Google AdWords Sitelinks: Taking even more control of the Search Engine Results Page

On Tuesday this week Google released a new feature on their AdWords system called ‘Sitelinks’.

What are they?

Sitelinks are additional links that you can place into your AdWords creative that take visitors to other pages on your website. Whilst the headline continues to link through to the main destination page that you set at a keyword or creative level, Sitelinks send users to alternative pages that might also be relevant.

This is what it looks like:

Better user experience

The idea behind Sitelinks, as per usual with Google, is to create a better experience for the user. They have recognised that when searching for a company or a product, there are many alternative bits of information on your website that users might be looking for. By introducing Sitelinks they have made it easier for the user to navigate directly to the most relevant content.

It’s mostly about Brand searches

Google reckons that Sitelinks are going to be most relevant when it comes to brand searches. Whilst brand searches are a clear indication of the intended destination of the user, beyond that the user intention is a bit vague. Google knows that you want to find the website for company X, but it doesn’t know why. And it doesn’t know which page will be the most relevant. Sitelinks let users choose the most relevant page for them

Why this is good for AdWords advertisers

Better user experience is good for advertisers too!
To start with, there’s the reason above, Google’s stated intention. By introducing additional links into your advert you make the user work less, and take them directly to the right page on your website. The easier their life, the fewer clicks they’re forced to make, and the more likely they will be to become a customer of yours

Owning the Search Engine Results Page
As discussed previously, the search engine results page is an important piece of real estate for you to take ownership of. AdWords creatives that contain Sitelinks are twice the size of normal AdWords creative, and therefore use up twice the amount of space. As such they are much more likely to be read and clicked on by users. This pushes other results down the page and lets you own the users eye-time with your creative message.

Giving depth and colour to your service
It’s difficult to sum up your company in 95 characters, which is all you get in a normal AdWords creative. You have to make a judgment about the reason that people are searching for you, and hit them with a message that fits that. In reality, people will search for you for many different reasons. Some might want product A, other might want B. Some might want to read your blog and others of course will be looking for your contact details. By placing all these links in your AdWords creative you can showcase a lot more to the searcher before they even get to your website.

The Holy Grail
This is where I reckon that Sitelinks will transform a good campaign into a slamming campaign. Only certain campaigns are eligible for Sitelinks. These typically have the highest quality scores, and are often brand campaigns.

However, if you are able to add Sitelinks to a generic campaign, then something quite magical can happen. When users who are searching for a non-branded product or service see your Sitelinks enabled ad in position no.1, the chances that it will be clicked are significantly higher than a normal advert. This will drive Click Through Rate through the roof, and mean that you can afford to reduce your bids on that keyword. So you get more traffic for a lower cost. And you take ownership of the SERPs for a generic product. AdWords heaven!

You can add Sitelinks from the Settings page of your campaign, under ad extensions.

Tried Sitelinks? Share your experience below.