29th May, 2024
4min Read
Author: Hannah
Sitelinks appear under your Google listing and are designed to provide extra information and help users navigate your website more easily.
For example, sitelinks for a cafe could include Menu, Order Now, Store Locator and App.
Unfortunately, you can’t simply switch sitelinks on or off or even choose which pages appear under your listing. Instead, Google determines whether to display sitelinks and which pages to highlight based on your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings and other factors that affect its algorithms.
However, there are strategies that can increase the chances of Google displaying sitelinks for your website. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of sitelinks and share our top tips for maximising your chances of gaining these valuable SERP features.
What are the benefits of sitelinks?
Sitelinks are valuable for both you and your target audience for several reasons.
Increase traffic to your website.
Google listings with sitelinks take up space on the search engine results page (SERP). They help your business to stand out and attract visitors to your website.
Improve click-through rate (CTR)
By offering multiple options directly from the search page, sitelinks can attract more clicks, leading to a higher overall click-through rate.
Streamline user journey
Sitelinks enable users to access important pages directly without going through your website or performing additional Google searches. This streamlines the user journey, helping to move people along the sales funnel faster and increasing the likelihood of conversions.
Build trust
Earning sitelinks indicates that Google considers your website trustworthy and deems the linked pages useful for users. Google says it will “only show sitelinks for results when [it thinks] they’ll be helpful to the user.”
How to Get Sitelinks
As we’ve discussed, Google decides whether or not sitelinks appear. As a website owner, you can’t control this, but you can follow some best practices to influence their chance of appearing.
Structure your website.
Google won’t grant you sitelinks if your website lacks structure. Having a well-organised website not only helps visitors find what they need but also helps Google find and index your pages.
A clear navigation system, mobile-friendly design, consistent layout and accessible content are all features of a well-structured website. Without these, Google might struggle to determine whether or not to display sitelinks for a given query.
Add internal links.
Internal links are links that connect different pages within the same website. They help users navigate between pages and play a key role in helping search engines understand your site’s structure.
Internal links can influence the appearance of sitelinks, so make sure you link to top-level pages like ‘about’ and ‘services’ as well as pages containing calls-to-action, like ‘product’ pages.
Ensure anchor text is concise and relevant.
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It helps Google (and users) understand the link’s topic or destination.
It’s important to use concise and relevant anchor text to maximise your chances of getting sitelinks. Although this is not a guaranteed way to get pages to appear as sitelinks, it can certainly help!
For example, ‘For more SEO top tips, why not check out our other amazing articles?’ This is better than writing, ‘For more SEO top tips, click here’ or ‘For more SEO top tips, visit https://puddle.agency/journal/.’
Write descriptive title tags.
A title tag is an HTML code tag that appears in the browser’s title bar and on the SERP as a clickable link. Google uses it to understand what your page is about and if it’s relevant to certain search queries.
The title tag should contain around 50-60 characters, describe the content of the page, and include relevant keywords that could help with your website’s overall SEO.
For example, ’10 Luxury Hotels in Rome to Book for Summer 2024.’ This is a good title tag because it contains a number (10), which grabs attention; a year (2024), which proves it’s fresh and relevant; and keywords (‘Luxury Hotels in Rome’), which helps with rankings.
Push for the top spot!
Because Google often generates sitelinks for top-ranking brand searches, securing the top spot for your company name, product names, or other relevant keywords is the most likely way to get sitelinks.
There are plenty of strategies you can use to boost your rankings, some of which we have covered above:
- Structuring your website
- Adding internal links
- Refining anchor text
- Writing descriptive title tags.
Other strategies include:
- Adding alt tags to images
- Ensuring every page has keyword-rich, high-quality content
- Optimising loading speeds and overall website performance
- Leveraging social media
For expert advice on SEO best practices, including how to achieve site links, speak to Puddle by calling us at +44(0)113 85619330 or emailing [email protected]
