How to Fix Orphan Pages

What the orphan pages check tests

SiteCurl fetches your XML sitemap and collects all URLs listed in it. Then it checks the internal links across all scanned pages. Any sitemap URL that is not linked to from at least one other page is flagged as an orphan.

The check requires a sitemap to compare against. Sites without a sitemap skip this check.

Why it matters

Internal links are the primary way search engines discover and prioritize pages. A page with many inbound internal links signals importance. A page with zero inbound links signals that even the site owner does not think it is worth linking to.

Orphan pages also miss out on “link equity,” the ranking power that flows through internal links. Even if the page has great content, it will underperform in search results without internal link support.

How to fix it

Add contextual links from related pages

The best fix is to link to the orphan page from related content. If the orphan is a blog post about “email marketing tips,” add a link from your main email marketing guide or a related blog post.

Add it to navigation or category pages

If the orphan page is an important landing page, add it to your main navigation, sidebar, or footer. If it belongs to a category, make sure the category page links to it.

Check for broken links

Sometimes a page becomes orphaned because the link to it broke (a typo in the URL, or the linking page was deleted). Fix the broken link to restore the connection.

Remove unneeded pages

If the orphan page is outdated or no longer relevant, consider removing it from both your site and your sitemap. Redirecting it to a relevant page preserves any external links.

How to verify the fix

Run a multi-page SiteCurl scan. Check the orphan pages finding in the SEO section. All sitemap URLs should show at least one inbound internal link.

Related checks

Orphan pages are related to crawl depth (how many clicks to reach a page) and broken links (which can disconnect pages from the rest of the site).

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