how do i add pages to my website without orphaning them

web · 2026-09-30 · 3 min

you add a page in the cms, give it a title and a slug, write the content, publish it, and then — the step most people skip — add it to the navigation and link to it from at least one other page. a page nobody can reach is an orphan, and google treats it about as well as you would expect.

the mechanics per tool

wordpress: pages, add new. the title becomes the url, which you can change in the permalink field before publishing. then go to appearance, editor, open the navigation block and add the page to the menu. skip that and the page is live and invisible.

wix: the pages panel on the left, add page, name it, then drag it into the menu. squarespace: pages panel, plus, and the page appears in the main navigation by default — check that it belongs there.

a static site: a new file or route, an entry in the navigation component, and a line in the sitemap. no cms will remind you.

the checklist before publishing

slug: short, in the language of the site, no dates and no "page-2". the slug is the url someone might read aloud.

title and description: the title appears in the browser tab and in a search result. write it for a person, not for a keyword tool.

one internal link: from the page that most logically leads there. a service page linked from the home and from a related service is a page that gets found; the same page reachable only from the menu is a page that waits.

sitemap: most cms update it alone. if you are not sure, open yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml and look for the new url after publishing.

the part nobody warns you about

more pages is not automatically better. ten thin pages that each say one sentence about a service compete with each other and with your home page. three pages that each answer a real question properly will do more, and they are easier to keep updated when something changes.

if you are unsure how many you need: one per thing a customer might search for, plus the ones they need in order to trust you.

faq

how many pages should a small business site have?

typically four to eight: home, one page per main service, about, contact. shops with a portfolio need more. set by what people ask, not a template.

do i need a separate page for every service?

only if it has enough to say and enough search demand. otherwise one well-written services page beats five empty ones.

will a new page appear on google immediately?

no. publishing makes it available; indexing takes days to weeks. link to it from an existing page and add it to the sitemap.