Link pages Google cannot find

Why it matters

Google finds pages mostly by following links from pages it already knows. A page that only your sitemap mentions gets a low place in Google's queue, and Search Console often reports it as "Discovered - currently not indexed": Google knows the address but has not visited it.

This happens a lot with blogs, new service pages and pages added by plugins. The page looks fine, but no menu, homepage or other page points to it.

Before you start

• A site scan, which follows every link from your homepage the way a crawler does
• Access to edit your menu and pages

Step by step

1. 1

   Run a free site scan

   Open the Findable tab. It lists every page that no link on your site leads to.

   Tools›Site scan›Findable
2. 2

   Look for a whole section

   If many unlinked pages share a start, like /blog/, link that section page from your menu first. One link opens up all of them.

3. 3

   Link each page from a related page

   A service page can link to its blog posts and the other way round. Use words that say what the page is about, not "click here".

4. 4

   Make sure the links are in the page

   Some builders load lists, such as blog posts, with scripts. Crawlers that read only the HTML miss those links, so add a plain link too.

   Your builder›Pages›Edit
5. 5

   Scan again

   Linked pages leave the list, and Google starts visiting them on its next crawl.

If something goes wrong

The page is in my menu but still listed

Your menu may be built by a script after the page loads. Crawlers that read only the HTML do not see it. Add a plain text link in the page or footer as well.

My blog lists all posts, but they are still listed

Some builders load the post list with scripts. Add links to your newest posts from a service page or the homepage.

I have hundreds of unlinked pages

Link the section pages first, such as /blog or /services, then make sure each section page links to its pages.

What to do next

Scan again after adding the links. Then ask Google to look at your most important pages in Search Console, and IndexPedia shows the day each page gets into Google.