Orphan pages

What are orphan pages & how to find them? 

An aspect of SEO that might be new to you is the concept of orphan pages – and no, we’re not talking about the Dickens classic Oliver Twist.

Today we’re delving into the digital ether, where pages lost in the vast expanse of your website go unnoticed and unlinked, much like the life of little Oliver. 

These overlooked pages, hidden from the bustling traffic of your site’s main thoroughfares, can significantly impact your site’s SEO health and user experience.

In this guide, we will take a look at:

So, let’s turn the page on this overlooked aspect of SEO and bring those hidden pages into the light!

What are orphan pages?

Orphan pages are web pages without any internal links pointing to them from elsewhere on your site. 

From the SEO perspective, orphan pages aren’t part of the usual journey visitors (or crawlers) take through your website, making them virtually invisible to both – people and search engines.

Example of an orphan page

Imagine you’ve created a detailed guide about ‘The Best SEO Practices for 2024,‘ but it’s not linked from your blog, homepage, or any category pages.

It exists on your site, but there’s no path leading to it.

While the page might be valuable, being isolated renders it useless to visitors who would benefit from it and search engines that could rank it in SERPs.

Identifying and addressing orphan pages is important because they represent untapped potential.

They could be valuable content pieces, crucial product or category pages, or informative articles that are simply lost in the void.

When you integrate them back into your website’s structure, you can improve user experience, improve SEO, and make every part of your website work towards your goals.

What causes orphan pages?

Orphan pages are often created inadvertently through changes and updates. Here’s a closer look at the common culprits behind these digital castaways:

  • Site migrations and redesigns
  • Content updates and deletions
  • Testing and development pages
  • Manual human errors
  • Discontinued products or services
  • Promotional or landing pages
  • Architectural oversights

a) Site migrations and redesigns

When you move or redesign your site, pages can get lost in the transition. It’s like packing up a house; sometimes, things get left behind. 

If the new site structure doesn’t include links to all the old pages, some may end up orphaned.

b) Content updates and deletions

In the process of updating your site, you might remove links to certain pages without realizing it. 

Over time, as links get updated or removed, pages that were once well-connected can find themselves isolated.

c) Testing and development pages

Developers often create testing pages that aren’t meant to be part of the main site navigation.

These pages are useful for testing but can become orphaned if they’re not properly integrated or removed after use.

d) Manual errors

Sometimes, orphan pages are simply the result of a mistake.

A missed checkbox here, a forgotten link there, and suddenly, you have a page that’s floating in space, disconnected from the rest of your site.

e) Discontinued products or services

In e-commerce or service-based sites, product or service pages might become orphaned after they’re discontinued.

If you don’t properly archive or redirect these pages, they can end up as orphans.

f) Promotional or landing pages

Sometimes, you might create a specific landing page for a campaign or promotion and choose not to link it from your main site. 

While this might be intentional at first, if these pages aren’t managed post-campaign, they can linger as unnoticed orphans.

g) Architectural oversights

As websites grow and evolve, it’s easy for the architecture to become complex and unwieldy.

Without a clear and maintained structure, pages can easily become disconnected and forgotten.

Understanding these causes is the first step in being the Daddy Warbucks to your orphan Annies.

Recognizing how they come into being can help start to weave them back into the fabric of your website, ensuring they contribute to your site’s purpose and SEO strategy.

Each orphan page is a missed opportunity, but with a little detective work and some strategic linking, you can turn them into valuable assets once more.

How do orphan pages affect SEO?

Orphan pages are the hidden rooms in your website’s mansion. They might contain treasures or trash, but as long as they’re hidden, their true value or detriment remains unknown. 

When it comes to SEO, these isolated pages can impact your site’s performance in multiple ways:

  • Unindexed pages
  • Low rankings in Google Search
  • Poor UX

Unindexed pages

The main role of search engine crawlers is to discover and index pages on the web.

They typically do this by following links from one page to another. Orphan pages, lacking these vital links, akin to rooms without doors, are hard for crawlers to find.

If a page isn’t indexed, it won’t show up in search results, making it virtually invisible to your audience.

While a XML sitemap might help crawlers find these pages, it’s not guaranteed that they will get indexed (especially if the website consists of hundreds or thousands of pages that can be present in the sitemap as well).

Low rankings

Suppose an orphan page does get indexed. The lack of internal links leading to it means it’s missing out on valuable link juice (SEO PageRank) — the currency of the web that flows through links, bestowing authority, and trust.

In addition to that, having pages with zero links pointing to them creates a challenge for the Google algorithm since it misses relevancy signals (e.g. anchor texts of links pointing to the web pages, context of those links, etc.) which can slow down the ranking potential of the page. 

In the eyes of search engines, an orphan page is a lone wolf, with no connections to vouch for its relevance or quality.

This isolation often results in lower rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs), which means less visibility and traffic for those pages.

Poor user experience

Imagine stumbling upon a page with great content or products, only to never find it again because it’s not linked anywhere on the site.

Orphan pages can create frustrating dead ends for users.

If visitors do find these pages (perhaps through direct links or search results), they might encounter outdated information or find themselves at a loss for where to go next on your site.

This poor user experience can lead to increased bounce rates, reduced engagement, and a lower likelihood of conversion.

How to fix orphan pages?

Thankfully, fixing orphan pages is a relatively easy process. Here’s how you can breathe life into these forgotten pages and bolster your site’s SEO:

  1. Perform a site audit
  2. Delete pages
  3. Merge pages and their content
  4. Link to orphan pages
  5. Redirect pages
  6. Add noindex tags

1. Perform a site audit

The first step in fixing orphan pages is to find them with a site audit. Tools like Screaming Frog and Google Search Console (GSC) are your allies here.

They crawl your site and compare the list of URLs they find against the pages that have received traffic or are listed in your sitemap.

Any discrepancies might indicate orphan pages.

Once you find the pages, then you’re ready to take one of several different paths to return them to the fold.

2. Delete pages

Not all orphan pages are worth saving. Evaluate whether the content is outdated, irrelevant, or simply not valuable.

If a page no longer serves a purpose, or its content is better covered elsewhere on your site, it might be time to say goodbye.

Deleting unnecessary pages can streamline your site and focus your SEO efforts where they count.

Note: If you decide to just delete the web page without redirecting the URL to another destination, make sure to check whether the page:

  • Was not crawled or indexed already (to prevent 404 error)
  • Does not have any backlinks pointing to it (to prevent loss of PageRank)
  • Was also removed from the sitemap

3. Merge Pages

Sometimes, you’ll find orphan pages with content that overlaps with other pages on your site.

In these cases, consider merging the content from the orphan page with a more prominent, related page.

This not only eliminates the orphan page but also strengthens the remaining page with additional content and keywords.

4. Link to orphan pages

The most straightforward way to fix an orphan page is to link to it from relevant parts of your site.

Look for related content, navigation menus, or even your site’s footer as potential spots to add a link. 

Just one well-placed link can bring an orphan page back into the family, allowing link equity to flow and making the page visible to both users and search engines.

5. Redirect pages

If an orphan page has been replaced or is no longer relevant, consider implementing a 301 redirect to a more current or related page. 

Redirects (from SEO perspective) ensure that any traffic or link equity the orphan pages have accumulated isn’t wasted, but is instead transferred to pages that benefits your site’s goals.

6. Add noindex tags

In some cases, you might want a page to remain unlinked from your site but also want to keep it from being indexed by search engines. 

Adding a noindex tag to these pages tells search engines not to include them in their indices.

This is particularly useful for test pages, temporary campaign pages, or any other page you don’t want appearing in search results.

How to prevent orphan pages?

Back to our societal infrastructure metaphor, preventing orphan pages is like maintaining a well-kept network of roads in your city.

The internal linking makes sure every page is accessible and connected.

Here’s how you can proactively prevent orphan pages from cropping up and maintain a healthy, interconnected website.

Have a strong website structure

A well-planned website structure plays a major role in preventing pages from becoming orphaned and ensures every page has a place and a purpose.

Regularly review and update your website’s architecture to make sure it’s logical, user-friendly, and comprehensive.

One method is to use a hierarchical structure, where every page is linked from at least one other relevant page.

internal-links-structure

This not only makes it easier for users to navigate your site but also makes it easier for search engines to find and index all your content.

Distribute page authority

Link equity, the ranking power passed through links, is a vital currency in SEO. Make sure you’re spreading this wealth throughout your site by linking to all your pages appropriately. 

Regularly check for pages with few or no inbound links.

Consider how they can be better integrated into your site’s structure, either through your main navigation, contextual links from related content, or even footer links for less prominent pages.

How PageRank works

Give the orphan pages an SEO purpose

Every page on your site should serve a clear SEO purpose, fitting into your overall content strategy. If you find an orphan page, assess its role.

Does it target a specific keyword or user need? Is it part of a user journey or conversion path?

If it’s valuable, find a way to incorporate it into your site structure.

If it’s not serving a clear purpose, consider whether it can be merged with other content or if it should be removed altogether.

How to monitor orphan pages?

Once you’ve identified and addressed orphan pages on your site, the next step is to monitor them to make sure they’re indexed, ranking, and contributing positively to your SEO efforts. 

Here’s how to keep tabs on those previously lost pages and make sure they stay connected to your site’s overall structure.

Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is an excellent tool for monitoring the status of your orphan pages.

After reintegrating an orphan page into your site, you’ll want to check whether it’s been indexed by Google.

To do this, simply enter the URL of the page into the search bar in GSC to see its current indexing status.

monitoring indexing of orphan pages via GSC - example

If the page has been successfully indexed, great! But the work doesn’t stop there.

Use GSC to monitor the organic traffic coming to that page over time, especially if it’s a page with a ranking purpose.

You can track metrics like impressions, CTR (click-through-rate), and average position to determine whether the page is gaining traction in the search results.

If the page isn’t indexed yet, you might need to request indexing through GSC or check that it’s well-linked internally to boost its visibility to search engines.

Use Mangools SERPWatcher

To monitor how well your once-orphaned pages are performing in terms of keyword rankings, Mangools SERPWatcher is a powerful ally.

This tool allows you to track the ranking progress of specific pages for targeted keywords over time. 

After fixing an orphan page, add it to SERPWatcher to see if it’s climbing the ranks for the keywords you’re targeting.

how to monitor orphan pages rankings via Mangools SERPWatcher - example

SERPWatcher provides daily updates on keyword positions, search volume, and the potential traffic those rankings could bring. 

This way, you can quickly gauge whether the SEO efforts to reincorporate the orphan page are paying off. If the page isn’t performing as expected, you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

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Perform regular audits

Regular audits are essential for maintaining a healthy website, and tools like Screaming Frog make this process straightforward.

By scheduling routine crawls, you can continuously monitor your site’s internal linking structure and ensure no new orphan pages crop up.

Screaming Frog’s audit reports highlight any issues, including orphaned pages, so you can address them before they negatively impact your SEO.

Crawling orphan pages via Screaming Frog - example

Incorporating regular audits into your SEO maintenance plan will help you catch potential orphan pages early, allowing you to keep your site fully optimized and interconnected.

This proactive approach ensures that every page on your site contributes to your SEO goals.

Frequently asked questions

Are orphan pages always bad for SEO?

Generally, orphan pages are considered detrimental for SEO because they can’t be crawled and indexed effectively, leading to issues with visibility and rankings.

However, there might be strategic reasons for having orphan pages, such as specific landing pages for campaigns.

Even so, these should be managed carefully to ensure they don’t negatively impact your overall SEO.

Can I intentionally create an orphan page to ‘hide’ it from Google?

Creating an orphan page isn’t an effective method to hide it from search engines, as they may still find it through sitemaps or direct links from external sites.

If you want to prevent a page from appearing in search results, it’s better to use a ‘noindex’ tag.

Is it possible to find orphan pages without an automated tool?

While it’s theoretically possible to find orphan pages manually by comparing lists of URLs from various sources like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and server log files, it’s a labor-intensive process.

Automated tools can significantly simplify and speed up the process.

How often should I check for orphan pages?

The frequency can vary depending on the size and dynamism of your website. However, a good practice is to perform a check for orphan pages as part of your regular monthly SEO audit.

Additionally, it’s wise to conduct a check after any major site updates, migrations, or content overhauls.

Can orphan pages affect my site’s user experience?

Yes, orphan pages can lead to a poor user experience. If users stumble upon these pages through external links or direct access, they might find outdated information or lack a clear navigation path to explore more of your site.

This can lead to frustration and a higher likelihood of them leaving your site.