This post is part of the Friday Q&A section. Just use the contact form if you want to submit a question.
Kang Yudiono asks:
I am very happy because my blog got Google Sitelinks. For your information, the blog is 5 months old and written in Indonesian laguage.
My question: what is the benefits of sitelinks for a blog?
First things first, what are the Google sitelinks? They are those links that appear below the first result when you search for the name of a website or blog. Google implemented the sitelinks to help users find the information or section inside a particular website more easily. That is what the links only appear when you search for the exact name of a website, because those are considered “navigational queries.” Here is a screenshot of the sitelinks for Daily Blog Tips:
One could say that the sitelinks are nothing more than shortcuts in the search results to help users navigate to a website more efficiently.
The next question is how you can get sitelinks for your website or blog. Unfortunately there is no switch that you need to turn on to enable sitelinks for your site. Google handles sitelinks automatically through an algorithm, and usually you get sitelinks when your website is perceived as an authority. Practically speaking, this means that your website needs to have a good amount of backlinks, people searching for its name on Google and so on.
Personally I have never worried too much about sitelinks on my new websites. If you keep publishing quality content and promoting it, eventually you will get the sitelinks.
The last question is: what are the benefits of having Google sitelinks? I believe there are two, one tangible and one intangible. The tangible benefit is an increase in traffic for your website, because the sitelinks will give you more exposure in the search results, increasing the CTR you will get on search queries.
The intangible benefit is the credibility that you get from having sitelinks. Only established and authority sites have sitelinks, so when users come across them after searching for the name of your website or blog they will get a reassurance from Google itself that your content or products must be good.
