An orphan page is a page that exists on your website but has no links pointing to it from any other page on the site. Someone with the exact address can open it, but nobody browsing your menus will ever stumble on it, and search engines may not either.
Why orphans are hard to find
Search engines discover most pages by following links. A crawler that starts at your homepage and follows every link will never reach a page that nothing links to. Google can still learn about an orphan from your XML sitemap or from a link on another website, but an unlinked page also signals that you do not consider it important, and it receives none of the authority that flows through internal links.
How orphans get created: a real-world scenario
A wedding photographer redesigns her menu and drops the "Elopements" item to keep the header tidy. The page still exists and still sits in the sitemap, but now nothing on the site links to it. Over the next few months it drifts down in search results and visitors who would have booked an elopement shoot never see it. Other common causes: blog posts that slip off the paginated list, product pages for items removed from categories, and pages built for an old campaign.
Finding orphans on your site
The usual method is to compare two lists. First, every URL you know exists: from your sitemap, your CMS page list, and pages that get visits in Google Analytics or impressions in Search Console. Second, every URL a crawler such as Screaming Frog reaches by following links from the homepage. Anything on the first list but not the second is an orphan.
When orphan pages are fine
Not every unlinked page is a problem. A landing page built only for a paid ad, a thank-you page after a form, or a private offer for existing clients can be orphaned on purpose. Those are often better marked noindex as well. The trouble is orphans you want people to find through search.
Mistakes when dealing with orphans
- Relying on the sitemap alone to get an important page found and ranked.
- Linking from one irrelevant spot, such as a long footer list, rather than from the related pages a visitor would read first.
- Deleting orphans that have backlinks without a 301 redirect, losing the value of those links.
- Removing menu items without checking which pages lose their only link.
Related terms
- Internal linking: the fix for nearly every orphan page.
- Navigation bar: where many orphans lose their only link.
- Crawling: the discovery process orphans fall outside of.
- XML sitemap: a backup discovery route, not a replacement for links.