Orphan pages are missing both discovery and signals
Some of my pages never get traffic even though the content is fine. Could it be that nothing links to them?
Which checks surface this
- orphan-pages — pages with no internal links pointing at them
- zero-internal-links — pages that themselves link out to nothing
- deep-pages — pages buried so far from the homepage they are rarely reached
Check ids: orphan-pages · zero-internal-links · deep-pages
A concrete example
A comparison article published and never added to any list, category or related-posts block exists only in the sitemap — nothing on the site points at it.
FAQ
- The sitemap lists it, so does that count?
- A sitemap entry helps discovery but provides no internal signal and no click path. Treat it as a fallback, not a substitute for linking.
- What is the smallest useful fix?
- Link to each orphan page from at least one relevant page that is itself linked. Category pages and related-content blocks are the usual places.