How to Split a Blog Post Into Multiple Pages (And 3 Methods)

One of the challenges of being a blogger is trying to keep the reader interested in a post from start to finish. In most cases, writing concisely and keeping things brief will do the trick. However, this may prove difficult when you have a wealth of information you wish to share with your readers. 

This is where pagination comes in. By breaking lengthy posts into multiple pages, you can feed information to your followers without overwhelming them. This can also help you keep readers hooked by publishing new content over time, encouraging them to return to your blog post to continue reading.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the reasons you might want to paginate long articles. We’ll then show you how to split a blog post into multiple pages, using three easy methods. Let’s get started!  

Why You Might Want to Paginate Your Blog Posts

When you paginate a post, your readers will be able to read it one page at a time. All they have to do is click on the page numbers at the bottom of the post to continue from where they left off. This system also makes it easy for readers to navigate to a particular section within the post, or even to skip an entire section altogether if it doesn’t interest them. 

There are several reasons you might want to use pagination for your blog posts. For instance, if an article is too long, having it spread across multiple pages can make it more digestible. 

As you are probably aware, large chunks of text can dishearten your readers and drive them away. Thus, splitting your content into neat pages can help you retain visitors’ attention for longer. 

Alternatively, you might want to ‘drip’ your content, or focus on one topic or theme at a time. This is especially practical if you’re unable to write or publish a massive post in one sitting. You could also use this strategy to attract repeat visitors to your site. If you can keep readers in suspense, they will likely return to your blog to see if you’ve added more content to your post. 

3 Reasons to Paginate Your WordPress Blog’s Posts

Are you still unsure whether you should use pagination in your posts? Then let’s look at some scenarios where this technique can be most useful.

1. Sharing Tips and Strategies

If you want to help readers to achieve a specific goal, publishing a multi-page post can be an effective method. Every week, you could add a new tip or strategy to your post, dedicating a full page to each one:

For instance, let’s say you’re writing a post titled “10 Effective Ways to Grow Your Social Media Following”. If you share a new technique every few days, you’ll be allowing readers enough time to try it out before moving on to the next one.

This will also help them work through their social media strategy at a comfortable pace. In addition, you’ll be able to provide more detail on each strategy than you would if you tried to condense all of your tips into one post.  

2. Writing a Journal or a Story

You might also want to use pagination when sharing anecdotes or stories. For example, if you run a travel blog, you could create a post with journal entries about your latest road trip. This way, readers would be able to read a day-by-day account of your journey in the same post.

Meanwhile, if you’re a short story writer, dripping your content can be a powerful way to keep readers hooked. You could use post pagination to supply your readers with one chapter at a time. If you do opt for this method, we recommend sticking to a content schedule so readers will know when to expect your next installment. 

3. Reviewing Products

If you’re putting together a roundup post of recommended products, it might be a good idea to talk about one item per page:

Fitting many products into one page can confuse or overwhelm your readers. On the other hand, dividing the products into separate pages can give your readers more time to evaluate your recommendations, and come to a decision about whether they should make a purchase.

Moreover, if you’re recommending a lot of products at the same time, you might come across as pushy. This can be especially true if you’re using affiliate marketing in your content. A post that is packed with links can seem spammy, which may discourage users from checking out the products.  

How to Split a Post Into Multiple Pages (3 Simple Methods)

Now, let’s look at three easy ways you can split a post into separate pages. Note that if you’re using our plugin-enabled plan for your WordPress.com blog, you’ll be able to try all of the following methods. 

1. Using the Page Break Block

The simplest way to add pagination to a blog post is by using the Page Break block in the WordPress Editor. 

To get started, open the post you want to edit and navigate to the area on your page where you wish to split the content. Then, click on the plus (+) button and select the Page Break block:

Once you add the block, you’ll see a line that marks the page break within your post:

Now, if you preview your post on the front end, you should be able to see the pagination at the bottom of your content:

That’s all there is to it – your post is now split into two pages. Of course, there is nothing to stop you from adding as many page breaks as you wish. 

We recommend that you always place your latest installment at the top of the post. That way, readers won’t have to navigate to the final page of your post every time they want to read the most recent addition or see whether you’ve published anything new.

2. Using a Shortcode

You can also insert a page break in your post by using a shortcode. To do this, you’ll just need to select the Shortcode block:

Then, simply enter <!–nextpage–> in the field provided:

This method is particularly useful if you’re using the Classic WordPress Editor. In this case, you’ll need to switch to the Text view and insert the above tag wherever you want to have a page break.

3. Using a Plugin

Finally, if you want to set up automatic pagination, you can consider installing a plugin. However, we only recommend doing this if you’re planning to apply pagination on all of your posts (rather than just a few lengthy ones). 

Some pagination plugins, such as Pagination by BestWebSoft, enable you to automatically split your content into a specified number of pages. Alternatively, you may also be able to set an approximate amount of words per page.

For instance, a new page could be added for every 1,000 words. Therefore, if you write a 5,000-word post, your content will automatically be split into five pages. 

Conclusion

Many readers may feel put off by lengthy articles. Fortunately, breaking your content down into separate pages may encourage your site visitors to read the entire post. This method can be particularly useful when sharing strategies, writing journal entries, or publishing product reviews. 

In this post, we showed you how to split a blog post into multiple pages, using three simple methods:

1. Adding the Page Break block to your post.
2. Inserting the <!–nextpage–> shortcode in your content. 
3. Installing a pagination plugin that can help you set up automatic page breaks. 

Do you have any questions about splitting up posts into multiple pages? Let us know in the comments section below!