From SERPs to Sitelinks: A Practical Guide to Earning Google's Top Spots

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Have you ever searched for a brand on Google and seen this sitelink search result?

A Google SERP showing the main result for SEOSiri, with four sitelinks displayed underneath for key pages like 'Live Skill Test: Backlink SEO' and the 'Exams & Quizzes Hub'.

Those indented links under the main result—"Live Skill Test: Backlink SEO," "Exams & Quizzes Hub," "Google Ranking Factors Exam,"etc.—are called Sitelinks. They are an SEO goldmine. They increase your click-through rate, enhance brand trust, and let you dominate more of the search results page.

The big question is: how do you get them?

The most important thing to know is that sitelinks are automated. You can't log into a Google tool and choose them. However, you can (and absolutely should) structure your website in a way that makes it easy and logical for Google's algorithm to award it to you.

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the exact, proven steps to earn sitelinks, using a fictional website, aabbccdd.com, as our case study. These steps are applicable whether you're on a Blogger-hosted site or a modern CMS like WordPress.

The Core Principle: Google Rewards Clear Structure

Google's main goal is to help users find what they're looking for as quickly as possible. Sitelinks are a shortcut. Google grants them to websites that have a clear, logical, and user-friendly structure because it's confident it knows what your most important pages are.

Our job is to create and signal that structure.

Let's imagine our example site, aabbccdd.com, offers online courses on four main topics:

  • Digital Marketing

  • Content Creation

  • Graphic Design

  • Web Development

Right now, these are just four separate pages. To earn sitelinks, we need to show Google they belong together.

The 4-Step Blueprint to Earning Sitelinks

Step 1: Create a Central Hub Page

This is the most critical step. You need to create a single "parent" page that serves as a central hub or category page for your important links.

For aabbccdd.com, we would create a new page: aabbccdd.com/courses/.

This page, titled "Our Online Courses," would then feature a clear list with links to all four course pages. This hub page becomes the primary destination for anyone interested in courses.

For seosiri.com, our hub page is our main Exams & Quizzes directory.

Step 2: Build a Strong Internal Linking Structure

Now that you have a hub page, you need to signal its importance through your site's navigation.

  1. Main Navigation: Add a link to your new hub page in your website's main menu. For aabbccdd.com, we would add a menu item called "Courses." For seosiri.com, this is the "EXAMS & QUIZZES" dropdown menu.

  2. Cross-Linking: Link from each individual course page back up to the main /courses/ hub page. A simple "« Back to all courses" link is perfect.

This creates a clean, logical pyramid structure that Google's crawlers can easily understand: Homepage → Hub Page → Individual Pages.

  • On Blogger: This is done in Layout → Link List Gadget. You create the dropdown by adding an underscore before the child items (e.g., _Digital Marketing).

  • On WordPress/Other CMS: This is typically done in Appearance → Menus by dragging and dropping pages to create sub-menu items.

Step 3: Implement Website Schema Markup

Schema markup is code that "speaks" directly to search engines. It's the most powerful way to explicitly confirm your site's structure. You should place this code on your homepage only.

Below is the ideal WebSite schema for our example site, aabbccdd.com.

(This code uses the aabbccdd.com example for your readers to copy and adapt)

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "name": "AABBCCDD Courses",
  "url": "https://www.aabbccdd.com/",
  "potentialAction": {
    "@type": "SearchAction",
    "target": {
      "@type": "EntryPoint",
      "urlTemplate": "https://www.aabbccdd.com/search?q={search_term_string}"
    },
    "query-input": "required name=search_term_string"
  },
  "hasPart": [
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "name": "All Courses",
      "url": "https://www.aabbccdd.com/courses/",
      "description": "The central hub for all online courses from aabbccdd.com."
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "name": "Digital Marketing Course",
      "url": "https://www.aabbccdd.com/courses/digital-marketing"
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "name": "Content Creation Course",
      "url": "https://www.aabbccdd.com/courses/content-creation"
    }
  ]
}
</script>

How to Add Schema to Your Site:

  • On Blogger: Go to Theme → Edit HTML. Find the closing </head> tag. Just before it, paste the schema code inside a conditional tag: <b:if cond='data:view.isHomepage'> [YOUR SCHEMA HERE] </b:if>. This ensures it only loads on the homepage.

  • On WordPress: This is much easier. Use a free SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast SEO. They have sections (often under "Advanced") where you can paste schema code or header scripts directly without touching your theme's files.

  • On Other CMS (Shopify, Squarespace, etc.): Look for a "Code Injection" or "Custom Code" area in your theme settings, which will allow you to add scripts to your homepage's header.

Step 4: Ensure a Clean Technical Foundation

Your hard work can be undone by simple technical errors.

  • Submit Your Sitemap: Make sure your XML sitemap is submitted to Google Search Console. This is how you tell Google you've created new pages (like your hub page).

  • Check robots.txt: Ensure you aren't accidentally blocking Google from crawling these important pages. Your robots.txt file should allow crawlers full access to your content.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

We've covered the blueprint, but let's tackle two advanced, real-world questions that often come up.

  • Q1: Can a website have multiple hub pages considered for sitelinks?
A: Yes, absolutely. A well-structured website often has several important hubs. For example, seosiri.com has a hub for "Exams & Quizzes" and another for "Services." Google's goal is to show the most useful and popular links to users. The key is to signal which hubs are most important. The ones featured prominently in your main navigation menu and linked to frequently from your homepage and other important posts are the strongest candidates for becoming sitelinks.

  • Q2: What happens if a site (like seosiri.com) already has sitelinks and we implement this new structure?
A: This is a great question and a very common scenario. When you implement this strategy on a site with existing sitelinks, you are sending new, stronger signals to Google.

You are telling the algorithm, "Hey, this 'Exams & Quizzes' hub is now a very important part of my site structure."

Over time, as Google recrawls your site and recognizes the importance of the new hub page (through the navigation menu, internal links, and schema), it will re-evaluate. If its algorithm determines that the "Exams & Quizzes" hub is more relevant or prominent than one of the existing sitelinks (for instance, the "Pricing" page), it may swap it out.

You aren't replacing sitelinks directly; you are influencing the algorithm to make a better choice for the user based on your new, clearer site structure.

It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

By following these four steps, you are giving Google every possible signal to understand your site's structure and award you with sitelinks. The final step is patience. It can take several weeks or months for Google to process these changes.

Focus on building a clear, user-friendly site, and Google will reward you for it.

Reading is the first step, but true skill is forged in practice. It’s time to bridge the gap between knowing the theory and proving you can apply it. Our interactive Live Skill Tests are designed to simulate real-world challenges, helping you identify your strengths and pinpoint areas for growth.

Whether you are an aspiring digital marketer in Bangladesh looking to stand out or a seasoned professional on the global stage aiming to sharpen your edge, these exams are your training ground. Don't just learn—validate your skills and build the confidence to succeed.

Practice What You've Learned

Understanding site structure is a key SEO skill. See how your overall knowledge stacks up by taking one of our comprehensive, live skill tests.

Explore All SEO & Digital Marketing Exams


Best,

Author:

Digital Marketing Strategist

Momenul Ahmad is a passionate Digital Marketing Strategist and SEO Specialist dedicated to unraveling the complexities of search engine optimization.

With a keen eye for algorithm shifts and a commitment to practical, results-driven strategies, Momenul helps businesses and individuals enhance their online visibility and achieve sustainable organic growth.

He believes in sharing knowledge to empower fellow marketers and contributes regularly to SEOSiri, simplifying advanced SEO concepts and providing actionable insights for the digital community. 


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