As a website owner, you’ve probably noticed that some sites have additional links displayed under their main URL in Google search results. These additional links are known sitelinks.
While Google ultimately decides which sitelinks to display, there are several strategies you can employ to influence which links appear under your site on Google.
What are sitelinks?
Sitelinks are the indented links that appear beneath a website’s main listing in Google search results. They help users navigate your site more efficiently by directing them to key sections directly from the search results page.
Please note that users often see different sitelinks as Google determines what is best for the users based on the user’s search history, location, device and other factors.
How many sitelinks can you have?
Based on my observation, most of the sites have maximum 5 sitelinks on desktop and 6 sitelinks on mobile. However, Google will display less sitelinks if they don’t have any links that they deem useful for users.
For example, this is what I’ve seen when I search for Ahrefs on desktop and mobile:
How does Google choose sitelinks?
Google’s algorithms automatically generate sitelinks based on the structure of your site and user behavior. It uses different signals to figure out which pages are likely to be the most useful shortcuts for searchers.
The best you can do is set your site up in a way that makes it easy for Google to understand which pages are most important. That means having a clear navigation menu, well-organized categories, strong internal linking, and descriptive titles.
How to control sitelinks in Google search results
So, if you ask how to change the links that appear under your site on Google’, the short answer is – no, you can’t change it as it’s determined algorithmically.
While you can’t directly control which links should appear as sitelinks, you can still optimise your site to influence and increase the likelihood of your preferred sitelinks appearing.
1. Organise Your Site Structure
A clear and logical site structure is crucial to help Google understand your website architecture. Use categories, subcategories, and breadcrumbs to organise your content; and make sure every page is accessible within a few clicks from the homepage.
When I’ve taken the time to plan the site architecture, I normally group related pages under clear categories with use logical URL paths.
For example, having /services/ as a main hub with /services/schema-markup/ and /services/seo/ nested underneath tells Google, “Hey, these are subpages of a key section.” That makes it much easier for them to pick the right links for search results.
A bonus advantage of using a logical URL path is to make it easier to filter and analyze different site sections.
2. Link it from main navigation menu
From my experience, one of the easiest ways to nudge Google toward picking a page as a sitelink is to make sure it’s linked right in your main navigation menu.
Think about it — your nav menu is visible on every page, and it’s usually the first place visitors (and Google) look to figure out what’s most important on your site.
It’s not a guarantee it’ll show up as a sitelink, but it’s definitely a strong signal. Google sees it as a core part of your site’s structure and assumes it’s highly relevant to most visitors.
On the flip side, pages that are buried three clicks deep in some obscure corner of the site almost never get picked up.
So if there’s a page you really want showing up in those sitelinks — like your Services page, Pricing page, or maybe a high-converting resource — give it a front-row seat in your menu.
3. Improve internal linking
Create a well-structured internal linking strategy that highlights your most important pages. Make sure your preferred pages are linked the most, or least more than other non-priority pages.
For example, place them in the homepage, header navigation or footer area. This will increase the chance of them being selected as sitelinks.
Also, don’t forget to naturally and strategically link to your preferred pages from other content of your site.
If you have blog posts, add more links to key pages with relevant anchor text, such as “Learn more about our SEO services.”
Regularly audit your site to ensure all links are working and relevant. I usually use Screaming Frog to audit the internal linking because I can sort by the number of (unique) inlinks, so I can have a quick overview of what pages are being linked the most to see if I need to adjust anything.
4. Craft your anchor text
Use descriptive anchor text that clearly indicates the content of the linked page.
If your meta title is not accurate to Google’s eyes, they may determine your title using anchor text, heading element or other content that is large on the page. Google also uses anchor text that points to the page
So, even though it’s good to have anchor text variation, ensure your preferred page title is used often enough for Google to recognize its significance as your anchor text.
5. Optimise Page Titles and Descriptions
Make sure each page has a unique, descriptive title and meta description. Avoid duplication and ensure that these elements accurately reflect the content of the page.
It’s common for Google to take your meta title and description in the sitelinks, so make sure you have optimised it to avoid Google rewriting it and you ending up with some random texts on the SERPs.
How to address common issues in sitelinks
Missing Sitelinks
If no sitelinks are appearing, it may indicate that Google is having difficulty understanding your site structure. Ensure that your site is well-organised and that Google can easily crawl and index all your pages.
Irrelevant sitelinks
If irrelevant pages appear as sitelinks, review your internal linking strategy. Ensure that your most important pages are prominently linked from your homepage and main navigation.
Sitelinks pointing to outdated or removed content
If sitelinks are pointing to outdated or deprecated content, consider using 301 redirects to direct users to the updated pages. Update your internal links to reflect the changes.
If the content no longer exists or has no value to be indexed, consider also adding a noindex tag and request indexing in URL Inspection Tool – which will remove the page from Google index (and thus sitelink) sooner.
Sitelink title and/or description displaying incorrectly
As Google primarily uses the content on your page to determine the title and snippet, make sure your meta title and meta description match what’s on your page.
If Google believes that the title or description on a particular page does not effectively reflect the content, it will often rewrite it with its own version to better match user intent.
I recommend reading the following Google documentations:
How to remove a page from sitelinks entirely
If there’s a page you really want gone from Google — not just hidden from sitelinks, but completely removed from search results — you’ve got a few options, and I’ve used all of them in different situations depending on how fast I wanted it gone.
1. Add a noindex meta tag or HTTP header
If you still want the page live for visitors but never want it in search results, adding <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”> to the HTML (or using an equivalent HTTP header) tells Google not to index it next time they crawl.
I’ve used this for internal resources, thank-you pages, or custom promo pages that still serve a purpose but shouldn’t be searchable.
2. Delete the page and return a 404 or 410
If you want it completely gone for good, removing the page from your server so it returns a 404 Not Found (or even better, a 410 Gone) will signal to Google that it’s not coming back. In my experience, this is the cleanest long-term solution if you truly don’t need the page anymore.
Conclusion
While you can’t directly choose which links Google displays as sitelinks, optimizing your site structure, internal linking, page titles, and content can influence the outcome.
By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to improve your site’s visibility and user experience through effective sitelinks.
