches for a query term and\n `page-all.html` is selected in search results, even if the query most related to\n `page-2.html`, we know the user will still see `page-2.html`'s relevant\n information within `page-all.html`.\n\n\n On the other hand, `page-2.html` shouldn't designate `page-1.html` as\n the canonical because `page-2.html`'s content isn't included on\n `page-1.html`. It's possible that a user's search query is relevant to content on\n `page-2.html`, but if `page-2.html`'s canonical is set to\n `page-1.html`, the user could then select `page-1.html` in search\n results and find herself in a position where she has to further navigate to a different page\n to arrive at the desired information. That's a poor experience for the user, a suboptimal\n result from us, and it could also bring poorly targeted traffic to your site.\n\n\n However, if you strongly desire your view-all page not to appear in search results:\n 1. Make sure the component pages in the series don't include `rel=\"canonical\"` to the view-all page, and\n 2. Mark the view-all page as [`noindex`](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/block-indexing) using any of the standard methods.\n2.\n **If you'd like to surface individual, component pages (or there's no view-all available)**:\n It may be the case that one or both of the situations below apply to your site:\n\n - The view-all page is undesirable as a search result (for example, load time too high or too difficult for users to navigate).\n - Your users prefer the multi-page experience and to be directed to a component page in search results, rather than the view-all page.\n\n\n If so, you can use standard HTML\n [`rel=\"next\"` and `rel=\"prev\"` elements](/search/blog/2011/09/pagination-with-relnext-and-relprev)\n to specify a relationship between the component pages in your series of content. If done\n correctly, Google will generally strive to:\n - Consolidate indexing properties, such as links, between the component pages/URLs.\n - Send users to the most relevant page/URL from the component pages. Typically, the most relevant page is the first page of your content, but our algorithms may point users to one of the component pages in the series.\n\n\nIt's not uncommon for webmasters to incorrectly use `rel=\"canonical\"` from component\npages to the first page of their series (for example, `page-2.html` with\n`rel=\"canonical\"` to `page-1.html`). We recommend against this\nimplementation because the component pages don't actually contain duplicate content. Using\n`rel=\"next\"` and `rel=\"prev\"` is far more appropriate.\n\nSummary\n-------\n\n\nBecause users generally prefer the view-all option in search results, we're making more of an\neffort to properly detect and serve this version to searchers. If you have a series of content,\nthere's nothing more you need to do. If you'd like to hint more to Google how best to serve users\nyour information:\n\n1. To better optimize your view-all page, you can use `rel=\"canonical\"` from component pages to the single-page version; otherwise,\n2. If a view-all page doesn't provide a good user experience for your site, you can use the [`rel=\"next\"` and `rel=\"prev\"`](/search/blog/2011/09/pagination-with-relnext-and-relprev) attributes as a strong hint for Google to identify the series of pages and still surface a component page in results.\n\n\nAs always, you can ask questions in our\n[Webmaster Help Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/).\n\n\nWritten by Benjia Li and Joachim Kupke, Software Engineers, Indexing Team"]]
