When it comes to creating the best web footprint possible for a business, Google sitelinks can really help. But there’s a lot of confusion over this simple Google feature.
At WebSubstance, we help clients to institute or work toward simple additions like Google sitelinks to boost readership, increase page views, and generally direct more business to the website. This is important in an environment where online commerce often represents the lion’s share of total business for a particular company. It’s how you beat the competition – and details make a difference.
What Are Google Sitelinks?
Google sitelinks show up in individual SERP pages when you do a Google search. Here’s an example
The idea is that a standard Google search result has one title line and then several lines of plain text underneath. There’s a URL and then a summary, and then maybe some keywords at the bottom.
However, with sitelinks, things work a little bit differently.
When you see an SERP result with sitelinks, you see smaller subheadings under the URL. They may contain words like “hours” – “prices” – or “additional features” – and they generally link to pages that give you direct information about a company that has set up the domain. Sitelinks can provide very specific information that a visitor is seeking by directly linking most relevant page, that results in better brane engagement and conversion.
Here’s another very useful piece of information about sitelinks – you can’t just add them on your own. They’re actually added by Google through its own automated algorithms. Google’s algorithms have really changed over the last few years as the company figures out how to reward quality and excellence online. In other words, instead of trying to game the system, companies benefit from creating rich content that convinces Google that their sites are worth promoting in a special way.
Because there’s so much confusion about sitelinks as a privileged feature, people also frequently don’t know what to call these features when they see them.
Some refer to them as “browser extensions,” with the idea that they extend the SERP that you view in your browser. However, that’s wrong. A browser extension is an add-on for browser functionality. Some people also wrongly refer to them as “rich snippets,” the types of things that also end up under the URL such as a series of stars for an online rating system.
Again, sitelinks are different – they’re a kind of reward from Google for setting up a website that’s ahead of the curve. And they do pay off – in terms of user experience. They are especially useful wherever someone may use a laptop or desktop interface to access a site instead of a smartphone.
If you want more visibility for your site, talk to WebSubstance. Our content, UX and technology professionals will help you create a comprehensive plan to make your website the best it can be. We help our clients to rise to the top of the pack.
