Google sitelinks? What are they and how do I get them?

I am sure you have noticed that when you run a search on Google that sometimes the site you pull up has links below the site you searched on.  For example, when you search Google for Tycoon Blogger, you will see 6 site links below the main site link in the results.

Tycoon Blogger gets sitelinks

Tycoon Blogger gets sitelinks

I noticed this yesterday and I think this was the first time that sitelinks appeared for my blog.  I am very excited about this as it is a major blogging achievement.  I read that this is not usually achieved until at least 18 months into blogging or some bloggers never at all.

According to Google, sitelinks are used to help users navigate your site.  They are basically created automatically from the Google algorithm and provides a shortcut to the information that people search for most often.

Just like everything with Google, there is a great deal of mystery surrounding sitelinks.  No one really knows what it is based on or how to achieve it.  I think it is strange that out of my 6 sitelinks, 4 are actually months of my archives and there are really only real site links.  One links to my Promote Your Blog category and the other links to an article I wrote on how to improve your Alexa ranking.

[stextbox id="alert"]How do I get sitelinks?[/stextbox]

The short answer is, I have no idea!  I do not think anyone really knows for sure.  What I do know is that if you keep creating quality content on a regular basis and focus on blog promotion through link building, you are sure to get Google’s attention and get rewarded with sitelinks.

[stextbox id="alert"]Who cares about sitelinks?[/stextbox]

I know there a certain percentage of bloggers that will say who cares about sitelinks.  The reality is when you get Google sitelinks, Google is recognizing your blog as an authority and a destination for quality information.  If Google puts you in that category than certainly other bloggers and advertisers will follow suit.  Also it would stand to reason that sitelinks will ultimately lead to more search traffic which in turn will help you make money with your blog .

Have you achieved this blogging milestone yet?

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This post was written by Dan Keller who has written 283 posts on Tycoon Blogger.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Go ahead and leave a comment below (they are dofollow). Let's follow each other on Twitter, my username is @TycoonBlogger

45 Responses to “Google sitelinks? What are they and how do I get them?”

  1. Dragon Blogger 01. Feb, 2010 at 9:10 pm #

    I have sitelinks under dragonblogger.com but I hate the sitelinks that were chosen, they make no sense at all why they were chosen, one is a page and most are keywords or tags.

    This is why you should always make sure that crawlers can’t access your /tag and /category URI’s I think.

    • dankeller 01. Feb, 2010 at 9:19 pm #

      @Dragon Blogger, I think you are right. I am very confused as well…still happy , but confused indeed.

  2. gautam hans 01. Feb, 2010 at 11:13 pm #

    I got myself a sitelink. There is no reason behind it, but it happens when your website gets a decent amount of information
    .-= gautam hans´s last blog ..How to boost your pageviews =-.

  3. Dana @ Blogging Update 02. Feb, 2010 at 1:17 am #

    I think it is not worthy to try find out how to get sitelink. If you are blogger, just do your blogging — post, post, and post the quality content.

    Btw, congrats friend.
    .-= Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..Easy Way to Put Social Media Button in Blog =-.

  4. Lee Ka Hoong@How To Blog 02. Feb, 2010 at 1:57 am #

    I do have google sitelinks for my blog as well, I kinda like the sitelinks, Google lists “WordPress Themes, Plugin, SEO Tips,
    Internet Marketing, Article Marketing, Free Resources, Making Money Online from Blogging”.

    I don’t get excited because of this because I don’t find it really useful, but it’s better than nothing, as you said, Google recognizes our blog as an authority. :)

    Congrats Dan!

    Cheers,
    Lee

  5. file recovery 02. Feb, 2010 at 5:36 am #

    Very Useful information for all seo guys who are targeting his keyword for google

  6. stellar data recovery 02. Feb, 2010 at 6:14 am #

    “According to Google, site links are used to help users navigate your site. They are basically created automatically from the Google algorithm and provides a shortcut to the information that people search for most often. ” this is the reason that google changed his alogrithm and give facility to visitors to go direct what they are searching.

  7. Keith@ Hot Blog Tips 02. Feb, 2010 at 7:24 am #

    I think it is great you have sitelinks, it completely up to google when this happens as far as I know. *jealous*
    .-= Keith@ Hot Blog Tips´s last blog ..Does Your Blog Stand Out? =-.

  8. Karen @ Blazing Minds 02. Feb, 2010 at 7:29 am #

    I did have sitelinks then they went away :( I’m hoping that they will re-appear sooner or later..
    .-= Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..Review: Bosch Tassimo Drinks Made Easy and Quick! =-.

  9. Rachael@Valentine Gifts For Him 02. Feb, 2010 at 12:16 pm #

    Congratulations! I guess while the site links Google has chosen might not be the best or most logical, but like you say it’s the fact that Google has deemed you important and reliable enough to recognise that matters. Also, when you do a search on Google and you see one site with a bunch of sitelinks below it, you know it is a big authority site and you are also more likely to click on it because you take up more space on the Google page. So congrats!
    .-= Rachael@Valentine Gifts For Him´s last blog ..About =-.

  10. Kai Lo 02. Feb, 2010 at 3:04 pm #

    You get sitelinks when Google determines that you have authority over the term “Tycoon Blogger”. If lots of people are competing for that keyword “Tycoon Blogger”, then you won’t get sitelinks, for example, “Make Money Online” and “SEO Services”.

    -Kai Lo
    Twitter @lomak1985

    • dankeller 02. Feb, 2010 at 6:49 pm #

      @Kai Lo, That sort of make sense but I would think it is based on your domain name not the keywords you are targeting.

  11. lawmacs 02. Feb, 2010 at 4:24 pm #

    like others i never take much notice of these links but i agree with you that this good means google takes notice of your website and found it of interest
    .-= lawmacs´s last blog ..Write For Readers And Design For Bots =-.

  12. mk akan 02. Feb, 2010 at 5:55 pm #

    congrats man…
    haven’t got mine yet..hope it pops out soon
    .-= mk akan´s last blog ..Business Idea from the Problem Of Guest Posting =-.

  13. Rose 02. Feb, 2010 at 6:51 pm #

    Congrats! You are correct. You normally get sitelinks when your site is perceived as an authority.

  14. element321 02. Feb, 2010 at 9:03 pm #

    Dan,

    Great post, I had wondered how you got the extra links under your site from Google. I do not care really I have them or not I was just interested in knowing so I could explain to clients and follow webmasters.

    My question is how do I turn off dofollow on /tag and /category URI’s?
    .-= element321´s last blog ..Blogging Tips # 2 – Blogging Advice from a Pro =-.

  15. lenovo australia 03. Feb, 2010 at 3:21 am #

    As for the time period – we have a website which has sitelinks and it’s just just over a year old. The sitelinks appeared only recently though. And google is doing a very good job on detecting them. I suppose subdomain division of several parts helped – as one part of the website grew a lot, we dedicated a separate subdomain for it.
    .-= lenovo australia´s last blog ..Lenovo Coupons =-.

  16. Tinh 03. Feb, 2010 at 5:22 am #

    My personal experience is that you should drive as much traffic as possible to curtain pages/posts and Google will credit it. Once you blog has 3 popular posts or pages outside of homepage, you will get sitelinks on SERPs. My tactics is to use Comment Redirect plugin that helps redirect all first time commentators to a curtain page and change oce you get enough traffic for that page to another and you will get sitelinks sooner. Hope it works for you guys
    .-= Tinh´s last blog ..Google Nexus One Now with Multitouch Features =-.

    • dankeller 03. Feb, 2010 at 7:38 pm #

      @Tinh, Thanks so much for the tip! I never even heard of that plugin before but it makes sense and I will check it out..

  17. Dennis Edell 03. Feb, 2010 at 10:16 am #

    GREAT job Dan, and who cares why or how! Some find them useful.

    I use those links all the time if it’s showing what I need; ex: very handy when I go searching just for a download and the download link is among the site links.
    .-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Welcome Aboard Part 2! All The Info You’ve Been Waiting For… =-.

  18. Jonathan @ FREE PLR Products 03. Feb, 2010 at 2:56 pm #

    Congrats. No site links for me yet. You would think that since Google wants to create a great user experience that they would let us choose which pages to use as site links. But of course they know best. ;)
    .-= Jonathan @ FREE PLR Products´s last blog ..11 Free WordPress Themes =-.

  19. Matt@North Atlanta Homes 03. Feb, 2010 at 3:27 pm #

    Haven’t achieved it on my blog, but have on my website.
    .-= Matt@North Atlanta Homes´s last blog ..The Perfect Storm for Home-Buyers =-.

  20. Kim@Maternity Tights 03. Feb, 2010 at 4:52 pm #

    Hey! Thanks for blogging about this, I have been wondering the same thing myself, how to get them etc…sounds like just keeping what you’re doing is the answer, huh? Congrats on your links!
    .-= Kim@Maternity Tights´s last blog ..Plus Size Maternity Clothes =-.

  21. Colin@Prevent Sweating 03. Feb, 2010 at 5:26 pm #

    I also haven’t achieved the site links on my blog.

    Thanks for the information as I was completely in the dark as how these were achieved

    Colin
    .-= Colin@Prevent Sweating´s last blog ..resources =-.

  22. JR 03. Feb, 2010 at 6:03 pm #

    Congrats on this! Sitelinks are one of the best reflections of the authority that Google places on your site and is definitely a big mark of success.
    .-= JR´s last blog ..19 Social Web 2.0 Sites To Promote Internet Marketing, Blogging, Make Money Online Content =-.

  23. Chef Shoes 04. Feb, 2010 at 12:58 am #

    Thanks for blogging about this, I guess while the site links Google has chosen might not be the best or most logical, but like you say it’s the fact that Google has deemed you important and reliable enough to recognise that matters

  24. self improvement resources 04. Feb, 2010 at 7:31 am #

    what rank on alexa do I need to get sitelinks for my google listing? How do I get sitelinks?

  25. acai berry 05. Feb, 2010 at 9:40 am #

    I got myself a site link. There is no reason behind it, but it happens when your website gets a decent amount of information I have been wondering the same thing myself, how to get them etc…sounds like just keeping what you’re doing is the answer, huh? Congrats on your links!

  26. rheeantz 05. Feb, 2010 at 3:55 pm #

    Very informative blog, i’ve got to learn english much more so i can have many SEO tips and technique from this blog…
    .-= rheeantz´s last blog ..Mengecek Rangking Halaman web / blog ( SERP’s Checker) =-.

  27. Trish 06. Feb, 2010 at 7:05 am #

    For those of you who have sitelinks, have you noted any increase in traffic since getting them?

    Trish
    http://www.yourhomebusinessroadmap.com
    .-= Trish´s last blog ..Entrepreneurial Traits – Start Thinking On A Bigger Scale =-.

  28. sydney wedding venues 08. Feb, 2010 at 5:28 am #

    It will ask you questions about the height and width of the ads and whether picture is included or not. Then it will generate a script for you.

  29. sydney wedding venues 10. Feb, 2010 at 3:55 am #

    Getting sitelinks. You get sitelinks when you’ve built trust and authority in your industry, and when Google believes that showing sitelinks will add value to searchers.

  30. self improvement resources 10. Feb, 2010 at 9:24 am #

    You can read this post on how to submit your blog or sitemap to Google, Yahoo, LIve and other search engines to tell them the structure of your website to crawl.

  31. Lena & Dima@starting online business 10. Feb, 2010 at 11:14 am #

    Hi Dan,

    Does anybody know: will having sitelinks give you any benefits in your blog ranking from Google “point of view”?

    Thanks.
    .-= Lena & Dima@starting online business´s last blog ..You Learned How To Host A Website, Now Learn How To Use A Blog! =-.

  32. Corona Homes For Sale 13. Feb, 2010 at 11:38 pm #

    Yeah who cares if you don’t know how it happen, it happened. You must be doing something right and Google recognized it and rewarded you site.

  33. share trading strategy 16. Feb, 2010 at 2:18 am #

    You can’t control when you get sitelinks. It’s completely automated. But once you do get sitelinks, you can use Google Webmaster Tools to remove certain links from showing up as sitelinks.

  34. Free Logo Design 16. Feb, 2010 at 5:49 am #

    what rank on alexa do I need to get sitelinks for my google listing? How do I get sitelinks?

  35. Trevor@Earn Money Now 17. Feb, 2010 at 10:22 am #

    I don’t have any site links yet for my blogs but, maybe one day.

    I am not to sure, just like most people here, what exactly they are good for but, I guess any added benefit that Google gives us is great.

  36. sydney wedding venues 18. Feb, 2010 at 2:18 am #

    Your Alexa rank has nothing to do with getting sitelinks. You get sitelinks when you’ve built trust and authority in your industry, and when Google believes that showing sitelinks will add value to searchers.

  37. Shopping cart website 22. Feb, 2010 at 6:19 am #

    I think few critical to gain google sitelinks are:
    1. If the site ranks first for the keyword that generate the Sitelinks listing
    2. Number of inbound links from high quality sites
    3. Fairly high natural search traffic
    4. Easily spiderable, structured navigation labels
    5. Useful outbound links
    6. Age of the domain

  38. dell laptops 03. Mar, 2010 at 3:27 am #

    Sitelinks are given at the discretion of Google and cannot be applied for.

    Once you get them, you can to a small degree control which of your links are shown. This is done in your Google Webmasters Tools, where you can tell Google not to list certain pages in your sitelinks. Unfortunately, you cannot at this point specify which pages you wish they would include.
    .-= dell laptops´s last blog ..LAPTOP COMPUTER SPECIALS March 2010 =-.

  39. dell computers 04. Mar, 2010 at 2:20 am #

    I see that this site has some advantages:
    I can have some information with useful advice on site links and I mysefl will do it for ny home page once day.
    .-= dell computers´s last blog ..Dell Computer Coupons =-.

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