{"id":41242,"date":"2022-11-02T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=41242"},"modified":"2022-11-02T13:41:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T12:41:37","slug":"what-are-orphan-pages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-are-orphan-pages\/","title":{"rendered":"Orphan Pages &#8211; What Are They, Why They Matter and How to Fix Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Your content is what your visitors want, there\u2019s no doubt about that. But to get new visitors, to have people find your content in the first place, you need to <strong>make your website work well for search engines<\/strong>, too. Without <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/seo-basics\/\">the basics of SEO<\/a>, you are unlikely to get anywhere. Orphan pages are one of the issues search engines may have with your website, and orphan pages are just what we want to talk to you about.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]But <strong>what are orphan pages<\/strong>, exactly? Can they adversely affect your website\u2019s performance and ranking on search engine results pages? And, most importantly, what can you do to fix that? We will attempt to answer these questions in this article.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#what-are-orphan-pages\">What Are Orphan Pages<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-orphan-pages-occur\">How Orphan Pages Occur<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-orphan-pages-affect-your-website\">How Orphan Pages Affect Your Website<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-fix-orphan-pages\">How to Fix Orphan Pages<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;new-top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"what-are-orphan-pages\"><\/a>What Are Orphan Pages<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/What-Are-Orphan-Pages.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"What Are Orphan Pages\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/What-Are-Orphan-Pages.jpg 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/What-Are-Orphan-Pages-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/What-Are-Orphan-Pages-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/What-Are-Orphan-Pages-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]As you might infer from the name, orphan pages are such<strong> pages to which no other pages link<\/strong>. This means that they are difficult to find by both visitors and search engines alike. This has to do with <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-search-engines-work\/\">how search engines work<\/a>, and, no, they do not work by searching the internet. In short, what they do is use software called bots to follow all the links on a website, make an index of the content of the pages visited, and, when a user makes a query (or search) they search the index and deliver results, if any.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Your <strong>orphan pages may still be reached<\/strong> by entering the page\u2019s URL into a browser\u2019s URL field, or through external links. Orphan pages may still be indexed when your website is crawled, but search engines might take longer to notice it.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-orphan-pages-occur\"><\/a>How Orphan Pages Occur<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Occur.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How Orphan Pages Occur\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Occur.jpg 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Occur-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Occur-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Occur-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]An orphan page <strong>can be created erroneously<\/strong>, on accident, or by a developer following unclear instructions \u2013 human error, in other words. A page can also become orphaned for the same reason \u2013 when a website redesign removes all links to it, for instance. It can also be that a page is created automatically by a theme or plugin, but that any links to it are removed later or not even created. It may also be the case that you have created a page for a specific one-of event, and then failed to delete it after, even though you did remove all the links.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Orphan pages <strong>can also be created deliberately<\/strong>: you may decide to remove a blog category, but not delete the content, for instance.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-orphan-pages-affect-your-website\"><\/a>How Orphan Pages Affect Your Website<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Affect-Your-Website.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How Orphan Pages Affect Your Website\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Affect-Your-Website.jpg 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Affect-Your-Website-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Affect-Your-Website-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-Orphan-Pages-Affect-Your-Website-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Orphan pages are <strong>not necessarily bad:<\/strong> it all depends on whether you have a use for them such as they are. As we have mentioned above in the blog category example, you may decide to temporarily switch off a blog category and hide a part of your content from bots and visitors, but retain it in case you want to organize it in a different way or return it to your website at a later date.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]However,<strong> if a page or its content has any value to you or your website, it being orphaned is very bad indeed<\/strong>. For one, a page with no links to it has little page authority, and Google and possibly other search engines may decide to <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-noindex-a-page-in-wordpress\/\">noindex<\/a> it. This means that the page will generate no organic traffic to your website.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Even if they are indexed, though, <strong>orphan pages do not perform well<\/strong>. This is because Google and other search engines take links into account when deciding whether a page has authority or relevance. This includes links from other parts of your website.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Finally, if a user accidentally finds the page, it is likely that <strong>it will be obsolete or contain incorrect information<\/strong>. So, apart from their being very bad for SEO, orphan pages are also bad from a user experience point of view.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-fix-orphan-pages\"><\/a>How to Fix Orphan Pages<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-to-Fix-Orphan-Pages.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How to Fix Orphan Pages\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-to-Fix-Orphan-Pages.jpg 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-to-Fix-Orphan-Pages-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-to-Fix-Orphan-Pages-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/How-to-Fix-Orphan-Pages-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Fixing orphan pages means different things depending on what you want to do with the page or your website in general. However, in order to fix orphaned pages, <strong>you first have to find them<\/strong>. And finding orphaned pages is , as you might expect, not always easy. Some plugins, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/rankmath.com\/free-vs-pro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RankMath<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.screamingfrog.co.uk\/seo-spider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Screaming Frog<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/news\/site-audit-orphan-pages-checks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Semrush Site Audit<\/a> offer this functionality as part of their premium packages. Other than that, you need to do <strong>a manual audit of all your pages.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Once you have found an orphaned page, you need to <strong>decide what you want to do with it.<\/strong> Basically, there are two things you can do: delete or improve.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>If the page is not needed, delete it.<\/strong> This will usually be the case for time-sensitive content such as pages for events in the past, unless you want to keep them for archival purposes, or product pages for products you no longer have in stock.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>If the page\u2018s content ranks for a keyword<\/strong> relevant to your website or your users\u2018 interests, or <strong>if the page stands a good chance of ranking<\/strong> if you fix all the links issues, you need to find a place<strong> for the page<\/strong> on your website. This means linking to it from other pages of your website, including into your <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-add-navigation-menu-in-wordpress\/\">navigation menus<\/a>, and generally finding a place for it in your <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-sitemap\/\">sitemap<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you delete a page, but other websites still link to it, any users and search engine crawlers will encounter a 404 error. You can reach out to the other website\u2018s admin and ask them to change the link, or, alternatively, you might consider <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/engaging-404-error-page-designs\/\">designing a 404 error page<\/a>. You could also set up a redirect using a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/best-404-redirect-plugins-wordpress\/\">404 redirect plugin<\/a>. You don\u2018t need to worry about search engine bots: they will stop indexing pages that return a 404 status code. If you are concerned about it nonetheless, you can always <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-tell-google-to-recrawl-wordpress-site\/\">get Google to recrawl your website<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">In Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As you can see, orphan pages can cause unexpected problems for your visitors and their experience of your website as well as your website\u2018s SEO and SERP rankings. Fortunately, there are relatively easy ways of fixing orphan pages, once you find them. However, we still recommend that you avoid creating orphan pages in the first place.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking to SEO your website to within an inch of its life? Learn all there is to know about orphan pages in our handy guide!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16990,"featured_media":41307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,13],"class_list":["post-41242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-seo","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}