What I compared
I compared the 15 paths your crawl reached through internal links with the 18 paths from your sitemap and Search Console (period: last 3 months, as you said). A path counts as an orphan only when it is in other_urls and not in crawl_urls. I matched paths exactly; none needed trimming. I did not check whether any page is indexed or has external links: your lists do not say, so I do not claim either.
The orphan test follows the Screaming Frog definition: a URL with "no observed linking path from the start point of a crawl". Your crawl starts at / (depth 0).
Orphan list
| id | path | source | status | impressions | clicks | in crawl | group | action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O1 | /services/roof-repair | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 410 | 22 | yes | In crawl | none |
| O2 | /services/metal-roofing | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 1830 | 61 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
| O3 | /services/storm-damage | gsc | 200 | 940 | 37 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
| O4 | /blog/ice-dams | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 2210 | 48 | yes | In crawl | none |
| O5 | /blog/hail-season-checklist | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 1275 | 19 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
| O6 | /blog/attic-ventilation | gsc | 200 | 620 | 9 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
| O7 | /blog/roof-replacement-cost-2023 | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 3120 | 74 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
| O8 | /areas/centerville | sitemap | 200 | 0 | 0 | no | 200 live orphan | Ask |
| O9 | /areas/beavercreek | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 85 | 1 | no | 200 live orphan | Ask |
| O10 | /areas/dayton | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 530 | 12 | yes | In crawl | none |
| O11 | /promo/spring-inspection | gsc | 200 | 40 | 0 | no | 200 live orphan | Out of scope |
| O12 | /careers/estimator | sitemap | 200 | 0 | 0 | no | 200 live orphan | Out of scope |
| O13 | /services/chimney-flashing | sitemap | 301 | 0 | 0 | no | 301 stale entry | Remove from sitemap (HELD) |
| O14 | /blog/old-warranty-faq | sitemap | 404 | 0 | 0 | no | 404 stale entry | Remove from sitemap (HELD) |
| O15 | /thank-you | gsc | 200 | 15 | 0 | no | 200 live orphan | Out of scope |
| O16 | /financing | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 300 | 6 | yes | In crawl | none |
| O17 | /landing/ppc-roof-quote | gsc | 200 | 25 | 2 | no | 200 live orphan | Out of scope |
| O18 | /blog/skylight-leaks | sitemap+gsc | 200 | 860 | 14 | no | 200 live orphan | Keep and link |
Why each action: - Keep and link: your keep_intent says "every service page, every blog post". That covers O2, O3 (services) and O5, O6, O7, O18 (blog). - Ask: O8 /areas/centerville and O9 /areas/beavercreek. You want "every city page we serve" in search, but your input does not say whether you serve these two cities. I left them undecided. - Out of scope: O11 /promo/spring-inspection, O12 /careers/estimator, O15 /thank-you and O17 /landing/ppc-roof-quote. You said promo, thank-you, ad landing pages and job posts should not be in search, so I propose no links. Note that O11, O15 and O17 show impressions in Search Console, so they have appeared in search results; O12 is listed in your sitemap. See Questions for you. - 301 and 404 rows (O13, O14) are not live pages. They are sitemap entries pointing at a redirect and a missing page.
Counts
Counted by script from the Orphan list table. | group | rows | impressions | clicks | |---|---|---|---| | In crawl | 4 | 3450 | 88 | | 200 live orphan | 12 | 8810 | 217 | | 301 stale entry | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 404 stale entry | 1 | 0 | 0 | | All orphans | 14 | 8810 | 217 | | All other_urls rows | 18 | 12260 | 305 |
| action (orphans only) | orphans | ids | impressions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep and link | 6 | O2, O3, O5, O6, O7, O18 | 8645 |
| Ask | 2 | O8, O9 | 85 |
| Out of scope | 4 | O11, O12, O15, O17 | 80 |
| Remove from sitemap (HELD) | 2 | O13, O14 | 0 |
Keep and link orphans ranked by the impressions you gave: | rank | id | path | impressions | clicks | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | O7 | /blog/roof-replacement-cost-2023 | 3120 | 74 | | 2 | O2 | /services/metal-roofing | 1830 | 61 | | 3 | O5 | /blog/hail-season-checklist | 1275 | 19 | | 4 | O3 | /services/storm-damage | 940 | 37 | | 5 | O18 | /blog/skylight-leaks | 860 | 14 | | 6 | O6 | /blog/attic-ventilation | 620 | 9 |
Proposed links and sitemap changes
Link sources are pages your crawl reached in the same first folder, shallowest first, as the bot's rule. Anchors are placeholders because you gave no target wording. Google says it "can only crawl your link if it's an HTML element" with an href, so each link should be a plain link in the page body or menu. | orphan | orphan path | proposed source page | source depth | anchor | status | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | O7 | /blog/roof-replacement-cost-2023 | /blog | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O7 | /blog/roof-replacement-cost-2023 | /blog/ice-dams | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O2 | /services/metal-roofing | /services | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O2 | /services/metal-roofing | /services/roof-repair | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O5 | /blog/hail-season-checklist | /blog | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O5 | /blog/hail-season-checklist | /blog/ice-dams | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O3 | /services/storm-damage | /services | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O3 | /services/storm-damage | /services/roof-repair | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O18 | /blog/skylight-leaks | /blog | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O18 | /blog/skylight-leaks | /blog/ice-dams | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O6 | /blog/attic-ventilation | /blog | 1 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD | | O6 | /blog/attic-ventilation | /blog/ice-dams | 2 | [ADD: anchor] | HELD |
My own note, not from a source: O18 /blog/skylight-leaks may also fit a link from /services/skylights, a crawled page in a different folder. The rule above did not pick it; tell me if you want it added.
Sitemap changes: | id | path | status | change | status of change | |---|---|---|---|---| | O13 | /services/chimney-flashing | 301 | Remove from sitemap, or list the URL it redirects to (you did not give the target) | HELD | | O14 | /blog/old-warranty-faq | 404 | Remove from sitemap | HELD | | O12 | /careers/estimator | 200 | Remove from sitemap if you confirm job posts stay out of search | HELD, needs your answer |
These changes tell a crawler where the pages are. I am not predicting any ranking or traffic change.
Questions for you
- Do you serve Centerville and Beavercreek? If yes, O8 and O9 join Keep and link (sources /areas/dayton and /areas/kettering by the same rule); if no, should their pages stay live?
- O11, O15 and O17 show impressions in Search Console but you want them out of search. Do you want a separate plan for keeping them out? My sources here do not cover how, so I have not proposed one.
- What anchor wording do you want for each new link? I left [ADD: anchor] in every row.
- Where does O13 /services/chimney-flashing redirect to?
Needs your decision
- Approve or change each HELD link in the Proposed links table before anyone edits pages or menus.
- Approve the HELD sitemap changes for O13 and O14, and answer question 1 and the O12 row.