{"id":13065,"date":"2025-05-22T14:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saynine.ai\/?p=13065"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:21:17","slug":"orphan-pages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saynine.ai\/ru\/blog\/orphan-pages\/","title":{"rendered":"Orphan Pages: How to Find and Fix Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

A positive website experience isn\u2019t just about design but also the structure. Avoiding orphan pages is a smart first step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fixing this issue makes your website easier for search engines to crawl and more enjoyable for visitors to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what exactly are orphan pages? Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019re here to help. In this article, you\u2019ll learn what they are, how to find and fix these pages.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s start!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Orphan Pages?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Orphan pages are webpages on your site that don\u2019t have any internal links pointing to them. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when you publish a new blog post, it often starts as an orphan page because it hasn\u2019t been linked from any other page on your website yet. Once you add internal links to it, both users and search engines can easily find and index the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let\u2019s see why fixing orphan pages matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Orphaned Pages Are Bad For Your SEO?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s why every page on your site should be properly connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orphan Pages Don\u2019t Get Indexed <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have an orphan page, Google might not find or index it, as it discovers new content by crawling links from pages it has already indexed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without internal links, Google may not even know your page exists, which means it won\u2019t get crawled, indexed, or show up in search results. So, even your most valuable and engaging content can go unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a proper internal linking strategy<\/a> can fix this issue and ensure your pages are connected and discoverable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Result in a Bad User Experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are great believers in this: if it\u2019s not good for the user, it\u2019s not good enough. The same goes for the orphan page issue. If users can\u2019t easily navigate to a page or even find it, then you hurt the user experience, no matter how valuable the content is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re writing a blog post about keyword optimization and you mention \u201ckeyword stuffing<\/a>.\u201d If you\u2019ve already covered that topic in another article, why not link to it? It\u2019s a simple yet smart move to internally link to relevant content and avoid the orphan page problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Lead to Poor Search Rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a general rule: web pages with good internal linking tend to rank better. On the other hand, a page without any internal links probably won\u2019t rank well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To monitor this, it\u2019s important to run content audits<\/a> regularly to identify pages that may be orphaned. But it\u2019s not just about that one page; having many of those pages across your site can negatively impact your overall search engine rankings and site authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a small fix that can make a big difference in how your content performs and search engines rank your pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Find Orphan Pages in 2 Easy Ways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now let’s look at two simple methods to reveal unlinked pages on your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method #1: The Manual Way<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your website is small, you can do it manually. Just compare your sitemap with the pages that are linked on your site. But before that, let\u2019s take a quick look at why sitemaps matter and what Google says about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your site’s pages are properly linked, Google can usually discover most of your site. Proper linking means that all pages that you deem important can be reached through some form of navigation, be that your site’s menu or links that you placed on pages. Even so, a sitemap can improve the crawling of larger or more complex sites, or more specialized files.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Google Search Central<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1<\/strong>: To find your sitemap, just go to yourdomain.com\/sitemap.xml<\/em><\/strong>. It should list all the important pages you want Google to be aware of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"check<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 2<\/strong>: Now, review your site and check if every page listed in the XML sitemap<\/a> is linked from your blog posts or other internal pages. If a page is in the sitemap but not internally linked anywhere on your website, it\u2019s an orphan page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro tip<\/strong>: Use a spreadsheet to track which sitemap URLs are unlinked and make the process more organized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method #2: Use Ahrefs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For larger websites with hundreds or thousands of pages, the manual way of finding orphan pages is unrealistic. This is where tools like Ahrefs come in handy. Its Site Audit<\/em><\/strong> feature can easily find orphan pages, saving you hours of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how to do it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1:<\/strong> Go to Ahrefs, find “Site Audit<\/strong><\/em>,” select your website, or click  “+ New Project<\/strong><\/em>” to run a crawl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: <\/strong>In the settings, make sure to enable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n