What AdWords Sitelinks Look Like, and Why They’re Important

There are 10 different types of “ad extensions” that are available within Google AdWords, and I wanted to share this quick post to highlight what the first (and for most advertisers, the most important) type of ad extensions looks like in practice: in the screenshot below, you’ll see exactly what sitelinks look like when you search for the keyword “red cross giving” for the American Red Cross.

As you can see, this query triggers an ad with a normal looking headline, as well as four additional links highlighted in blue beneath the ad itself.  You cans see that in terms of space on the page, the sitelinks take up 2x as much space as the ordinary ad itself.  If the Red Cross did NOT use sitelinks, then it is possible that their competitors would be “above the fold” when someone searched for “Red Cross Giving,” and the competitors would have a chance to steal some of that great branded traffic.

Furthermore, the sitelinks serve a solid purpose: they allow you to give more options to a searcher.  If someone looks for “red cross giving,” then you can probably assume that most people would have the intention to make a donation to the Red Cross, BUT you would have no idea whether they wanted to “give blood” or “give money.”  With sitelinks, you are able to have both options available conveniently underneath the ad.

Many keywords are ambiguous by nature (just like “red cross giving,” and so it’s great to make your ads bigger in order to provide more options to your visitors.

In any case, I started this post with the intention of simply sharing a screenshot so you can see exactly what sitelinks look like on a Google SERP, and got carried away in my explanation, but I hope you’re now motivated to make sure that all of your ads are utilizing them in order to give you better positioning vis-a-vis your competitors, as well as to provide more options for your searchers.

Will Marlow is a search engine marketing consultant who loves helping high growth companies optimize and improve their PPC results: and he holds seven certifications: Google AdWords Search, Display, Mobile, Shopping, and Video Certification, Google Analytics Certification, as well as certification as a Bing Ads Accredited Professional.