Orphaned Content Pages in WordPress & How to Fix Them

Orphaned content refers to pages or posts on your website that are not linked to from other pages or posts. These pieces of content are essentially “isolated,” making them difficult for users to find, and often, they’re ignored by search engines, which reduces their SEO potential.

Here’s an in-depth guide on understanding orphaned content in WordPress, its negative impacts, and how to fix it.

What Is Orphaned Content in WordPress?

Orphaned content consists of posts or pages that are not connected to the internal linking structure of your website. These content pieces have little or no inbound links from other pages, making them hard to discover for both visitors and search engines.

Characteristics of Orphaned Content:

• They are isolated from your site’s content structure.
• They do not receive internal links from other posts or pages.
• They are difficult for users and search engines to find naturally.
• Often, they rank poorly in search results due to lack of authority and relevance from other pages.

Why Is Orphaned Content a Problem?

1. Poor User Experience: If visitors cannot easily find certain posts or pages through your navigation or internal links, they may miss out on valuable content. This leads to a lower engagement rate and missed opportunities for conversions or deeper content interaction.
2. Negative SEO Impact: Search engines rely on internal links to discover and rank pages. Orphaned content is often overlooked by search engine crawlers, reducing its chances of being indexed or ranked well in search results. Pages with more inbound links generally carry more authority in SEO rankings.
3. Wasted Content: Orphaned content typically receives little to no traffic, even if it contains valuable information. It essentially sits on your website without contributing to user engagement or SEO, rendering the content ineffective.

How to Identify Orphaned Content in WordPress

1. Use an SEO Plugin: Plugins like Yoast SEO Premium or Rank Math can help identify orphaned content. These tools typically have features that scan your site for posts or pages without internal links.
   • In Yoast SEO Premium, you can find orphaned content under the SEO > Posts Overview section. It will display content that has no inbound internal links.
2. Google Search Console: You can check the Index Coverage Report in Google Search Console to see if certain pages have low or no traffic. This could be an indication that these pages are orphaned.
3. Manual Review: Go through your pages or posts manually by reviewing internal links to ensure they are connected to other related pages. This method is time-consuming but useful for smaller websites.
4. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Screaming Frog is a website crawler tool that can analyze your site and show which pages have inbound internal links and which do not. It provides a comprehensive breakdown of orphaned content on your website.

How to Fix Orphaned Content in WordPress

Once you’ve identified orphaned content, the next step is to reintegrate it into your website’s internal linking structure. Here’s how to do that:

1. Link to the Orphaned Content from Other Pages

One of the easiest ways to fix orphaned content is to create internal links from other relevant pages or posts to the orphaned page. This not only helps search engines discover the content but also improves the user experience.

• Update old posts: If you have older posts that are relevant to the orphaned content, add links to the isolated page within those posts.
• Use anchor text: Ensure the internal links have relevant anchor text that describes the content, making it easier for both users and search engines to understand the context.
• Link from high-traffic pages: Linking orphaned content from your most-visited pages can significantly boost traffic to those pages.

2. Add the Content to a Menu or Category

If your orphaned content fits within a specific category or is a core part of your site, consider adding it to a navigation menu, a sidebar, or a category page.

• Categories and Tags: Assign orphaned content to a relevant category or tag so it appears with other related posts.
• Add to Menus: If the content is important or evergreen, consider placing it in your main or footer navigation menus.

3. Create Related Posts Sections

Adding a “related posts” section at the end of your articles helps connect similar content and reduces the chances of creating orphaned posts. Most WordPress themes support related posts sections, or you can use plugins like Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP).

• Use Widgets: Add widgets to display related posts based on tags or categories. This is an easy way to ensure your orphaned content appears in other parts of the site.

4. Revamp Old Content

Sometimes orphaned content exists because it’s outdated or no longer relevant. Consider refreshing the content to make it more valuable, current, and engaging. This makes it easier to link from other pages.

• Update information: Ensure that your content reflects the latest information or trends.
• Add new media: Improve the content by adding images, videos, or infographics.
• Republish: If significant updates are made, consider republishing the post and promoting it through social media or email newsletters.

5. Create New Content to Support Orphaned Pages

If the orphaned content doesn’t fit into existing posts or pages, you may need to create new supporting content that links to the isolated page. This allows you to maintain a natural flow of content and build new internal links.

• New blog posts: Write articles that complement your orphaned content and naturally link back to it.
• Create pillar content: Pillar content (long-form, authoritative pieces) can link to multiple orphaned pages and serve as a content hub on a particular topic.

6. Use Breadcrumbs for Easier Navigation

Breadcrumbs help users and search engines understand the hierarchy of your site. Adding breadcrumbs can help prevent orphaned content by ensuring every page has a clear path back to its parent page.

• Use an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to enable breadcrumbs on your website.

Conclusion

Orphaned content in WordPress can hurt both your user experience and SEO performance. By identifying and fixing orphaned pages through internal linking, refreshing old content, and adding related posts sections, you can ensure that all of your content is discoverable and valuable. Regularly monitoring your website for orphaned content will help keep your content strategy healthy and optimized for both search engines and users.