What are orphan pages? The Complete Guide to Understanding and Dealing With It
Do you know what orphan pages are? Understand orphaned page technical errors for search engine optimization and usability of your website.
In the world of digital marketing and website optimization, it is important to know and understand about orphan pages. If you are an SEO optimizer then it is even more important for you to understand orphan page technical error. Because without understanding this you cannot increase the SEO score of your website. Orphaned pages can have a big impact on your website if you don’t fix it. Read our guide to increase how well your website appears in search engines and the number of visitors to your website. Get the ins and outs of what orphan pages are, why they’re important, and how you’ll manage them.
What are orphan pages?
Orphan pages are a type of website loaners. These are web pages that do not have any links to other pages on your website. They stand alone and are not connected to the rest of your website. There can be many reasons for this, such as broken links, confusing website structure, or outdated and irrelevant content, etc.
Why are orphaned pages bad for SEO?
Orphan pages can harm your website’s SEO in the following ways-
- Difficult to find: Search engines rely on links to find and track web pages. When a page is orphaned, it looks as if you are trying to hide it from search engines. And because of this the search engine does not crawl it but also ignores many important links of your web page. This is the reason why many of your important web pages and orphaned pages do not show up in search results.
- Less important: Search engines decide how important your website is based on the number and quality of links. Orphan pages miss out on important links from your site, which makes your site appear less important to search engines.
- Frustrating for visitors: Orphaned pages can confuse your visitors. Such pages leave your visitors with no clear path to the right page. Visitors feel lost and may leave your site. If this happens, the success of your site may be eclipsed in a way.
- Weak Keywords: Orphan pages can reduce the impact of even the most important keywords on your website. When important content is left alone, it has little to no chance of appearing in search results for the right keywords.
How to find orphan pages?
If you want to improve the SEO score of your website, then first of all find the orphan pages and try to remove them from the website. Let’s take a look at how you’ll find orphaned pages:
- Use specialized tools: There are tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs that scan your site to find those orphan pages and give you information about them.
- See for yourself: Check the website map to find orphan pages on your website and look for pages that have no links.
How to deal with orphaned pages?
If you find out which pages are falling into the category of orphaned pages, read the information below to help you troubleshoot the issue:
1. Check whether orphan pages are useful for your website or not.
Before removing orphan pages from the website, check whether these are useful for your website. If yes, then link it to an appropriate place or menu on the website. So that it is accessible to your visitors. If orphan pages do not relate to your website, then remove them from the website as soon as possible.
2. Add Links to Other Pages
If orphan pages are very useful to your website, look for places on your site where you can add those pages via links. By doing this, this page will become part of the structure of your site. This will also improve the SEO score of your website.
3. Update Content
If any orphan pages are not able to become a part of your website due to any kind of update, then it would be appropriate to remove them from the website. Otherwise, update that page as soon as possible and link it to the website.
4. Create new content.
If orphan pages contain good information, you should link to them in the right place on your website so that visitors can access them easily. If new content is required on the website to link orphan pages, then create new content as soon as possible.
5. Give the correct sitemap.xml of the website to the search engines.
Make sure your website’s Sitemap.xml page contains links to all your important pages. It is like a map of your website. Through this page, the search engine is able to know what information is available on your website.
FAQs
Question: Can orphan pages hurt a website’s search engine rankings?
Answer: Yes, orphaned pages can do this because they may not appear in search results at all, like linked pages.
Question: How often should I search the website for orphan pages?
Answer: To improve your website’s score and search engine results, you must check for orphaned pages on a regular basis, perhaps every month or three months.
Question: Is it better to get rid of orphaned pages or send people to other pages?
Answer: It depends on the pages and how important they are. If they are no longer useful, then it would be appropriate to remove them from the website.
Question: Can orphan pages be good for SEO if they contain useful content?
Answer: Good content is important, but it is also important that people have easy access to it. You can add an orphan page with good content to the website via a link. Doing this will improve the rank of your website.
Question: How can I prevent orphaned pages from happening again?
Answer: Check the website at least once a month to avoid orphaned pages. Keep the website organized, update old content, and make sure new content links to it.
Question: What are good tools for finding orphaned pages?
Answer: Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, and SEMrush can prove useful for examining a website and finding orphan pages.
Conclusion
We hope you have understood orphan pages well. You are also well aware of what orphan pages are and why they are a problem. If you want to become an SEO expert, then this information is very important for you. This information on orphan pages will help you improve your website for search engines and visitors. By finding orphaned pages, fixing them, and staying organized, you can make sure that your website appears higher in search results and that it is easy for people to use. Don’t let orphaned pages hinder your website’s success; take control of your website’s structure and content today. Thank you!
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