Of the many functions available to us in Google Ads, one of my favorites is sitelinks.
Sitelinks are fantastic because they’re so effective and versatile.
Whether you want to promote low search volume themes, push lagging products out the door, maximize hot sellers, highlight certain product categories, answer common questions, or handle a PR problem – sitelinks can do it all.
But lately, I’ve been seeing more and more instances where advertisers are using sitelinks incorrectly – and they’re missing valuable opportunities.
Sitelink Rules
If you want to get the most out of your sitelinks, you need to think carefully.
To help you with that, I’m going to lay out a few sitelink “rules.”
1. Get Clear on Your Objectives
Before you start, you need to think about your goals.
- What are you trying to achieve with this ad?
- Are you advertising products or services?
- Will the ad display as the result of a search on branded or non-branded keywords?
Your answers to these questions will help determine which types of sitelinks you should use.
2. Use Sitelinks as Part of Your Larger Strategy
Don’t think of your sitelinks in isolation.
You should also consider the accompanying ad, landing page, and other extensions.
Make sure they all work together in service to your overarching strategy.
3. Use a Mix of Sitelinks
Sitelinks can serve multiple purposes, so make sure you’re using a variety.
For example, you don’t want to use every sitelink on an ad to promote on-sale products. Instead, use a mix.
One could promote an on-sale product, one could generate leads, one could highlight a new product category and one could direct prospective clients to useful information.
4. Create Landing Pages for Your Sitelinks
Ideally, you want to send users to landing pages that tightly correlate with your sitelink instead of just a regular page on your website.
