Google sitelink extensions
A powerful optimisation tool for any PPC account.
Sitelinks allow you to include additional information to your Google search ads, in the form of links to specific pages. When a customer clicks on an ad they are usually taken to a main landing page or a relevant product page. Sitelinks offer multiple landing page options, increasing the click through rate and allowing the customer to get to where they want quicker (in just one click!). These extensions appear similar to callout extensions, however sitelinks are clickable.
Of course we all sometimes struggle with that 95-character space to sell our offerings, here you can add additional opportunities for ad text and calls to action. When implementing sitelinks, you can add as many as you like but Google requires a minimum of four links. Between two and six of these links will show at any one time and are rotated according to the relevancy of the search term. The more you provide, the more variation your ad will have!
It is not guaranteed that sitelinks will always appear for every search result, they are most likely to appear for unique search terms with higher quality scores. Don’t be disheartened by this, remember, advertisers who take advantage of sitelinks have seen their CTR improve by 30% on average.
“Will sitelink extensions benefit my business?”
Yes. In conclusion, you can immediately navigate customers to popular or high-converting sections of your website, often taking them on a conversion path more appropriate for them – voilà!
- The additional information offers competitive advantage and adds to your quality score.
- Helps to increase trust and establish brand reputation.
- Shortens the conversion funnel, increasing the likelihood of a conversion.
- Helps the strength of internal pages.
Adding sitelink extensions:
Account level
If you are implementing sitelinks at account level, you may want to consider links to more generic pages including a shop locator page, delivery information or current promotions. For example;
Campaign level
Typically, campaign level would represent a section of products or a brand. You may still want to include some of the above links such as the delivery information page but you may also want to be more specific to the product or brand. For example;
Ad group level
If your business has the capacity to implement sitelinks at ad group level, you may want to include links to similar or complimentary pages that are more relevant to the ad group they are part of. For example;
What’s the policy?
- The link text for each link must be 25 characters or less.
- The link must directly relate to the content of the ad – make them relevant.
- You cannot use the same name for each site link, even if they have different landing pages – make them unique and varied.
- No unnecessary punctuation or symbols are allowed, including exclamation marks and emotions!
- You can’t use the keyword insertion feature within your link text.
- Any trademarks used must adhere to the trademark policy.
Not yet covered a Google ad extension you want to know more about? Don’t worry we’re working on it! To find out what this series will entail, check out my introduction to ad extensions.
