Web Traffic is the key indicator of the quality and longevity of a website. This is dependent on another key factor, which is SEO. But did you know that if you have any unlinked and isolated pages, they decrease the quality of your website’s SEO? Webpages like these are called Orphan Pages. This blog contains all the relevant information you need on what Orphan pages are and how to find and fix them.
What is an Orphan Page?
An orphan page is a web page that does not link to any other page on the same website. More importantly, these pages are isolated and do not have internal links connecting them to the broader structure of the site. They do not appear on the sitemap and are not accessible by search engines like Google. This renders them isolated and without any connecting links to the website.
Why do Orphan Pages Occur?
Orphan Pages most commonly occur due to organizations not wanting specific web pages displayed on their websites, yet they want to retain them for the database. However, since they don’t want their website’s visitors to see these pages, they turn their visibility off. This makes them invisible but they still exist under different URLs which are not linked to the parent website. Another instance of their occurrence is absence of any hyperlinks on a page to other webpages which makes a webpage Orphan.
Orphan pages may appear for various reasons, such as when a page is rendered but does not link to another page, or if changes made to the creation of the site cause some pages not to link correctly. This deteriorates the SEO ranking of the website overall, which in turn also adversely affects web traffic to your site.
Why do Orphan Pages Deteriorate SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) dictates where your website will be ranked on search engines. It depends on various factors, such as using the right keywords, backlinks, and other elements. Search engines like Google use programs called crawlers to search, rank, and index the webpages. Suppose a webpage has no backlinks and does not appear anywhere on your sitemap. In that case, Google will not index and rank your webpage, thus deteriorating your website’s visibility and page rank.
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Finding Orphan Pages
Finding and fixing orphaned pages is vital to maintaining a good, SEO-friendly website. There are several ways to identify Orphan pages:
Crawling tools
Use web crawling tools such as Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl to analyze the web architecture comprehensively. This tool can provide a list of pages that do not have internal links.
Google Search Console
Check Google Search Console for any signs of crawling errors or indexing issues. May refer to pages that are not directly linked.
Analysis Guide
Look at your website’s sitemap and check the structure to identify pages that are independent and not interconnected. Google Analytics is a good example of a tool used to do this.
Implications on SEO
Orphan pages can have a significant impact on SEO. Some of these impacts are:
Indexing Issues
Search engines may have issues indexing orphan pages, reducing visibility in searches. Search engines use programmed bots to search for backlinks and index the pages accordingly. Since orphan pages have no backlinks, they do not get accessed by these bots and get left out without getting indexed. This decreases the website’s overall SEO.
Rank Impact
Orphan pages are less effective in search engines because they do not have the internal authority and influence that comes with linking to other pages. As a result, Orphan Pages deteriorate a webpage’s rank and adversely affect SEO. PageRank is Google’s method of ranking the order in which websites appear in a search. Orphan pages affect it adversely and cause it to drop.
User Experience
Orphaned pages can cause poor user experience as visitors have difficulty finding the content they want. A page with no backlinks may cause the user to be stuck at a webpage with no means to navigate to a different page of the website, and the user might exit the website altogether in frustration.
Crawling Efficiency
A well-linked website ensures that search engine bots can effectively access and evaluate all relevant content, thus positively impacting SEO. As pointed out earlier, it is essential for webpages to be properly optimized with the proper keywords and be SEO friendly so that search engines like Google can easily find, rank and index them.
Linking Products
Good internal linking helps distribute links throughout your website, thus benefiting overall SEO performance. Creating backlinks to your website and other external sources improves the website’s overall quality and makes the website more SEO-friendly and optimized.
How to Fix Orphan Pages?
Once you have identified the pages, you must integrate them throughout the website. Here are some steps to improve the orphan page:
Internal links
Add internal links to the orphan page from other pages of your site. This helps search engines find and index these pages. These links can be to existing posts, pages and products in your website. By doing this, the page gets accessed by crawlers and gets indexed.
Add Sitemap
An XML sitemap is an integral component of a website. It can be described as the roadmap to the entire website and its web pages. Make sure orphan pages are included in your XML sitemap. Submit your updated sitemap to search engines so it can be indexed properly.
To ensure maximum accessibility and visibility, add obsolete pages to the main menu or other relevant menus on your site. Doing this improves overall website navigation and makes the website more optimized.
Update the Content
Another method can be to update the information on Orphan pages. If necessary, update the residual pages of your site to make them useful for users. Include new content, any changes to the existing content or replace it altogether with something new and optimize the webpage accordingly.
The Final Verdict on Orphan Pages
In summary, it is important to maintain a good website and address orphan pages to ensure all important content is included. It is used effectively in search engine rankings. Orphan pages may be useful to store short-term information that is to be made visible to visitors in the future. For example, they can be used to store web pages containing upcoming promotions or seminars. But generally, it is good for the website’s overall SEO that Orphan pages be fixed or removed.
If you need to resolve any issues with Orphan pages or any aspect of your website, visit our website and check out our SEO services. Bold Solutionz provides holistic upkeep for your website so that it always has abundant web traffic.
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