Extended sitelinks for search are a great way to show customers more information about your business. Since A/B testing isn’t currently possible, optimizing and maintaining successful sitelinks can be a little more of a challenge. I have a few tips for getting the most out of your extended sitelinks.
Take Advantage of The Space
It might sound obvious, but there’s still accounts out there that only have a 25-character or less headline and are not utilizing the extended lines of text. With two lines of 35-character text below, it’s basically another ad space. Some older accounts may have created their sitelinks before the extended portion was implemented and haven’t updated them since. When taking on a new account, it’s good to check and see if extended sitelinks are in place. Otherwise you’re just giving up your space!
Reporting
The stats you see in the ad extensions tabs in AdWords and Bing Ads don’t always show the full performance picture with your sitelinks. Because of this, you want to make sure you’re pulling the reports that show you an in-depth look.
These specialized reports for AdWords can be found by going to the ad extensions tab and clicking the Segment tab dropdown.
- AdWords’ Click Type Report – this report shows whether the headline of your ad or the sitelink itself was clicked. This is helpful so you can figure out what sitelinks are working, what headlines are working, and where there’s room to improve.
- AdWords’ This Extension vs. Other – This breaks down the ad by one specific extension versus the other parts of the ad. This could include impressions and clicks on other sitelinks or other extensions that were also served.
Specialized reports for Bing Ads can be found by going to the Reports tab and clicking the Report Type dropdown.
- Bing Ads’ Ad Extension by Ad Report – This report is similar to Google’s Click Type report. It shows whether the click was to the ad headline, the sitelink or another portion such as a call extension.
- Bing Ads’ Ad Extension by Keyword Report – This report shows what keyword was in play when a click went to the ad title headline, a sitelink or a another extension.
Choosing the Right Pages
Make sure you’re linking to pages that are applicable to your audience and also high-converting. For example, the About Us page might be useful for your brand campaign, but not as great for other campaigns because the audience isn’t as familiar with your company. Remember that sitelinks can be easily swapped out if they’re not performing, so don’t be afraid to ditch a page that isn’t pulling its weight. Remember that you’re still able to separate sitelinks for mobile customers versus desktop customers.
Extended sitelinks are a great way to make sure you’re showing customers as much as you can. If you want to read more about what the engines have to say about sitelinks, check out this more from Google and Bing.
