• Eric Lander's Blog, Thursday, October 16, 2008 2:30 PM

This introduction to Google Sitelinks explains what they are and why you need to know. The Sitelinks, which Google displays underneath the first "organic search result," help users navigate your site. Eric Lander explains that a simple branded query for a brand like "Disney" allows searchers to simply click their way onto popular topics and site sections like vacations, Mickey Mouse, or perhaps the Disney Store. Google interprets your search and produces immediate refinements based on what they believe most useful to you.

From fundamentals to using social media tagging to score Google Sitelinks, Landers provides details about structuring content, sticking to themes and employing the SEO101 approach. You'll want to use headings where appropriate to organize content on pages and pay close attention to providing clear and concise page titles.

The post discusses quirks, too, so take note. For example, Sitelinks always display in the same order. You have no editorial control to shift them around at all. So, he provides tips on how to get around that. If you want to have any influence at all on your Sitelinks, you'll want to get your site verified and included into your Google Webmaster Tools account. You may not be able to shift the ordering around or trigger when Sitelinks will or will not display - but you will have some tuning available.

Read the whole story at Eric Lander's Blog »