How can I fix SEO duplication on my second collection page?

[Jamm21Jess]

I am working on my website SEO and I have completed a website audit - The issue I am having is that my site is being marked down in search engines because it believes there are duplicate descriptions. I have figured out why this is - I have a couple of collection pages that extend to a 2nd page due to the volume of products in the collection. I believe shopify must be automatically copying across the SEO from the initial collection page, but the search engines don't like the duplication associated with a 2nd URL for example /collections/dell & /collections/dell?page=2 . I have tried to find a way around this, but so far haven't had much luck. Is there somewhere that I can edit the SEO for the 2nd page seperately? Is there a way to change the pagination for the page to be an endless scroll thus getting rid of the 2nd page url altogether? Does anyone have any other fixes for this? I also don't currently have any budget to spend fixing this, so i will need to do it myself.

[DaisyVo]

Hi @Jamm21Jess 

To fix SEO duplication on your second collection page in Shopify:

1-Canonical Tags: Shopify automatically includes canonical tags on paginated collection pages. Verify that canonical tags point to the main collection URL (e.g., /collections/dell) to prevent search engines from treating /collections/dell?page=2 as duplicate content.

2-Meta Descriptions: You cannot directly edit SEO meta descriptions for paginated pages. Instead:

• Use dynamic text in the description, mentioning the page number (e.g., "Explore Page 2 of Dell Products").
• Implement this via theme customization or hire a Shopify developer if necessary.

3-Infinite Scroll or Load More: Switching to infinite scroll removes the need for a second URL:

• Modify your theme to implement infinite scrolling or a "Load More" button.
• This requires coding knowledge but is achievable with online tutorials.

4-Robots.txt Adjustment: Block pagination URLs (/collections/*?page=*) from being indexed:

• Edit your robots.txt.liquid file (available in Shopify's Online Store themes) to disallow these URLs:

Disallow: /collections/*?page=*

5-Alternative Fix: Minimize visible duplication:

• Ensure varied product arrangements or unique text per paginated page to differentiate them.

These methods are low-cost and can be implemented manually.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer them as well.

Best regards,
Daisy