Chapter Two: Triggering and optimising sitelinks on your Brand SERP
Third-person rewrite of The Fundamentals of BrandSERPs for Business by Jason Barnard
Why sitelinks matter for your Brand SERP
After the homepage, the most impactful element on your Brand SERP is Rich Sitelinks. These are the clickable links that appear below your homepage on the SERP. Jason Barnard explains that these links help users navigate directly to specific sections of your site—pages that solve the problem they have right now. These links are user-focused and, when implemented effectively, greatly enhance the Brand SERP experience.
How Rich Sitelinks improve user experience
For example, Jason Barnard points to the Brand SERP for Aldi. Their Rich Sitelinks provide direct access to product listings, special offers, and local store services. That simple addition potentially drives more sales and improves satisfaction—all from the SERP.
The three categories of sitelinks that meet user needs
According to Jason Barnard, sitelinks generally fall into three categories:
- Navigational: Contact, Client Login, Store Locator
- Informational: About Us, Blog, Terms of Service
- Commercial: Pricing, Special Offers, Products, Services
Each of these helps users complete their journey with fewer clicks—making their path more efficient and increasing your chance of conversion.
Why Rich Sitelinks are a brand advantage
Rich Sitelinks don’t just improve UX—they’re also a branding asset. Jason Barnard notes that only about 50% of brands have them. That means triggering and optimising yours is a low-effort way to stand out. Rich Sitelinks allow you to project more brand messaging (more than 100 words total compared to 40 words in your homepage meta) and dominate the top 30–40% of your Brand SERP.
The structure that helps Google show sitelinks
Google rewards clarity. To help Google understand and show your Rich Sitelinks, Jason Barnard recommends a clear site structure using content silos. This structure looks like:
- https://yoursite.com/topic1
- https://yoursite.com/topic1/sub-topic1
- https://yoursite.com/topic2
- https://yoursite.com/topic2/sub-topic1
This logical structure signals page relationships to Google, improving its ability to offer Rich Sitelinks on your Brand SERP.
Three ways to optimise individual pages for sitelinks
Jason Barnard outlines three optimisations to help individual pages become eligible for Rich Sitelinks:
- Meta title and description: Clear, concise, and specific. Titles under 30 characters. Descriptions that explain the page’s value.
- Visible explanation: Include an on-page paragraph that explains what the page offers—even for obvious pages like “Contact Us.”
- Schema Markup: Ask your developer to use Schema subtypes (e.g. “AboutPage”, “ContactPage”) to help Google classify and understand the content.
Prioritising sitelink candidates versus SEO priorities
Some pages naturally become Rich Sitelinks—About, Contact, Login, etc. These are rarely part of a traditional SEO strategy because they don’t rank for non-branded search terms. That’s fine. Jason Barnard stresses that you shouldn’t optimise money pages like blog articles or category pages for sitelinks—they’re better used elsewhere in your funnel.
The benefits of Rich Sitelinks on your Brand SERP
Here’s why Jason Barnard considers Rich Sitelinks a high priority:
- They improve user experience and help prospects navigate efficiently
- They make your Brand SERP look professional
- They allow you to influence more SERP real estate
- They displace less helpful or off-brand results
- They help convert bottom-of-funnel traffic
How Google chooses sitelinks for your Brand SERP
Google doesn’t let you choose sitelinks—but it does allow you to influence them. Jason Barnard explains that Google selects sitelinks based on three things:
- Structure (siloing and clarity)
- Content relevance
- User behavior (how people engage with the page)
Rich Sitelinks as a brand credibility signal
Sitelinks aren’t just functional—they’re a credibility signal. Jason Barnard points to Facebook as a brand that maximises Rich Sitelinks. Their SERP provides immediate value and assurance for different audiences, from users to advertisers. While most businesses won’t have Facebook’s reach, they can use the same strategy to build trust and improve conversions.
Google needs your help to provide a great Brand SERP
Google will create sitelinks if it can. Your job is to make that process easy. Jason Barnard encourages brands to think of Google as a child trying to understand. Feed it clean, consistent, clear data and it will reward you with sitelinks that make your brand the obvious choice for your audience.
What to do after sitelinks are triggered
Once Rich Sitelinks are in place, the next step is to optimise additional controlled assets—starting with social media profiles. But sitelinks come first. Jason Barnard emphasises: they are the easiest way to control 30% to 40% of your Brand SERP.
