Sitelinks.
Sitelinks are additional links to subpages that Google shows below a search result, mostly for searches for a company or brand name. There are organic sitelinks, which Google selects itself, and sitelink assets in Google Ads, which the advertiser defines. Both make the result larger and take searchers straight to the page they want.
Sitelinks — Explained in Detail
When you search Google for a well-known company, you often see not just one blue link but several more beneath it: 'Contact', 'Prices', 'Careers', 'Login'. These additional links are called sitelinks. They are one of the SERP features, the elements with which Google extends a search result beyond the standard. Sitelinks appear mainly for brand searches, because Google assumes the person wants a particular website and is only looking for the right section.
Organic sitelinks cannot be set directly. Google selects them automatically and only shows them when it considers them useful. Search Console used to offer a way to demote individual sitelinks; that feature no longer exists. What remains is indirect influence: a clear page structure, understandable main navigation, meaningful page titles and clean internal linking help Google recognise which subpages matter most to visitors.
In Google Ads, by contrast, sitelinks are a tool you control. As a sitelink asset, formerly called a sitelink extension, the advertiser adds extra links with their own text and optional description lines, such as 'Request a quote', 'References' or 'Emergency service'. Google decides in each auction whether and how many of them to show. They make the ad larger and give searchers several entry points instead of one.
In both cases, sitelinks only work if the target pages deliver what the link promises. A 'Prices' sitelink that leads to a page without prices costs trust. It is equally important that the target pages are technically sound: indexable, fast and free of soft 404s.
Encouraging organic sitelinks
Google builds sitelinks from what it knows about a website's structure. What helps, therefore, is a small number of clearly named main sections linked from every page, unique title tags for each page and breadcrumb navigation that shows the hierarchy. Pages with nearly identical titles or duplicate content make it hard for Google to choose meaningful sitelinks.
There is no guarantee, and on small websites sitelinks sometimes only appear once brand searches increase. How we build structure and navigation for this is shown in our SEO optimisation in Zurich; for existing websites, a website audit helps find structural problems.
Example: a dental practice's sitelinks
A typical case, described as an example: a dental practice in Winterthur notices that, when people search for its name, Google shows sitelinks such as 'Privacy' and 'Imprint', while the 'Emergency' page is missing. The cause: the emergency page can only be reached through a submenu and has the title 'Page 7'.
The practice gives the page a clear title, links it in the main navigation and the footer, and adds the same targets as sitelink assets in its Google Ads campaign. The paid sitelinks can be controlled immediately; the organic ones change once Google reassesses the structure. Setting up such assets is part of our work as a Google Ads agency in Zurich.
Related Page
SERP FeaturesFrequently Asked Questions About Sitelinks
No. Google selects organic sitelinks automatically. You can only influence them indirectly through clear navigation, unique page titles and good internal linking. Search Console no longer offers a feature for removing individual sitelinks.
Common reasons are too few brand searches, an unclear page structure or very similar page titles. For generic queries, sitelinks rarely appear anyway. First check whether your website ranks first when people search for your own name.
Adding sitelink assets costs nothing extra. As with the ad itself, you pay per click, whether on the main headline or on a sitelink. Because sitelinks make the ad larger, they often improve the click-through rate.
More Terms Starting with "S"
Schema Markup
Schema Markup (Schema.org) is a semantic vocabulary for structuring website content. It helps Google...
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) encompasses all measures to make a website more visible in the orga...
Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
Server-Side Rendering (SSR) means that HTML pages are generated on the server and sent fully rendere...
Ready for Your Project?
Apply this knowledge to your website — DLM Digital will help you.