Definition
An orphan page is a web page that exists on the server and is accessible via its URL, but receives no internal links from other pages on the site. Without internal links, Google's bots cannot discover it through standard crawling (unless it is in the sitemap). Even if indexed, an orphan page receives very little internal link juice and rarely ranks well. Orphan pages are a common issue on large sites, especially after redesigns, CMS changes, or category removals. Orphan page auditing involves comparing sitemap or server URLs with those found by crawling to identify unlinked pages.
Key Points
- Orphan pages receive no internal link juice and rank poorly
- Auditing involves comparing crawled URLs with sitemap/server URLs
- Orphan pages are common on large sites after a redesign
Practical Examples
Orphaned product page
After a redesign, a product page is no longer accessible from any category or menu. It remains indexed but no longer receives internal traffic, losing its rankings.
Audit with Screaming Frog
By comparing sitemap URLs with those discovered by crawl, Screaming Frog identifies 200 pages present in the sitemap but without any internal links: these are orphan pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crawl your site with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and compare the list of crawled URLs with those in your XML sitemap or database. Pages present in the sitemap but not discovered by crawl are likely orphaned.
Add internal links to these pages from relevant pages, integrate them into appropriate navigation or categories, or remove them with a 301 redirect if they are no longer useful.
Go Further with LemmiLink
Discover how LemmiLink can help you put these SEO concepts into practice.
Last updated: 2026-02-07