Sitelinks Update

There has been a recent update to Google’s sitelinks. Previously, sitelinks only showed up for the first search result and the sitelinks were listed in two columns. Now, Google is showing sitelinks beyond the first result. In addition, you will notice that instead of the two columns of sitelinks, you will see up to four sitelinks above the URL creating just one line.

Google is creating these one-line sitelinks in an attempt to provide site owners with even more traffic and visibility. Below you will find a screen shot of the search results for the keyword pizza. (Please click on the image for a larger view.)

What are Sitelinks?

Have you ever wondered why when you type a search query into Google you sometimes see additional links under the first search result? These are called sitelinks and they are automatically generated by Google to help users navigate on your site and find what they are looking for fast! These links are pulled based on the content and relevancy of your pages. Google finds these pages to be beneficial for its users.

For example, when you type in “Getupdated” into Google’s search box, you see the following sitelinks:

If your site is generating sitelinks and you do not wish to showcase some of those pages, you can block certain pages of your site in your Google Webmaster account. Simply login and go to “Links”, then click “Sitelinks” and follow the necessary steps to block a page.

If your site does not appear to have any sitelinks, make sure that your site is SEO friendly and that Google’s algorithm will not have any trouble finding relevant pages to use as sitelinks.