What are Zombie Pages?
Zombie pages are webpages that generate little to no human traffic from search engines. These pages often have low search rankings and, in many cases, may not even appear in search results at all.
Examples of Zombie Pages
- Outdated pages
- Non-indexed pages
- Thin-content pages
- Poorly-optimized pages
- Non-mobile friendly pages
We will now go through these types of zombie pages one by one.
Outdated Pages
These are webpages that are no longer relevant to your site or the subject matter being discussed. They may have ranked at some point, but their rankings have reduced so much that they have become invisible in search results.
Non-indexed Pages
These are webpages search engines refused to index. This usually happens if the page requires excessive server resources to be indexed. For this reason, search engines may ignore these sorts of pages, making them ineligible to appear in search results.
Thin-Content Pages
These are webpages with little to no helpful content. Examples include:
- Doorway Pages: Pages created solely to rank for specific keywords, often redirecting users to another site.
- Duplicate Pages: Pages with content duplicated from other pages on your site or other websites.
- Pages with Excessive Ads: Pages overwhelmed by ads, providing little value to the user.
These sorts of pages may be indexed but will not rank in search results.
Poorly-Optimized Pages
These are webpages that are not properly optimized for the keywords they’re supposed to rank for. These pages may contain helpful content. However, they don’t rank because search engines are unclear what keywords they’re supposed to rank for.
Non-Mobile Friendly Pages
These webpages are partly or totally unusable when accessed using a mobile device. Google prioritizes the mobile version of a site over its desktop version. So, pages that are not mobile-friendly enough may find it hard to appear in search results.
Conclusion
Zombie pages can significantly hinder a website's overall performance and visibility in search engine results. Identifying and addressing these types of pages—by updating content, optimizing for search, improving mobile usability, and ensuring indexing—can help recover and boost your site's traffic and rankings.
