How to Find and Fix Orphan Pages?

Orphan pages are web pages that are completely isolated from your website’s internal structure, meaning they’re not linked to any other pages. This can make it difficult for search engines like Google to discover and index them.

These orphaned pages can also drain your website’s crawl budget as they may divert resources away from more important content. Moreover, if a valuable backlink accidentally points to an orphan page, the link juice may not be effectively transferred to other relevant pages.

If your website has orphan pages, this can be detrimental to its SEO. However, with the right knowledge, you can deal with this issue effectively.

In this blog post, we’ll cover the following:

• What are orphan pages?
• Why do orphan pages form, and how do we prevent them?
• Are orphan pages landing pages?
• How can orphan pages negatively impact your website’s search engine ranking and visibility?
• Effective methods to find orphan pages on your website.
• How to fix the issue of Orphan Pages: Step-by-step guidance

Let’s begin!

What are orphan pages, and how do they occur?

Orphan pages are indexable pages with no internal links, so they cannot be accessed from anywhere on your site. This makes it challenging to find these pages, but there are still ways to find and fix them. But before heading on to that, let’s learn the reason for their occurrence.

A page can turn orphan due to a number of reasons. Like, suppose if you create a new page without adding any internal links, it will become isolated.

Let’s take another case where you are migrating your website or restructuring it. If something goes wrong in the process and pages do not link correctly, it will give rise to orphan pages.

Sometimes, discontinued product pages or limited-time sale pages can also move to the archive page and become orphan. In some cases, pages created for testing may not be removed or integrated into main site navigation. They can also become orphan pages.

Some CMS may create additional URLs as a part of its page templates; this can also result in the formation of orphan pages.

And sometimes, if you do not consistently use trailing slashes, you might end up creating orphan pages.

How to prevent orphan pages?

To avoid creating orphan pages, you should:

1. Create a logical hierarchy by organizing your website content into clear categories and subcategories.
2. You should ensure that every page is internally linked.
3. You should promptly set up 301 redirects away from the URL you removed from your website.
4. You should run regular audits to find outdated or redundant pages.
5. You can try consolidating your old posts with the most relevant pages.

Why are Orphan pages bad for SEO?

Though we discussed how orphan pages can have some unfavourable consequences for your site, let’s discuss them in detail:

Page May Not Get Indexed

Internal links play a vital role in guiding search engine crawlers from one page to another. Search engines follow internal links to understand how pages, posts, and other content relate to each other. Because an orphan page has no internal links, search engines have no path to discover these pages. When your page cannot be crawled, it cannot be indexed, which means it will not appear in the search results.

So, does that mean there is no way your orphan can get indexed?

Well, there is still a chance that your page will be indexed since search engine crawlers also take reference from your XML sitemap (directory of all of your website’s pages).

Poor Search Rankings

Page Rank algorithm ranks web pages based on the number and quality of incoming links. Having more internal links can increase your chances of ranking higher, but other factors, like the quality of those links, also play a crucial role.

While backlinks are generally considered a more important PageRank factor, internal links are also crucial. They help distribute link flow throughout your website and assist Google in understanding your website’s structure.

Are orphan pages always landing pages?

Landing pages can turn orphan if you do not make them a part of your site structure properly. However, an orphan page is not always a landing page necessarily. As we discussed earlier, they can form due to mistakes in the navigation changes, site redesign, migration, out-of-stock products, or testing, etc.

 

How to Find Orphan Pages and Fix them?

There are several methods to identify orphan pages:

1. Manual Inspection:

• Thoroughly navigate through your website’s menus and submenus.
• Look for pages that seem out of place or difficult to reach.
• Check your sitemap for pages that don’t have any internal links pointing to them.

2. SEO Tools:

Google Search Console: Check the “Indexed Pages” report to see if any pages are indexed but don’t have any backlinks.
Ahrefs or SEMrush: These tools can analyze your backlink profile and identify pages with no internal links but external backlinks.

You don’t need any tools because we have them all. Choose SEO Toronto Experts, and these SEO issues will no longer be a concern for you. We’ll regularly inspect your website and keep it in its best form. Got questions? Fill out this form and get them resolved for free!

How to Fix Orphan Pages

Once you’ve identified orphan pages, you have a few options to fix them:

Add Internal Links:

• Link to the orphan page from relevant pages on your website.
• Consider adding links from your navigation menu or footer if the page is important.
• Ensure you’re not creating a chain of orphan pages by linking to another orphan page.

Redirect to a Relevant Page:

• If the content of the orphan page is outdated or unnecessary, redirect users to a more relevant page on your website.
• Use a 301 redirect to pass on the page’s authority to the target page.

Delete the Page:

• If the orphan page is no longer relevant or useful, delete it from your website.
• Make sure to remove it from your sitemap as well.

Additional Tips

• Regularly Audit Your Website: Choose an SEO Audit company They can conduct regular audits of your website and fix the orphan pages before they become a bigger problem.
• To choose the right SEO audit company, you’ll first need to you need to define your SEO goals and check whether their deliverables clearly meet your expectations.
• Use a Sitemap: A well-structured sitemap helps search engines discover all your website’s pages, including orphan ones.
• Pay Attention to User Experience: When adding internal links, consider the user’s journey and make sure the links are logical and relevant.

Wrapping Up

Orphan pages often result from poor website management. Many people do not take this issue seriously, and many are not even aware of its existence. It’s important to note that effective internal linking can optimize your website for better crawlability, enhance navigation, improve information discoverability, and boost your site’s authority. Hiring a reputable SEO agency to manage your website and its internal linking can significantly benefit your business. If you’re looking for an SEO agency that can take care of your website’s online presence and avoid issues like orphan pages, consult SEO Toronto Experts now. We are award-winning SEO agency in Toronto. We have all the essential auditing and marketing tools that can keep the health of your website in proper check.