What pages are live on my website?

Find pages that have been deployed by accident

It's easy to accidentally deploy pages that aren't ready. Maybe a developer pushed some test pages, or a content editor published a draft by mistake. These stray pages can cause all sorts of problems, from revealing sensitive information to providing a poor user experience.

• Regular audits: Make it a habit to regularly scan your website for unintended live pages.
• Deployment checklists: Before deploying, run through a checklist to catch anything that shouldn't go live.
• Access controls: Limit who can publish content to the live site, and require approvals for certain changes.

Easily view any website's sitemap

A sitemap lists all the pages on your website, which is handy for both users and search engines.

• Generate a sitemap: Use tools or plugins to automatically create a sitemap of your website.
• XML and HTML formats: Provide an XML sitemap for search engines and an HTML sitemap for your users.
• Submit to search engines: Submit your sitemap to services like Google Search Console to improve indexing.

Find old or duplicate versions of pages

Old drafts and duplicate pages can clutter your site and confuse your visitors.

• Content inventory: Keep a detailed list of all your pages, including when they were last updated.
• Version control: Use a version control system to keep track of changes and ensure only the latest versions are live.
• Redirects: Set up 301 redirects from old pages to the new ones to maintain SEO value and avoid broken links.

Find pages that are in the wrong directory

Organizing your website properly helps users find what they're looking for and improves your SEO.

• Directory mapping: Create a map of your website's directory structure to spot any misplaced pages.
• Consistent naming: Use clear and consistent names for your directories and files.
• Update internal links: Make sure all internal links point to the correct locations to prevent 404 errors.

Check if pages are live

Knowing which pages are live lets you manage your content effectively.

• Use crawling tools: In addition to tools like Screaming Frog or Xenu, Spling can crawl your site and list all the live pages.
• Manual testing: Every so often, it's a good idea to navigate your site like a first-time visitor and try to spot anything unexpected.
• Server logs: Check your server access logs to see which pages are being requested.

Find public pages that should be private

Sometimes, pages that should be private end up being accessible to anyone and vice versa.

• Password protection: Protect sensitive pages with passwords or authentication.
• Robots.txt file: Use robots.txt to tell search engines not to index certain pages (but remember, it's not a security measure).
• Noindex tags: Add 'noindex' meta tags to pages you don't want appearing in search results.