Compatibility:

WebSite X5 Pro since version 2020.2

When you google a band, you are likely to see two, four or six internal links with a specific description reported under the first SERP result. These are the Google  Sitelinks and they look like this:


 

Sitelinks are useful because they help visitors directly access the wished section skipping the home page: they improve the website browsing experience as the visitors get what they want with fewer clicks.


Moreover, some websites also report their own Search box within the Sitelinks, so that the visitors can perform a search directly on the SERP.


 

The importance of Sitelinks

There are four main factors we can mention to highlight the importance of Sitelinks:

  • They improve the click-through rate (CTR)

Sitelinks occupy more space on the SERP than the other results, and they allow a more direct access to the most popular pages, so they are more likely to drag the users' attention and bring more clicks. In this way, they improve the CTR and consequently bring more organic traffic on the website. 

  • They inspire trust and credibility

Sitelinks aren't provided for all websites: Google reports them only for those which it considers useful for the users. This gives a sense on exclusivity and as a consequence websites for which Sitelinks are reported are usually considered as more reliable.  

  • They improve the brand/ product awareness

The pages reported by Google in the Sitelinks are usually the product pages with prices, the "About" page and the Blog. Thanks to the Sitelinks, users can then understand what a website offers even before entering it.

  • They allow a better browsing experience on the website pages.

Sitelinks report the most popular pages of a website and bring traffic on those pages rather than on the home page. In this way, the users have the chance of better exploring the contents.


How to get Sitelinks

Sitelinks and Search Box can't be simply activated or requested: Google itself decides whether to display them if the website is well-structured and authoritative for a query. 


Still, there are some good practices to improve the probability of getting Sitelinks:

  • Give a unique name to your website

Sitelinks are usually reported for brand queries: having a unique, non-generic name will then improve your ranking. 

  • Define a solid navigation structure

Websites with complicated structures aren't easy to be scanned by Google or browsed by users. Make sure the home page is the focal point where all the other pages start from: organize  homogeneous categories and sub-categories and don't forget about the "standard" pages, such as "About", "Contacts" and "Products/Services". 

  • Add a Sitemap.xml

The  Sitemap.xml helps Google understand and scan the website and therefore determine the most important pages.

  • Use relevant page titles

If you give your pages relevant names, you can improve your general SEO and help Google choose the Sitelinks.

  • Create internal links

The more internal links bring to a specific website page, the more it will be important for Google, which will then decide whether to report it as a Sitelink.


Sitelink, Search box and structured data

A part from the visual strategies reported in the previous paragraph, another way of suggesting Google which pages should be taken into consideration for the Sitelinks is using structured data.


Even then, it isn't possible to assure that Google will then show the Sitelinks and the Search box, but it is indeed a good way of improving the chances in this sense. 


In WebSite X5

In WebSite X5, you have all the necessary tools to adequately structure your website: you can define your sitemap and organize the pages in levels and sub-levels on Step 3- Sitemap (see: How to create the website Map).


You can also connect the  Sitemap. xml (see: How to work with the sitemap.xml file of the website), define the page titles (see: How to manually set Tag Title and Description for a page), and report the necessary internal links (see: How to create a link).


As far as structured data are concerned, on the other hand, you don't have to do anything special: WebSite X5 in fact automatically gets the necessary details to manage them reporting the Search box markup if you added a Search Object in the project. Just make sure the Add structured data  option is active on Step 1 > Website Settings > SEO > Structured Data.