Types of Orphan Pages

• Intentional Orphan Pages: Some pages are intentionally orphaned. Examples of web pages that are sometimes made are orphan pages such as private resources, restricted-access guides, or temporary promotional landing pages.
• Accidental Orphan Pages: Whenever the website gets migrated or has outdated content or incorrect linking, this leads to SEO and issues in user experience. 

Why Are Orphan Pages Problematic?

• Poor Discoverability & Indexability issues: Search engines rely on internal links, external backlinks, and sitemaps to find index pages. Orphan pages without internal links may remain undiscovered and do not rank.
• Weak SEO Performance: As Orphan pages receive no internal link equity, this can hinder their ability to rank well in search results, even if the page has high-quality backlinks.

How Can You Identify Orphan Pages?

 Finding orphan pages can be complex but can be simplified with tools site audit:

• Crawl your website using an SEO tool.
• Compare discovered pages with URLs from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or XML sitemaps.
• Identify pages missing from internal navigation but existing in other data sources.

How to Fix Orphan Pages

• Add Internal Links: Ensure every important page has relevant internal links from other pages within your site.
• Evaluate Intentional Orphans pages: If a page is intentionally orphaned (e.g., a private landing page), ensure it aligns with your SEO strategy and user access needs.
• Remove or Redirect Unnecessary Orphans Pages: If a page no longer serves a purpose, consider removing it or setting up proper redirects to relevant content.

Addressing orphan pages improves website structure, enhances SEO, and ensures a better user experience.