Let’s face it: most business websites are like icebergs—what you see in the navigation is just the tip. Underneath, there’s a whole world of hidden, orphaned, or forgotten pages that never make it to the menu. I’ve worked with teams who thought their site had 100 pages, only to discover there were 1,000 lurking in the shadows. And here’s a wild stat: enterprise websites average over 10 million pages, but only about . That means there are a lot of pages you might not even know exist—until they come back to haunt you during a redesign, SEO audit, or compliance review.
If you’ve ever been asked, “Can you get me a list of every page on our website?” and felt a bit of existential dread, you’re not alone. The good news? You don’t need to be a developer or spend days clicking through every link. In this guide, I’ll show you why getting a full list of website pages matters, the old-school and new-school ways to do it, and how tools like make the whole process so much easier—even if you’re not technical.
What Does It Mean to "Get List of Pages on a Website"?
At its core, getting a list of pages on a website means creating a complete inventory of every public URL on that site. Not just what’s in the main menu, but every blog post, product page, landing page, and even those sneaky “orphan” pages with no links pointing to them.
Here’s the catch: most websites have way more pages than you see at first glance. There are:
- Deep pages and sub-pages (like old blog posts or product listings)
- Orphan pages (pages with no internal links—think of them as digital islands)
- Unlinked files (PDFs, images, or landing pages not linked anywhere)
- Dynamic or hidden content (pages only reachable via search boxes, filters, or “Load more” buttons)
So, while the navigation is like a store directory, the full list of pages is the entire inventory—including the stuff in the back room. And for non-technical users, finding all those pages isn’t always straightforward. Manual clicking won’t cut it, and even Google doesn’t index everything—.
Why Getting a List of Pages on a Website Matters for Businesses
You might be wondering, “Why bother?” Well, here’s where things get interesting. Knowing every page on your site is the foundation for:
- SEO and Content Audits: You can’t fix what you can’t see. Orphan pages, duplicate content, or outdated info can tank your rankings. Connecting and updating orphaned pages has been shown to .
- Website Redesigns & Migrations: If you don’t know all your URLs, you risk broken links, lost SEO, and angry users after a relaunch.
- Compliance & Maintenance: Old campaign pages or outdated info can linger and cause embarrassment—or worse, legal trouble.
- Competitive Analysis: Want to see all your competitor’s product or pricing pages? You need a full list.
- Lead Generation & Outreach: Sales teams scraping directories or “Find a Dealer” pages don’t want to miss hidden leads.
- Content Inventory & Governance: Avoid duplication, spot gaps, and keep your site tidy.
| Business Scenario | Who Needs It | Why a Complete Page List Matters |
|---|---|---|
| SEO/Content Audit | SEO, Content Marketers | Ensures every piece of content is reviewed, updated, or pruned for better rankings and user experience. |
| Website Migration | Developers, IT, Marketing | Prevents broken links and lost SEO by mapping every old URL to a new one. |
| Compliance & Cleanup | IT, Operations, Legal | Finds outdated or non-compliant pages before they cause problems. |
| Competitive Analysis | Sales, Marketing | Reveals hidden competitor pages—like niche landing pages or resource libraries. |
| Lead Generation | Sales, Biz Dev | Ensures no potential lead is missed by scraping every relevant page. |
| Content Inventory | Content Strategists, Web Ops | Maintains an up-to-date repository, avoids duplication, and identifies outdated or underperforming content. |
Bottom line: If you don’t know what pages you have, you’re flying blind. And in my experience, that’s when the “surprise” 404s, lost leads, or SEO headaches show up.
Manual vs. Tool-Based Methods: How People Traditionally Get List of Pages on a Website
Let’s talk about the old-school ways first. I’ve seen teams try everything from clicking every menu item to copying URLs from browser history. Here’s how the manual and tool-based approaches stack up:
Manual Methods
- Clicking through navigation: Feasible for tiny sites, but you’ll miss orphan pages and go cross-eyed after 20 clicks.
- Google
site:search: Typesite:example.cominto Google. Fast, but only shows what Google indexed (often a small slice). - Checking XML Sitemap: If the site has a sitemap (
example.com/sitemap.xml), you’ll get many URLs—but not always everything, especially orphan or hidden pages. - Browser extensions/bookmarklets: Some tools extract links from the current page, but you have to run them on every section—still pretty manual.
Pros: No special skills needed.
Cons: Tedious, incomplete, and you’ll probably miss a bunch of pages.
Tool-Based Methods
- SEO Spider Tools (e.g., Screaming Frog): Crawl every linked page and export results. Great for pros, but can be intimidating for beginners and may miss dynamic or JS-generated content.
- Web Scraping Tools (like Thunderbit): Automate the process, follow subpages, handle dynamic content, and export structured data—without code.
- Google Search Console (for your own site): Shows what Google knows, but not everything, and only works if you own the site.
- CMS Export: If you have backend access, you can sometimes export all pages—but not for competitor sites.
Pros: Much faster, more complete, and less error-prone.
Cons: Some tools have a learning curve, and aggressive scraping can risk IP blocks if you’re not careful.
| Method | Ease of Use | Coverage | Risk/Downsides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual clicking | Easy (but slow) | Low | Misses hidden/orphan pages |
Google site: search | Very easy | Low | Only indexed pages |
| XML Sitemap | Easy | Moderate | Misses unlisted pages |
| SEO Spider | Moderate | High (linked) | Setup required, can miss JS |
| Thunderbit AI Scraper | Very easy | Very high | Minimal—built for business |
Introducing Thunderbit: The Easiest Way to Get List of Pages on a Website
Now, here’s where things get fun. is a Chrome extension that acts like a super-smart, AI-powered research assistant. It’s designed for business users—no code, no technical jargon. Just install, click, and let the AI do the heavy lifting.
What makes Thunderbit different?
- AI Suggest Fields: Click one button and Thunderbit’s AI scans the page, figures out what’s important (like page titles and URLs), and sets up the extraction for you.
- Subpage Scraping: Not only does it grab links from the current page, but it can also automatically follow those links to scrape deeper levels—like categories, products, or blog posts.
- Handles Dynamic Content: Because it runs in your browser (or in the cloud), it can deal with JavaScript, infinite scroll, and “Load more” buttons.
- No-Code, Natural Language: You don’t need to write selectors or scripts. Just describe what you want, and Thunderbit figures it out.
- Export Anywhere: One click to export your results to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, CSV, or JSON.
- Beginner-Friendly: Even if you’ve never scraped a website before, you’ll be up and running in minutes.
I’ve seen users go from “I have no idea where to start” to “Here’s my spreadsheet of 500 URLs” in less time than it takes to finish a cup of coffee.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Get List of Pages on a Website Using Thunderbit
Ready to see how easy this can be? Here’s a beginner-friendly walkthrough.
Step 1: Install and Set Up Thunderbit
- Install the Thunderbit Chrome Extension from the .
- Pin the extension for easy access (click the puzzle icon in Chrome, then pin Thunderbit).
- Sign up or log in—the free tier lets you try it out right away.
That’s it. No software to download, no complicated setup.
Step 2: Use AI Suggest Fields to Identify Website Pages
- Navigate to the website you want to analyze (start at the homepage or a sitemap page).
- Click the Thunderbit icon to open the side panel.
- Click “AI Suggest Fields.” Thunderbit’s AI will scan the page and suggest columns like “Page Title” and “Page URL.”
- Review or adjust the fields if needed. Usually, the AI gets it right, but you can rename or add columns if you want.
If you want to go deeper (like grabbing all product pages from a category), just mark the URL column as “Follow Link”—Thunderbit will automatically visit each link and repeat the process.
Step 3: Scrape and Export the List of Pages
- Click “Scrape.” Thunderbit will extract all the links and titles from the current page—and, if enabled, from subpages too.
- Watch the data populate in the Thunderbit table. For large sites, this can happen in parallel (up to 50 pages at a time in cloud mode).
- Export your results with one click to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, CSV, or JSON.
Now you have a clean, structured list of every page Thunderbit found—ready for SEO audits, migrations, or whatever project you’re tackling.
Pro tip: For sites with lots of hidden or orphan pages, you can also feed Thunderbit a list of URLs (like from a sitemap or Google Search Console export) and let it scrape those directly.
Comparing Thunderbit with Other Solutions for Getting List of Pages on a Website
Let’s see how Thunderbit stacks up against other popular options:
| Tool/Method | Ease of Use | Data Completeness | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderbit AI Scraper | Very easy, no code | Very high (handles dynamic, subpages) | Marketers, sales, content teams, beginners |
| SEO Spider (Screaming Frog) | Moderate (setup required) | High (linked pages) | SEO pros, technical audits |
| Google Search Console | Moderate | High (indexed pages) | Site owners checking index coverage |
| XML Sitemap | Easy | Moderate | Quick baseline, not full coverage |
| Manual Clicking | Easy (but slow) | Low | Tiny sites only |
Thunderbit’s sweet spot is making this process accessible to anyone—not just technical folks. It’s especially handy for business users who want results fast, without a learning curve.
Staying Compliant: Legal and Ethical Considerations When Getting List of Pages on a Website
Before you go full Indiana Jones on someone’s website, let’s talk about the rules of the road.
- Respect Terms of Service: Always check if the site forbids scraping. Most public sites are fine for collecting URLs, but avoid scraping anything behind a login or marked as private.
- Stick to Public Data: Gathering public URLs and page titles is generally legal. Avoid scraping personal info or anything that looks sensitive.
- Don’t Overload Servers: Thunderbit is polite by default, but don’t try to scrape thousands of pages per second. Be a good digital citizen.
- Check robots.txt: While not legally binding, it’s good etiquette to see if the site asks bots to stay away from certain sections.
- Use Data Responsibly: Don’t use scraped data for spam or copyright infringement. If you find something sensitive, consider alerting the site owner.
For more on this, see .
Key Takeaways: Getting List of Pages on a Website Made Simple
- Knowing every page on your website is critical for SEO, redesigns, compliance, and more.
- Manual methods are slow and incomplete. Even Google and sitemaps miss a lot.
- Thunderbit makes it fast and easy for anyone to get a full, structured list of pages—no code, no headaches.
- AI-powered features like “AI Suggest Fields” and subpage scraping mean you don’t have to be technical to get great results.
- Stay compliant by respecting terms, sticking to public data, and using your new powers for good.
Want to see for yourself? and try generating a page list for your own site—or a competitor’s. I think you’ll be surprised how much you discover.
For more deep dives and practical guides, check out the .
FAQs
1. Why would I need a list of all pages on my website?
A complete page list is essential for SEO audits, website redesigns, content updates, compliance checks, and competitive research. It helps you avoid missed pages, broken links, and lost opportunities.
2. What’s the difference between navigation links and a full page list?
Navigation shows only the main sections. A full page list includes every URL—blog posts, product pages, orphan pages, and anything not linked in the menu.
3. Can Thunderbit find hidden or orphan pages?
Thunderbit can follow links, handle dynamic content, and scrape subpages. For truly orphaned pages (with no links), you can feed it a sitemap or a list from Google Search Console for even more coverage.
4. Is it legal to scrape a list of pages from a website?
Generally, yes—if you stick to public URLs and respect the site’s terms of service. Avoid scraping private, sensitive, or login-protected content, and don’t use the data for spam or copyright infringement.
5. How does Thunderbit compare to SEO crawlers or manual methods?
Thunderbit is designed for non-technical users. It’s faster, easier, and handles dynamic content better than manual methods. Compared to SEO crawlers, it’s more beginner-friendly and built for business teams who want structured data without setup hassles.
Ready to leave no page behind? Give Thunderbit a try and see how simple website audits can be.
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