Approximately 70% of orphan pages are overlooked in SEO audits, reducing your website’s overall performance despite strong content. Because these pages are not linked to any other content on your site, they create confusion for search engines and reduce your site's visibility. To address orphan pages, use tools such as Wranker or Semrush’s Site Audit to identify them through crawling.
For a clearer understanding, refer to this guide, which explains what is orphaned content, how to find orphan pages on a website, why they affect your site, and, most importantly, how to fix them quickly using tools like WRanker.
What Are Orphan Pages in a Website?
Orphan pages are pages on a website that receive no internal links. This implies that they are secluded and therefore cannot be discovered by search engines or users.
Why Do Orphan Pages Happen?
Orphan pages can occur for a variety of reasons:
- Outdated or unused pages that were never removed.
- Pages are created by the CMS automatically without being added to the site’s main navigation.
- Content updates or changes that result in the loss of internal links.
These pages might still be discoverable via search engines or sitemaps, but without internal links, they won’t pass SEO value or won’t be easily accessible to users.
How to find orphan pages on a website
Finding orphan pages can be tricky, but it is much easier with the right tools. The SEO tools offered by WRanker can help you in how to identify orphan pages quickly and take the necessary corrective actions.
Methods to Identify Orphan Pages
- Use WRanker’s Site Audit Tool: First Crawls your site like a search engine bot. Then checks internal links and identifies orphan pages with no incoming links.
- Check Your XML Sitemap: If a page is listed but doesn’t have internal links, it’s an orphan. Compare your sitemap with your internal link structure to identify discrepancies.
- Analyze Google Analytics and Search Console Data: WRanker integrates with Google Analytics and Search Console, allowing you to pull data on pages with no internal links but receiving traffic. This can highlight orphan pages that still appear in search results but are not properly linked within your site.
How Do Orphan Pages Affect a Website and SEO?
Orphan pages have a direct impact on your website’s SEO performance and user experience. Understanding these effects is crucial in deciding how to address them.
SEO Implications of Orphan Pages
- Indexing Problems: If an orphan page doesn’t have internal links, search engine bots may not be able to discover and index it, reducing your site’s visibility.
- Reduced PageRank: Orphan pages don’t pass or receive link equity (PageRank) through internal links, which can hurt their rankings in search engine results.
- Poor User Experience: If users can’t easily navigate to a page, it can lead to frustration and a higher bounce rate, especially when valuable content is hidden.
Why Should You Fix Orphan Pages?
Fixing orphan pages is not just about improving SEO; it’s about improving the overall structure and usability of your site.
Benefits of Fixing Orphan Pages
- Better Site Navigation: By linking orphan pages to relevant sections of your site, you improve the user experience and make it easier for visitors to find important content.
- Improved Crawl Efficiency: Search engines can crawl your website more efficiently, focusing on pages that are properly integrated into the site’s structure.
- Higher SEO Performance: Orphan pages with internal links benefit from shared link equity, helping to improve their rankings in search engines.
How to Fix Orphan Pages with No Incoming Internal Links
It is easy to fix orphan pages that lack links to other internal pages; however, one must be careful.
Steps to Fix Orphan Pages
- Add Internal Links: Find related content on your website and link to the orphan pages. Use anchor text that is relevant to the orphan page’s topic to create contextual links.
- Update Your Site Navigation: Add orphan pages to your site’s menu or footer if they are important for the user experience.
- Ensure Ongoing Internal Linking: As your content grows, continue adding internal links to new pages from existing content to prevent orphan pages from being created in the future.
Are Orphan Pages Bad for SEO?
Yes, orphan pages are counterproductive to SEO, and having numerous orphan pages on your site is not good. The pages do not pass link equity, which affects their chances of ranking in search engine results.
Key Issues with Orphan Pages:
- Crawl Budget Wastage: Search engines have a limited crawl budget for your site. Orphan pages waste this budget by taking up space without providing SEO value.
- Reduced Authority: Without internal links, orphan pages don’t receive PageRank, which means they won’t rank well in search engines.
How to Fix Orphan Pages and Remove Them in Bulk with a Code
For large websites with many orphan pages, manually fixing them can be time-consuming. In such cases, using a code-based solution can save time.
Bulk Fixes for Orphan Pages:
- Automated Scripts: Orphan pages are determined using a custom script to locate orphan pages, depending on your structure, and add internal links automatically.
- CMS Tools: Most CMS systems give you the option to bulk update the content or write scripts that will automatically connect orphan pages to other pages.
- Redirect Orphan Pages: In case the orphan page was not updated recently and is no longer useful, it will be better to implement a 301 redirect to some useful page.
Conclusion: Fixing Orphan Pages for Better SEO and User Experience
To maintain a healthy website, it is essential to resolve orphaned pages. Because they prevent the search engine from discovering and indexing the important content. To fix orphan pages, first identify them and then link them via interlinking. Fixing the issue improves crawlability, navigation, and SEO performance.
Use WRanker’s tools to quickly find orphan pages and integrate them into your site’s structure. The faster you address orphan pages, the better your site will perform in search engines and the more seamless your user experience will be.
