Google Sitelinks have recently launched in Beta for Paid Search ads. These operate in basically the same way as Organic Sitelinks do, however, one must set them at a Campaign level versus. them automatically getting picked up by engine spiders.
Thus far, most accounts chosen for the Beta have been enabling the links for their branded Campaigns. Branded keywords will most likely trigger the Sitelinks versus non-branded.
An advertiser can log into their AdWords account, choose a Campaign, go to the Campaign Settings tab and post up to 10 Sitelinks. Once the links are named and assigned landing pages, they may show along with your Paid Search ad in Google’s results.
Here you can see an example for First Response pregnancy tests:
And here is another example for Arm & Hammer Cat Litter:
While you can set up to 10 links to be included, keep in mind there is no guarantee any or all of them will show. A maximum of four links can show at any given time. For example, First Response has four implemented while only two have shown for this query. Cat Litter also has four implemented and all are showing for the above query.
We have already seen some amazing lifts in CTR for many of our accounts running Beta Sitelinks. On average, our clients have seen around 75% – 90% increases in CTR. Some accounts are even lucky enough to see 100%+ lifts in CTR.
While there are obvious improvements to CTR, conversions are another story. Preliminary results for only a couple clients do not show us an increase to CVR. I must stress these results are preliminary. Over the next month, we will be looking at a larger client based opted into Sitelinks and will then be able to determine the affect they’ve had on CVR.
Sitelinks are good for searchers because they help them find the page they are looking for more easily. They are also great for Google because a higher CTR means more clicks, and more clicks means more money for the engine. From what I can tell so far, Sitelinks do not have an affect one way or another for clients tracking to a conversion, however, I hope to find that some clients will see a lift over the next month. Be sure to check back for Round 2!
Do you have any results you can share? Are you seeing the same average lift in CTR as we have?
Interesting findings, I assume a bid for top position is necessary for sitelinks to activate?
Big G is going to make a ton off of this.
Can’t wait for round 2.
I was just wondering if you had any information on the best way to implement the tracking of sitelinks in 3rd party software?
Thanks for the comments and questions!
Tanner- Google states that the keywords must meet a “quality threshold” for the Sitelinks to show. What that threshold is, I do not know.
A. Holborn- At this time, you are only able to track the activity for your sitelinks at the Campaign level. However, you can track each link. You would need to set up the name of your link as the “keyword” in your third part tracking system and create a unique tracking URL. Then you would simply input that tracking URL as the destination for said Sitelink. You would continue the process for each Sitelink you would like to track. Let me know if that doesn’t make sense!