WordPress Default Pagination Overriding Plugin

Yes, I have this code appearing at the bottom of my index.php file in the root of my theme:

<?php echo do_shortcode(‘[ajax_load_more post_type=”post” post_format=”standard” pause=”true” scroll=”false” button_label=”Load More Posts” button_loading_label=”Loading More Posts…”]’); ?>

Is there another step that I am missing? For example, maybe a function that’s required on the page before that?

Sure,
This is the test link:
http://kyledavidgroup.kdgtest.com/blog/

It is in the template file for that page, though. It’s just not displaying (perhaps because I set the # of wordpress posts to show to only 3).Do I need to do anything else in addition to the code above that echoes the shortcode?

It comes after the loop

<?php get_header(); ?>

<!--Masthead-->
<section id="top" class="masthead">
	<div class="container">
		<div class="row">
			<div class="header col-md-8 col-sm-12">
				<h1>The Blog</h1>
				<h4>Welcome to our blog; the place where thoughts and musings from KDG come to make themselves known. Whether business woman, volunteer coordinator, or university dean, there is something here for everyone.</h4>
			</div><!--col-xs-12-->
		</div><!--row-->
	</div><!--container-->
	<div class="color-overlay"></div>
</section><!--masthead-->

<!---Page Content-->
<section class="blog-bar">
	<div class="container">
		<div class="row">
			<div class="filter-results col-sm-3 col-xs-7">
				<a class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">Most Recent <span class="fa fa-angle-down"></span></a>
				<ul class="dropdown-menu">
					<?php
						$args = array(
							'title_li' => __(''),
						);
						wp_list_categories($args);
					?>
				</ul>
			</div><!--col-->
			<div class="view-all-link col-sm-3 col-xs-5">
				<!--<a href="blog-archive.html" class="text-link">View All Posts</a>-->
			</div><!--col-->

			<div class="search-bar col-sm-offset-2 col-sm-4 col-xs-12">
				<?php get_search_form(); ?>
			</div><!--col-->
		</div><!--row-->
	</div><!--container-->
</section>

<section class="blog-roll">
	<div class="container">
		<div class="row">
			<div class="col-md-10 col-md-offset-1 col-sm-12">
				<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>

					<?php
					// Start the loop.
					while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
						get_template_part( 'template-parts/content', get_post_format() );
					// End the loop.
					endwhile;

					// Previous/next page navigation.
					the_posts_pagination( array(
						'prev_text'          => __( 'Previous page', 'kdgblog' ),
						'next_text'          => __( 'Next page', 'kdgblog' ),
						'before_page_number' => '<span class="meta-nav screen-reader-text">' . __( 'Page', 'kdgblog' ) . ' </span>',
					) );

				// If no content, include the "No posts found" template.
				else :
					get_template_part( 'template-parts/content', 'none' );

				endif;
				?>

			</div><!--col-->
			<div class="col-xs-12">
				<!--<a class="kdg-btn centered">Load More Posts</a>-->
				<?php echo do_shortcode('[ajax_load_more post_type="post" post_format="standard" pause="true" scroll="false" button_label="Load More Posts" button_loading_label="Loading More Posts..."]'); ?>
			</div>
		</div><!--row-->
	</div><!--container-->
</section>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Ok, almost there! I found a way to put the wp_head and wp_footer functions into my header and footer appropriately. If you check that page URL again and click the button, it reloads some of the same posts. How do I prevent it from doing that? There should be 5 posts total, not 8.

Thanks!
Dan