Google Sitelink Update February 2008

Google Sitelinks Update Feb 2008

Just done a search on Google and this site has received the Google sitelinks that I have been longing for (yes I am a huge nerd). It looks to have been a big update, the biggest ever in fact and tons of new sites have got them:

Site architecture and age seems to play an important roll in getting sitelinks, very few sites that are less then 6-8 months old have got them.

Here are a few links to help you get a better understanding:

What are Google Sitelinks - Search Engine Land

Explaining Google Sitelinks - Problogger

Google Sitelinks and Brand Domination - SEOmoz

Congratulations to everybody who has got the sitelinks.

Update: The update is not currently showing up on Google US, so you will have to visit Google UK to see the changes.

How to get Google Sitelinks for your website

Many webmasters wonder how they can make Google display additional Sitelinks for their websites. What exactly are Sitelinks, how can you get them and are they worth the effort?

What are Google Sitelinks?

Google Sitelinks are a collection of links that appears below the result of a website. These additional links link to main pages of the website. They are randomly and automatically chosen by Google's algorithm.

Many webmasters wonder how they can make Google display additional Sitelinks for their websites. What exactly are Sitelinks, how can you get them and are they worth the effort?

What are Google Sitelinks?

Google Sitelinks are a collection of links that appears below the result of a website. These additional links link to main pages of the website. They are randomly and automatically chosen by Google's algorithm.

As an example, here are the sitelinks that you get for HP.com when you search for "HP":

Sitelinks only appear for general search terms. You'll get Sitelinks if you search for "HP" but you won't get Sitelinks if you search for a term like "HP printer supplies". Sitelinks show up most often for searches on brand names.

Which links does Google use for the Sitelinks?

Google seems to use the first level links on a website for the Sitelinks. That means that all links that are not present on the homepage of your site won't be used as Sitelinks.

The links should be descriptive text links or image links with a descriptive IMG ALT attribute. JavaScript or Flash links are not considered for Sitelinks. Google uses 2 to 8 links for the Sitelinks of a website. Unfortunately, it's unclear how Google assigns the number of links to each website.

The text that is used for the Sitelinks can be the text that are used for the link (anchor text) on the homepage or the title of the linked page. It seems that Google prefers links that appear at the top of a web page.

How can you get Sitelinks for your website?

Unfortunately, there is nothing certain about Google's Sitelinks. The following factors seem to influence whether Google displays Sitelinks or not:

1. Your website must have a stable #1 ranking for the searched keyword. Other websites don't seem to get Sitelinks.
   
   
2. Your website must be at least 2 years old. It seems that younger websites don't get Sitelinks.
   
   
3. The number of searches and the number of clicks that your website gets for a certain keyword seem to be considered. Keywords that aren't searched often enough don't get Sitelinks. It also seems that your website has to get many clicks for the searched keyword.
   
   
4. The number of links that point to your website with the searched keyword as the anchor text seem to influence the creation of Sitelinks. Sitelinks only seem to appear for the main keywords of a website, not for all keywords for which a website is listed.

If your website meets these criteria Google might assign Sitelinks to your website for your most important keywords.

Sitelinks can be a nice addition for searches for general keywords but they usually won't appear for searches that consist of two to four words. These words are the most important keywords for website promotion and search engine optimization.

Seo Updates


Seems to be New Type Result Page

Google tests an additional search box within the search results

Google now sometimes adds an additional search box in the search results that allows searches to search within a site. For example, you'll get the additional search box if you search Google.com for "amazon", "ny times" or "wikipedia"and "cric info":

Except Sitelink i found a new type of result also. Look below

with the results it's also providing the Search button bar also. Yet Google is providing search bar also as i think reason behind that is provide sufficient or can be say more relevant result to search term and easily navigation in the site. For example you are looking for cric info and want to be got the result of any match. You can provide your query so that visitor landing page should be more appropriate and accurate.

What can i say about it. Tell me something about it. waiting for your response........